Melvin Owens Recipient of September 2016 Good Neighbor Award
LEWISVILLE, TEXAS – Melvin Owens, Assistant Principal at Lewisville High School – Harmon campus has been selected as the September 2016 recipient of the Good Neighbor Award. This monthly award is given by Loving Community, a neighborhood advocacy group to individuals or organizations in recognition of their outstanding volunteer and community engagement.
Mr. Owens is a seasoned educator of twenty one years, with eleven of those being in school administration. And spend any time with him and you’ll quickly find his love of education extends well beyond the classroom. He is a huge proponent and champion of student mentoring. His extensive background in mentoring shows it to be a key factor in the development and equipping of students, preparing them for a successful future.
Owens states that, “I’ve been involved in mentorship in some capacity for most of my adult life. It is very dear to my heart and I love making a difference in the community I serve and in a child’s life. I know that every day I have a chance to create a legacy that will be repeated over and over for generations.”
Recognizing the value of mentoring relationships, Melvin embraces the guiding principle of “start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can”. This belief, coupled with his mentoring background dating as far back as 1993 in Project Keep Hope Alive and Upward Bound, led Owens to launch a new mentoring program this school year called Men of Distinction.
Men of Distinction is a mentoring initiative focusing on the development of leadership and character traits in 9th & 10th grade young men. The primary goal is pretty simple. For male mentors and role models to walk along side young men in assisting them in learning and applying the key traits and characteristics of successful manhood.
Jim Mustain, Executive Director of Loving Community and partner organization with Men of Distinction says, “Melvin characterizes the many wonderful educators within the Lewisville Independent School District. Going above and beyond for the good of students is becoming the cultural norm under the leadership of Dr. Kevin Rogers and others like Andy Plunkett, Central Zone Leader and Tony Fontana, Principal at Harmon. It is personally inspiring and encouraging to be part of a community and school district who develops and supports programs like Men of Distinction”.
On a personal note, Melvin has been married for 21 years to Dr. Dena Owens who is the Director of Training for a Union. They have two kids, Jarvis (14) and Madison (10) who both attend Lewisville ISD schools. Their family is actively involved in their church.
Reflecting on Men of Distinction, Owens says, “It’s truly a dream come true for me and thanks to a supportive principal, students, parents, and men of our community it is moving forward”.
Loving Community’s Good Neighbor award is sponsored by Gaylene Anders of Ebby Halliday Realtors in honor of Ebby Halliday Acers who modeled her life on the principle — “Do something for someone everyday”.
To find out more about Loving Community and the Good Neighbor award, to volunteer, or to nominate a deserving individual or business, contact: Gaylene Anders at http://gaylene.ebby.com, or Jim Mustain at www.loving-community.net.
