Making a difference: Bobby Rountree finds path to success through role models

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At Safe Summer sites in the warm months on 2011, countless young people said that the program gave them something to do so that they were not “out on the streets.” This shines through in the statistics collected following the program’s inception, which showed lower crime rates in areas with Xtreme Teens Safe Summer sites. However, before Safe Summer, about seven years ago, Xtreme Teens was already impacting youth behavior, as seen in Bobby Rountree. Rountree, now a 26-year-old computer programmer, “used to get in a lot of trouble,” as he says, but once he started high school and got involved in Xtreme Teens at age 13, things began to change. “It was a blessing,” said Rountree. “If I wasn’t doing that, I’m pretty sure I’d have been out there doing other stuff and on the streets.” It didn’t take long for Rountree to feel a part of the group at Good Luck Community Center, his Xtreme Teens center, where he played basketball, attended summer camp and took field trips. He said that the adults there acted as positive influences for him. Later, when Rountree was 16, center director Jacqueline Murray gave him the chance to do the same, by hiring him as a center staff member. “I try to be the best role model I can be… the kids are always watching you,” he said. Not only did Rountree serve as an employee, but he often volunteered at the center, or came just to talk to the kids and teens. He credits his Xtreme Teens experience for many of his abilities in interaction, public speaking, leadership and discipline, which earned him a college degree from Bowie State University as well as jobs at NASA, the Dept. of Agriculture and the Dept. of Defense. It can be easy to get thrown off the path to success, Rountree explained, but having positive adult influences can keep a teen on that path. “It only takes one person to say something to make a difference in your life,” he said.