WHY LEARNING TIE BASICS IS IMPORTANT FOR THIS MENTOR

BALTIMORE — When the middle school boys poured into the library, they saw businessmen in suits, ties and gold-buckled shoes — clapping. For them.

Dozens of bright neckties covered a table like spilled paints.

Corey Witherspoon, the classroom mentor they call “Spoon,” offered up the morning lesson at Booker T. Washington Middle School in West Baltimore: how to tie a necktie.

“This is a rite of passage,” Witherspoon told the sixth graders. “When I first learned to tie a tie, I thought I was a man.”

President Barack Obama wears a tie, he reminded them. A businessman wears a tie — it’s the stamp of a respectable man. Here, in particular, his encouragement is crucial.

Nearly 300 boys and girls attend Booker T. Washington, and they come to school each day through some of the West Side’s toughest streets.

Here, 60% of families live in poverty, double the percentage citywide. Of the children who live here, 93% live in single-parent households. In many homes, there’s no man to teach a boy how to tie a tie.

Early in December, Witherspoon took to Facebook with a plea. “In 2 weeks I want to teach all of my young men in the school how to tie a tie. This initiative might seem small to some but to others it is a rite of passage. There is only one problem. I need more ties.”

Soon a chorus of voices rose up to help. Witherspoon asked for volunteers to give the lessons. He called it, “Teach one tie one.”

His request spread to Deb Trott Poquette. She had partnered with former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis to open a restaurant in Little Italy.

Poquette drove to see old friends and co-workers, gathering nearly 100 ties, she said.

The University of Maryland School of Social Work donated 75.

Witherspoon quickly had more than 600 ties.

The sixth graders at Booker T. Washington learned quickly.

Volunteer Kelly Sparks showed Kamill Braxton-McGill to portion the two lengths, wrap one side over, tuck under.

“Make sure it wraps all the way around,” Sparks encouraged the boy. “Which side are you going to pull?

Kamill slid the knot up his neck. Sparks handed over his black suit coat. “Man, look at you!”

They turned to see their reflections in a glass display case. For a moment, they just stood there, side by side. Two men.

AMY DAVIS / BALTIMORE SUN / TNS Volunteer mentor Emmanual Reed, 65, teaches Dwayne Blue (from left), Damian Adams and Bryan Lofton, all eighth graders, how to tie a necktie.