Story books with bright covers were spread across the table as school administrators, community leaders and a state legislator sat listening to the details of a mentoring and reading program coming soon to Brookhaven schools – all the result of work by a motivated young woman.

Teecy Mathews, the national director of Teen Trendsetters Mentors, met Thursday with school leaders and also held a training session for the Brookhaven High School students that will be involved in the mentoring program, paired with Mamie Martin Elementary School students.

The Teen Trendsetters Reading Mentors program partners high schools with elementary school students who need a little extra attention to improve their reading schools skills.

Teen Trendsetters is associated with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. In Brookhaven, the aim is utilize students participating in the Mississippi Scholars program. Students in that program are required to earn community service hours.

The initiative to bring the mentoring program to Lincoln County began with Brookhaven’s Laura Lee Lewis, a Mississippi State University student.

Slated as a participant in this year’s Miss Mississippi pageant, Lewis has selected literacy as her platform. Seeking to put that platform into action, Lewis was encouraged to make contact with Matthews.

After Lewis secured the generous financial backing of a local donor, Marlene Cupit, the things began to move forward at full speed.

It will be the first Teen Trendsetters program in Mississippi.

“We hope it will be a spark and be a fire,” Lewis said.

Matthews explained that the program is designed to train young people become “change agents.”

“They become leaders,” Matthews said of the student mentors.

She said she always tells those mentors, “You have the potential to change someone’s life forever.”

The Teen Trendsetters Program has been around 13 years and started in Florida. For a while it was dubbed Volunteer Florida. A spin-off organization dubbed Volunteer USA was formed that later merged with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

The program isn’t designed to aid students with real learning difficulties or that are deeply behind.

“On the elementary side, you’re going to look at the kids on the diving board of success and they just need a little bit of a push,” Matthews said.

Children about six months behind on their scores and reading levels would be ideal, she suggested.

Matthews also emphasized that the teen mentors are not expected to take the place of teachers or engage in instruction of new subjects. They’re supposed to help the elementary students master the skills to which they’ve been exposed.

Matthews also recommended the use of high school students in need of remedial instruction as mentors. She said the mentoring relationship can then be of benefit to both students.

“I love that,” said Brookhaven School District Superintendent Lisa Karmacharya during the Thursday meeting.

Becky Currie, a Brookhaven state representative, singled out Lewis for praised during Thursday’s meeting.

“We’re just so proud of you,” she said. “You really hit a homerun with this.”