Community members come together to walk the halls of George Wythe after fight

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) -A fight at George Wythe High School on Wednesday prompted a large police presence in the middle of the day, but it’s what was going on “inside” the school building the days after that you haven’t heard about.

A group of Richmond community members are working together to help stop the violence in schools and positively encourage students in the city.

The Broken Men Foundation is a group of men who want to be role models for the community and other students in the district.

They said when they got the call for help from the principal of George Wythe, they immediately jumped into action.

“We need to stop these things,” Broken Men Foundation President Ellery Lundy said. “The time is now. We cannot sit back anymore. The time is now, and not just at George Wythe but at all schools.”

Lundy and other community members walk the halls of George Wythe High School in hopes of connecting with the students.

“We said to the students, ‘how are y’all doing today?” Lundy said. “We greeted, talked to them, and different things like that. Some kids were interested, and some kids walk past you. We should not take it personally because the more you put yourself in that place, the better they will receive you and understand that the community is behind them as well.”

The foundation is made up of men from different backgrounds coming together to support students and make sure they feel safe after a lunch-hour fight brought police to George Wythe on Wednesday.

“The men that were there yesterday, we were smiling,” Executive Director of United Communities Against Crime Charles Willis said. “We were joking, we were interacting with the young folks, and they were interacting with us, and they were like, ‘oh, we have new security,’ and we were like, no, we’re not new security, we’re here because we love you.”

Willis says students need to be taught violence prevention and conflict resolution.

“We have to because the question becomes, at the end of the day, if you’re so bold enough to create violence in the schools, then you’re bold enough to continue that violence out in the streets,” Willis said. “When you bring that violence out in the street, it’s a totally different learning environment.”

Both Lundy and Willis agree the work does not stop here. It will take a village of everyone working together to see results.

“It’s in the county as well,” Lundy said. “These fights have spilled over in a lot of schools, and we’re tired, and it’s not going to be just us trying to do this, but this needs to be done in a whole tri-city, the Richmond-Metropolitan area collective as a whole but be consistent.”

NBC12 reached out to Richmond Public Schools for comment. They did not have anyone available to speak on Friday.

If you want to learn how to get involved, you can contact Broken Men Foundation at info@brokenmenfoundation.org or Charles Willis at 804-399-1111.

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