‘D’ and Coach Ely: “They are coaches, they are educators, they are great human beings’

From left, Zeke Thomas, Dennis Foster, DuShawn Stephens, Eli Riley-Stevenson, Elliott Bayless, Zayd Warsane and Eric Ely

CORVALLIS — The boys are huddled around a table in a meeting room in the administrative offices of Cheldelin Middle School at 8:30 a.m. before a recent school day. The adult in the room is Dennis “D” Foster, who has been pulled away from his duties as assistant principal in recent weeks to serve as an interim administrator for “Bridges,” an alternative program in the Corvallis School District.

“D” is back in charge of the mentoring program he began last spring for students of color at Cheldelin. All seven in the program this year are boys. For a few weeks, he has been away, and the group has not met.

Foster has a partner in the program — Eric Ely, the veteran director of player personnel for women’s basketball at Oregon State. Foster and Ely are black. They both donate their time to the cause.

Foster and Ely understand what it’s like to be a minority in a mostly white community. Over a year’s period, they have gained the trust of the seven youngsters — eighth graders Zeke Thomas, Elliott Bayless and DuShawn Stephens, seventh graders Zayd Warsane and sixth graders Devin Lockheart, Henry Minyala and Eli Riley-Stevenson.

For a half-hour twice a month, Foster, Ely and the boys discuss a variety of topics, from behavior to academics to teachers to girls to sports to just about anything.

On this day, Ely has another commitment, so Foster is running the session solo. He is explaining his new role with “Bridges” and why he has been away from Cheldelin for a while. As the boys file into the room, “D” offers smiles and hugs.

“I’m covering over there for the rest of the year,” he tells the group. “I told my boss, ‘I can’t not do this. I gotta see my boys.’ He was like, ‘OK.’ So fill me in. What’s going on? I miss seeing you guys. Let’s top it off.”

The boys sound off, one by one.

“We were looking for you.”

“I thought you were sick. I was like, ‘Where’s Mr. D.?’ ”

“You’ve subbed before at other places. I thought, he’s just gone for a few days. But it’s been a while.”

“School is starting to die down. Eighth graders are not doing as much.”

“Not as much homework.”

“Most of my teachers have changed their seating charts so you’re closer to your friends.”

“Same with mine.”

Foster nods.

“It’s that phase-down thing (toward the end of the school year),” he says. “Who’s good on your teacher team? I know you can be annoying to them at times. Who are you good with? They get you and you get them.”

Someone offers the name of a male teacher.

“He’s tough on me, but I know he’s trying to help me out.”

“Yeah, he’s solid,” Foster says.

Several other boys agree.

One boy mentions another male teacher.

“I like having him teach me a lot,” he says. “He’s a character, but a cool dude.”

“We are always doing stuff and he doesn’t get too upset with us,” a second boy says. “He’s so funny. He’s a good teacher.”

“Who’s at the other end of being good?” Foster asks.

A male teacher is brought up.

“I’m scared of him,” he says. “I was walking down the hall and I was late and he’s like, ‘Stop running.’ Hey, I was late!”

Another boy singles out a female teacher.

“She yelled at me,” he says. “I was going to a teacher’s classroom during lunch and she was like, ‘Are you supposed to be back here?’ Well, yeah.”

“I had the same thing happen,” another boy says, “I had a hall pass and I was going to deliver something to Mason. And she says, ‘What are you doing out here without a pass?’ I showed the pass and she goes, ‘That’s fake. You counterfeited this signature.’ I told her it was a real pass.”

“Was that your first run-in with her?” Foster asks. It was.

After a few more minor complaints — and some laughs exchanged over the various stories — Foster has an observation.

“Many times it’s about knowing where you’re at with a teacher and like, if you know you’re annoying them,” he says. “You always gotta have that. Coming from elementary (school), you have one, maybe two teachers. Now you have like six. Relationships are big, man. And like I said, it’s reputation, right? Teachers are going to talk. If you are getting on their nerves, they’ll tell somebody else. That stuff kind of gets fed up the line.”

The subject switches to girls, and girlfriends.

“From an old head: I know how the girls start being in spring, and I know how you dudes start being in spring,” Foster says. “Who’s getting caught up?”

A couple of boys say they have girlfriends, including one of the sixth-graders.

“OK,” Foster says. “Here’s advice my grandfather gave me: Don’t be with just one girl in sixth grade.”

When one of the boys starts talking about his girlfriend, Foster breaks in.

“Who’s running things, her or you? Who’s in charge?”

The boy laughs. “Who’s in charge?” he says with a smile. “Probably her.”

Everybody laughs. Suddenly, everybody is talking at the same time.

The subject turns to student congress. A couple of the boys are members.

“I want to be a notes person — the guy who takes notes,” one says.

“Some people act like Secret Service agents,” another says. “If someone touches the president, they’re assassinated.”

Another boy corrects him: “That’s on pause now. Can’t use (the word) assassinated anymore.”

Foster has at least one important message to deliver during each session. He offers one here as the session comes to an end, knowing that the eighth-graders in the group will be at Crescent Valley High next fall.

“I don’t know if I told everyone — this is an old-school thing — but it’s also some game for eighth-graders going to high school,” he begins. “There’s a phrase, ‘You don’t bring sand to the beach.’ What I’m saying is, you might have relationships here, might be feeling good about things, and then you go to the beach with your little pail of sand and you’re like, (goes to falsetto), ‘Look at all the sand over here. Why do I have this sand in my hand?’ I ain’t going to tell you what to do, but be mindful of all that. If you get to CV and it’s like, wait a minute: Why am I over here when there’s all that?

“Keep yourself clean. Be careful of everything. This is a small town. Like I keep saying, we stand out. Somebody’s daddy or mommy could start putting a filter on you. ‘Watch out for his young man.’ I’m serious. Legit stuff.

“I want to stress to you in these last few weeks, hold it together. Check in with each other. Do the thing like, ‘You good?’ Is there any static that you can help out (with)? Watch your relationships with your teachers. Can you tell now when they’re getting a vibe?”

“A little bit, yeah,” one boy says with a nod.

“Yeah,” Foster continues. “You’re starting to get better at that, right? Do the best you can, because teachers talk. Next year there will be new teachers. They might set you up before they even come into the building. ‘Oh be careful of this one, because he does X, Y, Z. Watch yourself and keep looking out for each other.”

Foster quickly touches on another subject. One boy who has been with the group has been suspended for school.

“When we make those decisions, a lot goes into it,” Foster says. “My job is to protect him as much as I can. I feel that for any of you guys. I’ve been a human heat shield for you. That’s why Coach and I are doing this. We love you guys. We don’t want that to happen. We really put our hearts into it.”

The boys nod, some with a solemn look on their faces. Then they head out to the door and to a classroom to start their school day.

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Foster, the son of a Navy man, spent much of his childhood in Baltimore. He attended Cal Riverside and Cal Fullerton and has been a teacher and administrator in the Corvallis School District for 24 years. His four children completed their high school education in the district.

During the spring of 2023, Foster initiated the program at Cheldelin.

“It was about seeing a need from students who look like me, trying to process a lot of micro-aggressions, but mainly about the N-word,” Foster says. “With a lot of usage of that word, it has gone from (unacceptable) to now, it’s cool.”

Foster had served as a principal for a summer outreach program run through Southside Community Church in Corvallis. Ely’s granddaughter attended the camp.

Ely — who everybody at Cheldelin refers to as “Coach” — has spent a dozen years as a coach and administrator with Oregon State women’s basketball. For four to five years, Ely had worked with a few of the boys now at Cheldelin in a program based on a book called “Growing Modern Day Knights.”

“It’s a book to help develop character in young boys, to help them one day become great citizens, husbands, fathers and employees — to take them from boyhood to manhood,” Ely says. “Some moms asked if I could help with their sons, because I was an African-American male in town. One of the boys had lost his dad in a motorcycle accident. At least a couple of the boys (in the Cheldelin program) don’t have fathers.”

Ely grew up in a Catholic family in Dayton, Ohio. He was one of the lucky ones who had good role models.

“I had some teachers, my dad, my mom,” says the 6-6 Ely, who would later play basketball and graduate from Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. “And a Catholic priest by the name of Father Conley. He took a personal interest in us kids. He would take us to play pickup (basketball). He would buy us meals. He was fantastic.”

Over the past decade, Foster and Ely had become friendly.

“I reached out to Coach,” Foster says. “I knew he would be willing to become involved. He was the first person I thought of to give generational perspective of being a black man in our society. It was a chance for us to share our experiences and give (the youths) some old-man wisdom. Coach always comes through in an opportunity to support kids.”

“We go over a lot of things,” Ely says. “Sometimes it’s about how to respond to teachers who may not be patient with you. How do you avoid pornography? How do you keep from getting in trouble? How do you become a model student? Everything we can find that we know is relevant, we focus on that. Sometimes there is carryover, sometimes not. Sometimes we just let them talk and vent.”

I became aware of the program in a conversation with former Oregon State football coach Mike Riley. His grandson is Eli Riley-Stevenson. Eli’s father is Jovan Stevenson, the former Beaver running back.

Foster was authorized to spearhead the program by Jon Strowbridge, then interim principal at Cheldelin and now assistant principal and athletic director at Crescent Valley High. OSU football fans will recognize his name as a punter and special teams stalwart for the Beavers from 2003-06.

“ ‘D’ understands very well what it’s like to be a person of color, a black man, in Corvallis,” Strowbridge says. “He wanted to provide a place where black kids going through our schools can have some unity and get mentored. I wanted to be connected and supportive.

“It’s been fantastic. ‘D’ is a one-of-a-kind human being. He sees the value in having allies for our black and brown kids. He is a fierce advocate and an all-around great guy. I was fortunate to have him as my assistant principal past year. I have always wanted to work with him. He connects with all kids. He’s like a rock star.”

Once the group started meeting last spring, it became clear to Foster and Ely that a common thread is sports. All seven of the boys are athletes. During one of the meetings this academic year, Riley-Stevenson, Bayless, Thomas and Stephens decided to put a 400-meter relay unit together. The team posted a time of 46.38, fifth-best in the state for their age group this spring. (Riley-Stevenson, two grades younger than the other three, runs the anchor.)

Foster and Ely both pass credit for the program’s success to the other.

“Dennis has been excellent, just excellent in organizing and running the program,” Ely says. “The boys love and respect him.”

“Coach is the glue,” Foster says. “He’s the one who said, ‘Let’s have some special events. Let’s take them out into the community.’ He is the one to bring in other community members to help make things happen. Coach holds it all together.”

There has been a bowling night. A pizza night. A night at a Beaver women’s basketball game.

The regular meetings, though, are the program’s meat and potatoes.

“For me and Coach, it’s a time for fellowship and having conversation,” Foster says. “Two parents told me their boys tend to do better after we have our sessions. We have a couple of energetic, hyper boys. We talk about how we are perceived and what lessons we gain from that.

“We dig in and try to understand what’s going on and make sure they protect themselves, because they are very visible in the Corvallis community.”

One thing is obvious to the bystander allowed to sit in on a meeting. There is an esprit de corps throughout the group that runs deep. The boys like each other, and they are taking seriously what they are being told. In two meetings, not one cell phone is visible. They are listening, getting their voices heard and learning.

“It’s a great group of kids,” Ely says. “They are trying to become role models on their own.”

► ◄

Students Zayd Warsane (left) and Elliott Bayless hear what mentor Eric Ely has to say

The impact on the boys in the program has been noticed, the efforts of Foster and Ely appreciated. Especially by the boys.

“They have created a spot for all of us to come together and share how we’re doing,” Zeke Thomas says. “It’s like these guys (in the program) are my brothers. It feels like we’re family. I love both (Foster and Ely). They provide a lot for our group and people in our community. They have made an impact on me and the guys in the group.”

Elliott Bayless was one of the boys Ely worked with in previous years.

“Some of us have known Coach for a long time now,” Bayless says. “He and ‘D’ understand us pretty well. They’re trying to do good in the world.

“I love our group. It’s a bunch of wonderful guys who have helped me grow to be a good person and hopefully a great man in the future. I’m thankful to be part of it.”

Riley-Stevenson points out that the boys came up with the idea of running the relay together during a mentoring session.

“That’s a staple of our mentoring group,” he says. “It’s been a great bonding time with all my friends. It’s really helped me, especially in a town with not as many my age of color. It’s a community we can have — black athletes to come together, talk about our experiences. A lot of the advice they give about our presence as athletes in this town, as people, has helped me going into middle school.

“ ‘D’ is a cool guy. He’s helped me with a lot of stuff in school. He’s backed me up a lot. I love Coach Ely. He’s a great dude. I like being part of the Beaver family and him helping out with me.”

Eli landed at Cheldelin not by accident. His mother, Kate Dillon, was looking for a comfortable fit after his experience at Adams Grade School.

“Every year Eli had faced some racial prejudice instances (at Adams),” Dillon says. “I had a good conversation with another mom who has a kid who is a person of color. She said there was a pretty big community of people of color at Cheldelin.”

The mother mentioned the “SAFE Group,” another program with meetings the kids can attend “to support each other and educate others about minority groups,” Dillon says. And the mother mentioned Foster.

“We got to Cheldelin and I didn’t know about (the mentoring group),” she says. “I was blown away by it. We loved Mr. D right off the bat. It’s a really cool thing. It has helped Eli transition into middle school and through some of the bumps in a way I couldn’t have supported him.

“I’m kind of in awe of it, and really thankful. There are conversations Eli has in the safety of the group that he might not have had with me, maybe because he thought I wouldn’t understand. He has been comfortable enough to bring it up in that group and has gotten really solid advice.”

JT Thomas, Zeke’s father, said he couldn’t be happier with the program.

“I’m super appreciative of Mr. D and Coach Ely and the folks who have been involved in the program,” the senior Thomas says. “They are coaches, they are educators, they are great human beings. They have a heart for all youth. It has been very cool to see their willingness to be vulnerable with the young men.

“The program has been phenomenal. I was super fired up when they presented the concept. It is something that was needed for the young men at Cheldelin, but even more than that, within the community. There’s something to be said about folks who live here as people of color and how they have navigated challenges looking into the future of growing up in Corvallis. To see where it has grown and the number of kids involved, it’s been really good to see.”

Alas, Foster’s involvement with the program will soon end. He has accepted a job in administration with the Bend School District and will be moving to central Oregon this summer. With the three eighth-graders moving on to Crescent Valley next fall, new blood will be needed.

Strowbridge says he hopes to implement a similar program at CV as well as helping to continue the existing one at Cheldelin. Ely says he will continue to work with the kids at Cheldelin and can run the program himself if necessary. Strowbridge hopes to get help from the Black Student Union at Oregon State and has already spoken with Alexis Serna, the director of Beyond Football at OSU, about getting some football players involved with the program at the high school level.

“It’s going to continue to grow,” J.T. Thomas says. “My middle kid, Asher, will step into it. He is looking forward to it. My little girl, Chara, is talking about it. ‘What about me, Dad?’ ”

Thomas says he will talk with Angel Harris, a Beaver alum and (Corvallis area) NAACP president, with hopes of getting her involved in starting a girls program at Cheldelin.

“It’s purposeful,” Thomas says. “It’s important to have conversations with them about what it means to be black in Corvallis — the highs, the lows, how we carry ourselves and how important it is. Kids open up in a different way than to their parents in these meetings. I wanted to step back and allow the mentors to mentor the young men.”

► ◄

The Cheldelin mentoring group meets for the final time in the 2023-24 academic year

It is the final meeting of the Wednesday morning group at Cheldelin. Two weeks of school remain.

Riley-Stevenson walks in with a boot on his foot. He has broken a bone in it for the second time.

Foster asks the older boys how they are feeling about their final days in middle school.

“I’m good,” one says. “I’m ready for high school.”

Talk moves from girlfriends to drama that comes with relationships to rumors about people.

“I don’t believe anything another person tells me about anybody,” one boy says.

“I’d like to say, you have to hold a space where you have to stand up for people,” Foster says. “You know it could twistedly come back to you.”

He asked about spring term grades. Most seem to be doing well. One says he has a 59 — presumably out of 100 — in a class.

“I love the teacher,” he says, “but he is so stubborn.”

Talk turns to one teacher who was discussing international affairs.

Says one boy: “He says, ‘Africa is in such disarray.’ “He looks at me and a black girl in the class and says, ‘Your country is in such disarray.’ ”

Foster asks how they responded.

“I’m like, ‘My country? What are you talking about? I’m an American. I was born here.’ ”

“I want you to have power in that,” Foster says. “Ya’ll were on point. The teacher was out of pocket. I want you guys to do that for people who look like you. ‘Wait, hold on — your country?’ There’s a space where you have to have respect for your elders, and there’s a space, where wait a minute, that’s a different continent we’re talking about.”

“Yeah,” cracks a boy. “I’m from Texas.”

Everybody laughs.

“They need to hear from you about that,” Foster reiterates. “They need to recalibrate.”

Foster and Ely warn the boys not to get involved in “drama” with other students.

“Let ‘em know that you won’t have it,” Ely says. “Once you do it, if you do it enough times, then they know that, ‘Hey, don’t mess about him. He ain’t about drama.’ If you consistently bow out, they’ll know.”

“The thing that you guys have going for you: You have so much confidence,” Foster adds. “And sometimes that’s really attractive to other people. It just draws them to you. But even within that, you have to maintain the right level of confidence. Like in sports, you know when someone is coming at you, and rather than get caught up with them, you just go, ‘Uumm hmmm, let me turn it up.’ It’s the same for the attitude you have to have when you’re around other people that are bringing something to you. That takes a lot of confidence to do that. But you guys are all charming. You have all the right things. Don’t get caught up.”

Several of the boys nod. Nobody says anything. They seem to get it.

Foster has a final suggestion.

“The school year is wrapping up,” he says. “Make an effort to tell these teachers in whatever way you feel as you’re leaving that they meant something to you. Take some time and give them those words. They need it, and it will help you guys close this chapter.”

Foster takes a few seconds to let that soak in.

“Everyone have a teacher they can rap at?” he asks. “That you can say thank you to?”

Head nods all around.

One boy mentions a female teacher by name.

“She has been lenient,” he says. “When I’m having trouble writing stuff, she’ll write things to help me. She is always straight with me. She has been giving me more opportunities.”

“That’s good,” Ely says. “That’s really good.”

Foster nods.

“Take a minute to holler at her,” he implores.

The final meeting is over. The boys get up and deliver final hugs before they assemble for a photo by a visitor.

“Handle your business,” Foster says to the group. “Be good out there.”

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