Mr. McGrone, Sr., President 

Mr. McGrone has over thirteen years of experience working with adolescents. He has worked with students in academic settings and also with juvenile offenders and wards of the state in therapeutic settings. Having come from an impoverished background and overcoming many urban and family challenges, Mr. McGrone is deeply passionate about providing opportunities to adolescents and motivating them to succeed.

 

Mr. McGrone is the founder of MTL Educational Consulting, Inc.—an organization that provides supportive educational and social services to inner city, at-risk high school students. Its programs were designed specifically to address the special needs and concerns of at-risk youth. His unconventional style of engagement gives Mr. McGrone the ability to connect with youth from all populations. His insight and experience has enabled him to effectively teach and counsel youth of all ages and backgrounds. As a Dean of Students, his educational philosophy has gained popularity with students, staff, administration, and parents. He and his team have implemented philosophies and are using techniques with students that have resulted in extraordinary improvements in attendance, grades, and in the decline of reportable incidents.

 

Mr. McGrone believes in empowering youth to become independent thinkers. He reinforces the ideology of having students take lead roles in creating a positive school culture.  He believes that positive reinforcement is the key when attempting to motivate at-risk students who are and have been inundated with negativity. Mr. McGrone’s philosophical approach can be described as “in-your-face”, although he is always sensitive to the needs of the youth with whom he serves. Mr. McGrone believes in the understanding one’s familial and cultural history. This awareness, he believes, is critical in helping youth to further understand who they are and in understanding their purpose for being.   

 

*Education: 

  • Master of  Arts- Chicago State  Concentration: Special Education. August 2005- June 2007

  • Bachelor of Arts - Northeastern Illinois University (2000) – Chicago, IL Concentration:  Psychological and Behavioral Studies in Adolescents

            Mr. Lewis, Jr.,  Director of Program Development

Willie L. Lewis, Jr. grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and was one of the two African-American males to integrate the Catholic School System in 1965. As a high school student Mr. Lewis attended Yale Summer High School in New Haven, Connecticut for two summers as a student and spent his last summer as a Teaching Assistant. Mr. Lewis graduated from Tougaloo College with a degree in African-American Studies and Education in 1972. He went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin and received a Masters of Science in Library Science in 1974. In 1975 Mr. Lewis accepted a position at the Statesville Correctional Center where he was the first African-American male librarian in the Correctional System in Illinois. He started the Law Library and the Reading Library for the institution. While in Joliet, Mr. Lewis taught at Lewis University and was one of the founders of Nu Pi Graduate Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and was instrumental in establishing an undergraduate chapter of the fraternity at Lewis University in Lockport, Illinois.  

               In 1980 Mr. Lewis moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago Area Health and Medical Careers as the Associate Director of the high school and prematriculation program which was a structured mentoring program for minority students who were interested in the health professions. While at IIT Mr. Lewis received a Masters in Public Administration. In 1987 Mr. Lewis went to Chicago State University as the Assistant Director of the Health Careers Opportunity Program. Mr. Lewis joined the Chicago Housing Authority in 1989 where he worked in the Department of Research and Program Development as a Project Manager 11. In this position, Mr. Lewis was responsible for the development and implementation of the CHA Police Department, the CHA Tenant Patrol and the Authority’s Resident Management Programs. In 1993, Mr. Lewis was named Deputy Director of the Department. While at the Authority Mr. Lewis served as a consultant to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Public Housing Director’s Association.

            In 1995 Mr. Lewis became the Executive Director of the Dearborn Homes Resident Management Corporation. During his tenure, The Corporation received the IIT Community Recognition Award for their role in the redevelopment of Dearborn through partnerships with other agencies throughout the city.  Mr. Lewis decided to answer the call for male teachers in the Chicago Public School System. He worked at Chalmers Elementary School and Bradwell Academy. In 1998, Mr. Lewis received the North Lawndale Community Learning Center Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2001 Mr. Lewis received a Masters in Educational Administration from Roosevelt University. In 2005, Mr. Lewis became the Vice-President of Alexis-Williams Consulting, Ltd., and was responsible for project management and program design. Mr. Lewis has worked with many organizations as a consultant throughout his professional career.  Mr. Lewis is committed to the empowerment of African American and Hispanic males whom our society has deemed at risk. Mr. Lewis is a Co-Founder of MTL Educational Consulting Inc.  and also serves as the Director of Program Development.  

 Purpose

The primary purpose of MTL Educational Consulting, Inc. is to provide supplemental educational and social support services to high school students, with specialized services for students identified as 'under-performing and/or at-risk'. 

Target Population  

The services of  MTL Educational Consulting are designed specifically to provide and support  high school students coping with life complexities. We promote and enhance individual student development and also address matters that affect overall school culture. The services are not gender specific, and can therefore be implemented in a co-educational academic environment resulting in benefits for students individually as well as for the body as a whole.

Keep On Pushing - Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions