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Timothy J. Pellerin

NSU Graduate Gains New Tool To Impact His Beach Students

By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal and Guide

   When Timothy J. Pellerin receives his degree during Norfolk State University’s graduation exercise on May 10, he will have another tool to help him make a  difference in the lives of youth he encounters each day.
   He knows there is a need; he also has the heart and passion.
   Pellerin will be receiving a Master’s degree in School Counseling, based on a 4.0 plus GPA. He hopes to apply it as a counselor with the Virginia Beach School System, specifically at Plaza Middle School.
   Right now,  Pellerin, who was born in Norfolk, is the school’s Assistant Football Coach and a member of Plaza’s security detail.  Now he will get a chance to see how he can apply his new degree and his passion for mentoring and nurturing youth at a very complex time in their lives and in cultural history.
   Many of the kids who enter the front doors of the nation’s middle schools do not exit the public school system as graduating seniors. Over 40 percent of them fail to continue to senior high school. The numbers are even more depressing for African American males.
   “This is a very critical period in the lives for  many of our children,” said Pellerin. “When I was in middle school, the environment was structured because they knew we were not ready to be independent. They knew we needed a structure and support from home and teachers.  “Today, the way middle school is designed hurts a lot of kids who are not ready for that independence. Plus, we have a lot of kids with parents who are not involved in their lives enough to ensure they have the support to avoid bad peer pressure or deal with the isolations and insecurities the kids face which cause them to fail.”
    Pellerin says that he could be involved in a job which would pay him a lot more money and provide less stress.
    “But we have lost two generations to  crime, materialism,  and the jails,” said Pellerin, who is 46. “I am in a position to help as many kids as I can by caring, listening and doing everything in  my power to see that they have what they need to succeed.”
    Pellerin recalls that when he graduated from Norview High School, he had a stellar football career. He got a full scholarship to Virginia Union University.  He appreciates the opportunity Union gave him, but “I was never told that I could have attended a larger school. I had the grades. The counselors assumed that because I was an athlete, I’d go some place.”

   After his collegiate career at Virginia Union,  Pellerin landed a job with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL in 1987.  It was brief, but he was among an elite community of college players who were summoned to  the professional ranks.

   After the NFL,  he landed a job with the Virginia State Police.  He got a chance to see how  the criminal justice system works. He said, for many youth, it is like a weight tied to their bodies which pulls them into the depths of  waters of destruction.

Posted April 30, 2008

     “So I would take time off and go to the schools and talk to the kids in my uniform,” said Pellerin. “I wanted to show them a Black man as a man of the law. I wanted to give them ideas on how to avoid trouble in their lives. I told them they had options.  I was hoping that I could touch as many as I could to make a difference.”
    Pellerin left the State Police and secured a job providing personal security services for a number of professional athletes and coaches, including Allen Iversen  and Coach Pat Riley.
    Pellerin saw NBA players making millions of dollars, and being granted privileges and material wealth most Americans can only dream about. 
    “You got a lot of these guys who have been given a lot of money. They will spend more on a car or ring than a lot of working class houses cost,” recalls Pellerin. “Many are mature enough  to handle the fact that people are coming at them and their wealth from many different directions. 
   “Then there are athletes who are reckless and immature.  They spend a lot and save very little. You often worry if they are saving, who is coming at them to get some of that wealth. I tried to counsel them...help them out. I didn’t feel appreciated for caring for these guys who were just as vulnerable as brothers out on the street without the wealth they enjoyed.”
    Honoree Pellerin,  Timothy Pellerin’s wife, says  that he could be working in a field where there are greater fiscal rewards, but would not provide him with the personal satisfaction of making a difference in the lives of the youth.
    She calls him that ”gentle giant who was coaxed into counseling” by his friends because “kids listen to him. His heart goes out to these kids who have nothing and no one.”
    “If he had his way he would try to help every child he touched,” said Honoree Pellerin, his wife of seven years. “All through his life he has been doing this. It is his life calling. The kids at his school are poor  and their parents are busy and they need help with their kids. I think they now have someone who has the passion to be there for their kids.”
Pellerin said that he wants to be an academic counselor  where he can expand  his ability to mentor and monitor  the students he  knows needs that  nurturing and attention to stay emotionally and academically afloat.
    “Not a day goes by that one of the football players or other students who have moved on and graduated and are out in the world doesn’t come back to campus and talk with me,” said Pellerin. “First they thank me for giving them the attention and showing concern.  Second they tell me that my encouragement was one of  the  things that helps them in life. That means more to me than money or fame.” 

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