Panola College Welcomes Stanley Leone Jr.

On April 25^th, noted speaker Stanley Leone Jr., presented “Reaching Out from Within,” a reenactment of his tumultuous childhood and the relationships that changed the course of his future, to student from area high schools and middle schools. The session took place at the Q. M. Martin Auditorium on the campus of Panola College.

Sponsored by the Youth Advisory Group of the East Texas Workforce Development Board and hosted by Panola College, this presentation was made available to the participating schools at no charge.

Stanley attended Saint Xavier University in Chicago on football and academic scholarships.  He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a minor in Religious Studies.  He was recognized as an All-American Scholar by the university president, and was a multiple-year recipient of the National Dean’s List. 

Stanley was a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the national English Honors Society, as well as a Student Ambassador, and a four-year Presidential Scholarship recipient for outstanding academic performance.  This performance secured positions as Sports Editor of the Xavierite paper, nomination as a member of the Presidential Evaluation Board, and a member of the New Campus Housing Board.

Monda Simmons, his Teen Leadership teacher at South Houston High School, captured Stanley’s heart when he was seventeen years old.  She became the first appropriate adult in his life, as well as a vital element in his college education.  Stanley’s goal is to help teachers make a difference in kids’ lives, as Monda has made in his.  Monda now serves as Leadership Consultant for The Flippen Group.

At the age of twenty-three, Stanley became a Leadership Consultant with The Flippen Group, as well.  He has keynoted alongside Flip Flippen and Monty Roberts at some of the largest educational conferences in the nation, including the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, as well as conferences in Nebraska, New Mexico, Arizona, and others. 

Bringing the tragedy and triumph of his life to thousands of people, Stanley describes his childhood in terms such as: insecure, confused, scared, sexually and physically abused, gang-related, arrested and sentenced, addicted to drugs, and homeless.  He shares about the relationships in his life that changed him, and he believes there must be a relationship for there to be accountability and performance.  Stressing that he’s “not an expert . . . he’s a product,” Stanley reminds teachers that they do count, they do make a difference, and although “you won’t win the world, you can change it – one student at a time.”

With his wife, Rachel, he resides in Bryan, Texas.  He is currently in pursuit of his MBA degree from the University of South Australia.  Stanley truly has a passion for life and lives to make a difference.  He believes that for kids to succeed, you must build a safe environment for them by creating trust and modeling appropriate behavior.  He also believes that teachers make the difference between failure and success for the kids they touch.