BUFFALO. N.Y. — Young men were congratulated for stepping up to be the light in their community during this dark time in Buffalo.

"I don't want that to be me, like getting shot or something like that," said Cazmiere Paige, an 8th grader at School 89.

Paige is one of 90 young men who will learn from mentors how to become idols in their communities. They’ll take trips to cultural centers and museums to get a first-hand look at what it means to make a difference.

Paige participated in My Brother's Keeper Academy last year and the 13-year-old already has a new outlook on his future after learning about Frederick Douglass.

"I can help people just like him," Paige said.

That's the goal of the two-week program: teaching these young men they can be anything.

"They need to see that there is a whole world out there that relates to them historically and culturally that they can connect themselves to, that is not like all of the violence that we see in the community," said Dr. Fatima Morrell, assistant superintendent of curriculum assessment and instruction for Buffalo Public Schools. 

This year's theme to really bring home the message is hip hop.

"Using the text from songs, hip hop songs, to show the young men how to advocate for social justice," Morrell said.

The message beyond that is something everyone can take to heart.

"You will achieve, you will be the best, because you are the best," Morrell said.

It already has Paige dreaming of that Super Bowl winning touchdown and then one day being president.

"There should be no more violence because people are being killed for no reason,” Paige said.

A future campaign speech this 8th grader will work to spread up and down city streets now.