“You couldn’t tell me I was not going to be Don Draper,” confided De’Shawn Wright, the District’s acting deputy mayor for education, referring to the protagonist of the popular television series “Mad Men.” The redirection of his ad man dream was triggered by interaction with a group of 11- to 17-year-old boys from New York’s Lower East Side. Responding to a co-worker’s request for volunteers, Wright agreed to help organize recreational activities for the boys. “These were New York kids. They were incredibly smart and incredibly street savvy. I was in awe of them,” he explained,
One day, the group was “flat.” He was baffled. “One of them said ‘Mr. Wright, it’s report card day.’ ” “I was absolutely floored by their grades,” continued Wright. “I made a deal to stay and work with them.” Instead of one day a week, he committed to two days. “I told them Tuesday you do things my way; Thursday I’ll do things your way.
