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Mesquite ISD

Excellence Happens Here

Popular Links

  1. Departments
  2. Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives
  3. Leadership and Empowerment
  4. The Mesquite Promise

The Mesquite Promise

  • A motivational graphic featuring the text "YOU WERE MADE TO EXCEL" alongside phrases encouraging initiative and ambition, with a blurred face on the left.
  • A close-up of a person with textured hair wearing a red shirt, surrounded by inspirational text promoting authenticity and connection.
  • A young girl with long hair wears a red t-shirt. Text overlay emphasizes the importance of dignity and self-worth.
  • A boy with short dark hair is wearing a backpack, surrounded by inspirational text about making a difference and embracing empathy.

The Purpose of the Promise:

  • Create a lens to view our shared commitment and common understanding of the collective vision for youth success.
  • Promote a framework to identify opportunities for adults to encourage and support positive habits in our young people actively.
  • Provide simple strategies and resources for creating an environment that prioritizes dignity, belonging, and the positive development of young people.

Graphic with hexagonal shapes and motivational phrases: 'You were made to excel,' 'You belong here,' etc.

Mesquite ISD is committed to creating a culture of dignity that leads to belonging for our students, staff, and stakeholders. 

Under the direction of Dr. LaDonna Gulley, the Mesquite Promise was locally developed and rigorously vetted by multiple committees as part of the district's leadership and empowerment initiative. The Promise directly represents the collective work of many MISD programs, committees, and departments. It is rooted in research-based practices and focuses on engaging the community to support Mesquite ISD's established vision and values.

The Mesquite Promise outlines four principles and 16 habits for adults and young people to establish and nurture. We believe the Mesquite Promise will cultivate our collective goal of removing barriers and surrounding young people with the opportunities they need to grow up successfully.

Research Behind the Promise

Research Behind the Promise

In the 1990’s research shifted focus from a deficit reduction and prevention paradigm to a strengths building approach, which aims at understanding what strengths, resources and experiences are important for successful youth development (Damon, 2004; Benson et al., 2006; Duncan et al., 2007; Lerner and Steinberg, 2009; Bonell et al., 2016).

Increasing attention has been directed toward factors that benefit healthy youth development, which led to the emergence of models centering attention on the strengths, resources, and positive experiences of youth and their developmental contexts, seeking thus to conceptualize a positive development in adolescence (Eccles and Gootman, 2002; Damon, 2004; Hamilton et al., 2004; Small and Memmo, 2004; Lerner et al., 2006).

Additional Resources:

Join The Promise Movement

Supporting and participating in the Mesquite Promise is simple; anyone can join the movement. All you have to do is:

  1. Believe in the core principles
  2. Embody and encourage the habits
  3. Click here to submit your promise

To request more information or schedule a presentation with your campus or organization, contact Dr. LaDonna Gulley at lgulley@mesquiteisd.org or 972-882-8782.

Leadership and Empowerment in MISD