In Message to Mission, comedian Larry D. Veal tells how one school assembly became a mentoring movement that changed thousands of young lives — and sets the record straight on who built it.
It didn’t start in a boardroom. It started with the counselors — the ladies at the beginning — who saw a need in their school and encouraged him to do something about it. He came in with comedy. A school assembly. Then that assembly became a focus group. The focus group became weekly mentoring. And the weekly mentoring became a department in the school system that is still there today.
This new edition carries the receipts: the closing chapter that tells how the community-based mentoring program was created, the original memorandum of understanding, the district’s own executive summaries, and letters from the students themselves.
His motto then is his motto now: “Before you kick them out, let us help them out.”
“Mr. Larry Veal is filling a gap that we had here and we hope that he can continue to do that for a long time.”
— Karen Robinson, Principal, Shiloh Middle School — 2006
“There are people in this life who can make a difference. There are some who you are surprised to see make a difference. A lot of times, it’s not the churches, the schools, the politics, or the government. Sometimes, it’s just a person who has the heart to change and the spirit to make a difference. In this case, we want to recognize that person with this award, and that person is Larry Veal.”
[This letter was hand-delivered to Larry by Rev. Stewart's wife, Jujuan, over ten years after his death.]
To see Veal’s other book, click here.
Alex Haley wrote other books. But the world knows him for one: Roots. That was his book — the one that carried his name and his story to everybody.
Message to Mission is mine.
Roots introduced us to the past. Message to Mission can introduce us to a brighter future.
Roots looked back — at where we came from, and what it cost to get here. This book looks forward — at where our children can go, if the adults around them decide to help instead of punish. It tells how a mentoring program was built in Gwinnett County, Georgia — one of the largest school systems in America — out of assemblies, small groups, and one man’s promise to save youth through comedy.
Every author has the one book that says who he is. This is that book for me.
— Larry D. Veal
It started with a mother’s passion — a mother wanting her child to live. She had lost one child, and she caught on to Mr. Veal to help inspire — and he used comedy to do it.
Now imagine it somewhere else.
Imagine other school systems creating community-based mentoring programs of their own. Imagine the I Have Willpower curriculum in their classrooms — teaching young people to stop, think, and choose. Imagine what it does to a school when the students everybody had given up on start passing, start graduating, start staying out of the system.
And there is proof the I Have Willpower curriculum works. From 2023 to 2026, under contract with Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson, Mr. Veal ran four cohorts of the New Directions diversion program, teaching his I Have Willpower curriculum to court-involved youth. Upon completion, the Achievers were able to get their charges dropped. The program was a huge success — every young person who enrolled completed it to the end and got their charges dropped.
In this program they are not called students — they are called Achievers, and the whole program is run through Achievers. They learn nuggets like the I Effect — “There’s no I in team, but there is an I in life”; FOP — Focus on the Positive; and BOW — Better Or Worse: before you make a decision, ask yourself whether it will make things better or worse.
The program is built on three foundational principles: decisions are made by being impulsive, emotional, or through peer pressure. The Achievers were able to identify which one was most likely driving their own attitude, and then address it through various concepts and theories — many of them fun to learn, easy to learn, and engaging.
These are lessons taught for years. The mission is not over. Mr. Veal’s hope is that the I Have Willpower curriculum will make not just Achievers in the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, but Achievers all across America — young Achievers all across America.
Mr. Veal’s account, as he states it — presented here as his account. And the records are on file to prove it: pre- and post-test assessments, video footage of graduations, and student comments — all available in the records.
From the book’s closing chapter:
“I created it so it could be franchised — carried into school systems all across this country, and maybe beyond — for hurting kids and hurting families who need inspiration, humor, and encouragement.”
“This book was never a message to mission for Gwinnett. It’s a message to mission for the world.”
Wouldn’t it be great? One school system proved it can be done. The book shows how. The next system just has to pick it up.
Imagine a country full of young Achievers.
Don’t take his word for it. Take theirs.
GCPS 7th-grade counselor shares the program’s impact — 2007
GCPS 8th-grade counselor shares the program’s impact — 2007
Ms. Dana Booker — GCPS middle-school testimony, 2007
“Mr. Larry Veal has been counseling several males at Shiloh Middle School for the past three years on a voluntary basis… In seventh grade this year, 33 students have participated in his sessions. 31 students or 94% of the participants reduced negative behaviors… The services he has provided at no cost have been an effective intervention.”
“He has worked with our students here at Lanier Middle School for several years… The students respected him and learned valuable life lessons while working with him.”
“We have documented a noticeable reduction in the number of discipline referrals… Mr. Veal is a role model who presents a positive message that is both powerful and valuable.”
“Thanks for coming today! The students really enjoyed you!!”Five Forks Middle School
Janet Klos — mother of two — speaks about Larry Veal and the Be More Positive Company’s impact.
“Over that period of time the behavior change was immense and phenomenal. I could not believe it, and his teachers could not believe it… This curriculum belongs in every home and school everywhere.”
“I was wondering why my son started doing his chores.”
A Duluth High School student, interviewing Larry Veal for her research project — Gwinnett County, 2008.
“You helped me a lot when you talked about not taking drugs. That same week I was going to try Marijuana on a Saturday… I decided not to take Marijuana with those kids. On Monday I heard those kids were arrested. I could have been in juvenile, but because of you I’m not.”
“Mr. Veal the first time I just thought you were here for the money, but then I got to realize you wanted to help us. You were giving real life stuff that made sense.”
“At first I would just go to get out of class… But you showed me that you have to care for your grades and family and yourself… You can’t waste it by going to jail or going to join a gang.”
“Some of the things you’ve taught us we would have never known. I hope you come back next year.”
“I havent been arrested again or kicked out of school again. I have improved my grades & have shown more respect to my teachers.”
The remaining student letters — from Shane Huckleby, Javier Lunez, Justin Rumbery, and William Hernandez — are printed in full in the book’s appendix, “Letters from Students.” Read all nine letters in the book.
Otis Russell, 8th grade, Shiloh Middle School — recognized the day he realized he was passing all his classes.
To see Veal’s other book, click here.
Select any photo to see it larger.
Larry D. Veal — comedian, speaker, author — has spent his life doing two things that turned out to be one thing: making people laugh, and keeping young people out of prison.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Sociology from HBCU Paine College in Augusta, Georgia (1989), and served as a Georgia correctional officer, a Fulton County juvenile probation officer, and a juvenile boot camp instructor in Indianapolis before founding Be More Positive Enterprises in Metro Atlanta. In the early 1990s he began taking comedy into schools — auditorium assemblies that became small-group mentoring, and mentoring that became Gwinnett County’s community-based mentoring work in the county’s secondary schools. From October 2023 to August 2026 he led the New Directions diversion program for the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, delivering his I Have Willpower curriculum to court-involved youth.
His honors include Best Minority Non-Profit in Gwinnett County (2010), the Home Depot Foundation Charity of the Year (2015), and the NAACP Making a Difference Award (2006). His services led to the creation of the community-based mentoring department as currently in use by the Gwinnett County Public School System.
On stage he is Coop D. Veal — clean, country, original comedy, thirty years and counting. In print, he is the author of Message to Mission, Troubled Kids Need Jesus Too, and Funny Jokes & Stories to Take Your Mind Off Serious Stuff.
His words for all of it:“Before you kick them out, let us help them out.”
School systems, district attorneys’ offices, juvenile justice agencies, and other organizations are invited to partner with Larry D. Veal in this mission — focus groups, professional development, town hall meetings, book clubs, and keynote speaking.
Your gift supports Be More Positive Enterprises and its I Have Willpower work — the mentoring and curriculum that help young people and families choose a better path.
Donate — $savekidsBMPCash App: $savekidsBMP
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“We’re here to talk about the program you started in Gwinnett County.”
School systems, district attorneys’ offices, juvenile justice agencies, and other organizations are invited to partner with Larry D. Veal in this mission. Here’s how:
45 minutes to an hour. You pick the topic or subject matter, based on your situation and your school’s concerns.
For your counselors, teachers, mentors, and other staff.
Questions and answers: ask me questions, and I’ll answer questions about the book.
Your organization reads Message to Mission together: your students, staff, community leaders, mentors, and peers.
And always, invite me in as your keynote speaker.
Submitting this form sends your request to Larry D. Veal. Your date is then checked and confirmed by reply.
← Back to the main pageThirty years of working with young people in trouble — in schools, in courts, and in the community — and the program that grew out of it, told in Message to Mission. Now you can sit down with him directly.
A conversation about your child.
School trouble, suspensions, court involvement, or a child you can see heading the wrong way. Larry has spent his life in that exact moment with families — first as a juvenile probation officer, then building the mentoring program Gwinnett County schools asked him to bring in. Bring your questions; leave with a plan and a straighter read on what your child needs next.
How the program worked, and what it takes to build one.
The community-based mentoring model that began in Gwinnett County in 2005 — how it started, how it ran school to school, and what your district or agency should know before starting its own. A working conversation for superintendents’ staff, principals, counselors, DA’s offices, and juvenile justice leaders. (For speaking engagements, see Partner With Me.)
Larry trains your mentors.
A full-day or two-day training for the mentors who will work with your young people — the same approach Larry used building community-based mentoring in Gwinnett County, taught to your team at your facility.
Please contact the office to arrange a training.
$50
$100
By phone or video call, scheduled at a confirmed time.
Submitting this form sends your request to Larry D. Veal. Your time is then confirmed by email.
The Message to Mission Student Handbook and Trainer’s Manual — coming soon. Consultation is the fastest way to hear how they will work in your school or home.
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Actual footage — Shiloh Middle School, Gwinnett County — 2006 — Laying the Foundation
Also by Larry D. Veal
His memoir of growing up in Indianapolis in the late 1970s and early ’80s — gang culture, violence, and judgment all around him — and the faith that turned his life around.