The Brownsville Independent School District and U.S. Border Patrol held an inaugural ceremony Monday at the Fort Brown Border Patrol Station to initiate the R.E.A.L. Mission program for BISD students to shadow U.S. Border Patrol agents.

The program is the result of a memorandum of understanding signed Oct. 3 between BISD and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, the Cameron County Juvenile Justice Department, 484th state District Court and Cameron County Court at Law No. 5.

The BISD Board of Trustees signed the MOU at its Oct. 3 meeting, authorizing the agencies to provide mentorship services to at-risk youth between 13 and 18 at no cost to the district.

The first cohort of REAL recruits were welcomed to the program at Monday’s ceremony. The program emphasizes education, leadership skills, teamwork and community service.

Agent Joey “Gucci” Garcia is the lead agent for REAL Mission. Agent Iris G. Rodriguez is the mentor agent. Both spoke to the new recruits at Monday’s program. REAL is an acronym for Rewarding Education Attitude Leadership.

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