Through his lens of hope

Deontay Hooker pulls back a Velcro strap and looks down at his wrist.

He knows there are only 30 seconds on the clock — that his team might need a divine intervention to overcome the three-point deficit its facing, that the offense is a long way away from the goal line.

He’s only a sophomore, but this young quarterback understands the stakes are higher than a win to boost Goldsboro High School’s record.

This is the Eastern Wayne game — and the outcome of this rivalry clash is one locals will hang onto for the next 365 days.

What he doesn’t know is that Kai Jones is standing alongside the corner of the end zone, a video camera in his hands.

He has no idea that what is about to unfold will be a defining moment, not just in Wayne County lore, but in the career of the young man documenting the action — a man on the verge of something big.

Nearly four years later, Kai can still see what happened next.

And considering that from where he was standing, it looked as though Hooker’s perfect spiral was headed right at him, it makes sense that the scene is etched into his memory.

Someone says, ‘Oh my God,’ as a GHS receiver breaks free from his defender.

And then, magic.

“Hooker throws that prayer and Dorian Rodgers goes up and gets it and scores,” he said. “I called it, ‘The Miracle on New Hope.’ That was pretty much my introduction.”

We Journal Great Sports had posted videos before that game.

Just a few weeks earlier, Kai documented a thrilling edition of the Little River Rivalry battle between Charles B. Aycock and Rosewood.

But there was something about that “miracle” at Eastern Wayne.

And when the video was posted on YouTube and Kai’s social media accounts, local sports fans and high school players were put on notice.

A homegrown talent with a fresh, appealing perspective on the games they loved was watching.

“I kind of felt like the community was thirsty for something like this,” Kai said.

But he wasn’t doing it to make a name for himself.

It wasn’t about money or having people notice him on the street.

It wasn’t about a brand or merchandising.

He was doing it to shine the spotlight on the teenage boys and girls he believes aren’t told nearly enough just how special they are — and how much potential they have on and off the field, court, diamond, track, and pitch.

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be on ESPN. I wanted to be Stuart Scott No. 2,” Kai said. “But, you know, God put something different on my heart. I came back home to make a difference.”

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Born at the hospital on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Kai’s Wayne County roots run deep.

He has, throughout his life, lived from Seven Springs to Dudley and currently resides in Goldsboro.

So he has seen, firsthand, how student-athletes from his community are often overlooked.

“We’re in Eastern North Carolina,” Kai said. “Eastern North Carolina kids don’t get the same type of love those Raleigh kids and places like that get.”

And he knows that for some of them who have the talent to play college sports, all they need is that one moment — the moment the right person sees the right video.

Before WJGS, there wasn’t a person in the area who dedicated themselves to facilitating those types of life-changing events.

“We used to have guys at the schools who were known. They were names. You might not have even known what they played, but you knew the name,” Kai said. “Now, you can click on a video and find out about just about any (athlete) in Wayne County.”

And the thousands of followers who obsessively refresh their Instgram feeds at the end of every game night waiting for the next mixtape have his cousin to thank.

“He played at Goldsboro. He was actually pretty good,” Kai said. “Didn’t go to college. After high school, he got into some trouble.”

But one night, when the two were playing video games online, he saw one of Kai’s videos.

“He was like, ‘Man, I wish we had some stuff like that when I was coming up. I probably could have gone to college. Maybe I could have changed some things about myself,’” Kai said. “That kind of touched my heart. It made me want to help other kids get out.”

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She might attend Wayne School of Engineering, but this particular teenage girl made her way to the Eastern Wayne Middle School Open House Wednesday evening.

She wanted to stop by the classroom of one of the teachers who made an impact on her life — a man most in the community know as the guy standing on the sidelines or courtside, a video camera in hand.

For Kai, being a videographer is just part of his mission.

It’s only one way in which he can change the trajectory of young lives.

By day, he’s a third-year English teacher building relationships with at-risk students — hoping his ELA instruction is secondary to the life lessons he tries to pass along every day.

“It’s not about just learning the material. With the age I’m teaching, they’re going through a lot. There are a lot of feelings, a lot of hormones and things like that. They are feeling things they aren’t used to feeling. So, I come in and try to give them a little something to teach them how to deal with their emotions — how to cope,” Kai said. “And I try to use what we read to get a message across. You know, like Icarus, it has a great lesson in there about flying too close to the sun — getting too big for your britches and not listening to people who know better.”

Being a mentor — a person his students know they can trust and rely on — means more to the founder of WJGS than the shoutouts he gets from the county’s most high-profile athletes.

It means more than clicks, likes, and follows.

It means more than a check from YouTube or being stopped in a grocery store.

“I’ve had students tell me I’m like their second dad. I’ve also had students tell me I’m the only teacher who’s ever cared about them,” Kai said. “You get all that stuff and it’s rewarding. With all the things that might not be great about being a teacher, that’s the greatest thing — being able to know you’ve made an impact on somebody.”

•

The sun has nearly set, and the GHS football team is leaving practice.

In two days, they will welcome bitter rival Southern Wayne to the Cougar Den and coaches want to ensure they are prepared.

Despite their exhaustion, a few players give Kai a head nod and one approaches.

He likely isn’t one of the players the man with the camera has mentored over the years, but as is the case with hundreds of local teenagers who have seen him on their respective campuses, there’s a familiarity.

His night job has broken down the walls that often stand between adults and opportunities to change young lives.

“That’s the biggest thing people don’t see. It’s the mentorship I do with these kids,” Kai said. “It might not necessarily be direct and every day … but I talk to them a lot — about the games, about things they need to be doing, attitude adjustments. And I don’t say anything different than what their coaches say, but for some reason, hearing it from a different voice sometimes can help.”

What that player doesn’t know is that for the founder of We Journal Great Sports, what he accomplishes with the camera and in the classroom are only part of the impact he hopes to make.

Just like the players he highlights, he, too, has bigger dreams.

But he doesn’t want to be in the NBA or see himself on an ESPN Top 10 reel.

Kai wants to help them get out of tough situations — to show their community that they have value.

One day, he wants to build them a place “they can call theirs” — a facility that helps them hone in on life after high school, after sports.

It wouldn’t be an ordinary rec center.

Kai’s place would be a one-stop shop that would, at least in his dreams, turn on the lightbulb for young people searching for their “what’s next?”

There would be a barber shop and beauty salon.

There would be a recording studio and basketball court.

There would be a football field and a café.

There would even be a gaming room and a shop where they could learn to work on cars.

“Not just a place where there’s athletics,” Kai said. “A full place that would give kids a place to dream.”

As a teacher and mentor, he knows what happens when young people don’t have direction.

As a son of Wayne County, he knows the limits of places like the Boys & Girls Club and Goldsboro Parks and Recreation facilities.

“They do their best with the resources they have,” he said. “But this would be something so much different. Something so much bigger.”

And he understands the fragile dynamics at play when people from different neighborhoods converge.

“So, I’d also like a place that would build some comradery between the communities because you know, we have some that are split,” Kai said. “But mostly, it would be a place where kids could learn about themselves.”

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Later this week, those who attend a local football game will likely see Kai standing alongside the corner of the end zone, a video camera in his hands.

He might be at Princeton, watching the perennial powerhouse Bulldogs take on a Rosewood team that has made deep playoff runs of their own the last several seasons.

He could travel out of county to see Charles B. Aycock, coming off their best season in decades, clash with North Lenoir.

Or maybe, he’ll find himself at Eastern Wayne, the place where, nearly four years ago, a Hail Mary thrown by a sophomore quarterback capped off “The Miracle on New Hope” that put WJGS on the map.

Just don’t ask him if his videos have helped local athletes make it to the next level.

He doesn’t want the credit.

He doesn’t want his work to overshadow their accomplishments.

But deep down, Kai knows that he is making a difference.

It’s the same philosophy he carries with him during his day job at Eastern Wayne Middle School.

“I have a feeling that I have (made an impact) but kids, a lot of times, don’t process that people were instrumental to them until later in life,” he said. “But I do have great relationships with a lot of my students. I will say that.”

And the same mantra applies both to his role as the man with the camera and the English teacher.

“This isn’t for me,” Kai said. “It’s for you.”