Grad student becomes spokesmodel for retailer

For first-year School of Social Work graduate student Kevin Roach, community service means a new wardrobe and a lot of publicity.

The clothing company American Eagle Outfitters chose Roach to be featured in its new "Live Your Life" campaign, which is focused on encouraging young adults to improve society through volunteer work.

AE was "really inspired by [Roach's] story and by his strong beliefs that he can help make the world a better place," according to company spokeswoman Emily Leon.

As one of the campaign's role models, Roach is featured in AE posters nationwide. He also appears in a video that discusses the accomplishments that made him catch AE's eye.

Roach linked up with the popular clothing company for young adults through his involvement with Jumpstart St. Louis, a youth literacy program that he founded while attending the University of St. Louis.

Jumpstart recruits high school and college students to teach disadvantaged elementary school children necessary literacy and social skills.

Joe Albert, who worked with Roach in Jumpstart, said that Roach "was the heart and soul of the program."

The now spokesmodel started Jumpstart with only $500 -- $400 of which was his own. As the program's leader, Roach sought funding from companies willing to contribute the resources, time and energy necessary for the initiatives he envisioned.

Roach said that he found encouraging companies to participate in Jumpstart "exciting, because the urge to help other people is really contagious."

Along with AE, Roach also secured the sponsorship of Applebee's and Home Depot.

In addition to getting a few free meals from Applebee's, he scored some free clothes from AE.

"It was one of the perks," he said. "It was a good tradeoff for being covered in layers and layers of makeup" for the photo shoot and video.

Roach's motivation to create Jumpstart stemmed from his preschool experiences. He spent the first five years of his life in a South Korean orphanage, after which he was adopted by a U.S. family. When he enrolled in preschool, his teachers helped him to learn English, and he acquired the social skills he needed to succeed as an American citizen.

His early learning experiences motivated him to help children in need of core literacy and social skills that their current educational systems may not be able to provide for them.

"He never thinks about himself or doing this for any other reason than to help those in need," Albert said.

Even though Albert said that Roach generally dislikes publicity, he added, "It's great that he gets to be a star for once."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.