In the old television show What’s My Line?, a celebrity panel tried to figure out contestants’ occupations.
Dwight McCullough of Bigelow likely would have stumped them all.
The 56-year-old McCullough is soft-spoken and laughs easily. He describes himself as “shy.” On this particular day, he received an award for his work. He is wearing a dark suit paired with a burgundy dress shirt, a patterned tie in the same color and a matching pocket square. His black shoes are shined to perfection.
A counselor, maybe? A teacher?
Sort of both.
McCullough is a juvenile probation officer for Faulkner County.
He received the first Dare to Dream Award from Deliver Hope, a nonprofit, Christian organization for at-risk youth. Its resource center is across the street from the Faulkner County Detention Center in downtown Conway, where McCullough became a jailer about 17 years ago. He’s been a probation officer for 11 years.
“I always say, ‘Who am I to judge?’ I can’t judge you, but I do believe in second chances,” McCullough said.
McCullough said he and his fraternal-twin brother, Duane, were in the principal’s office on a regular basis growing up in Carson, California.
Their mother was a principal at another school; their father owned a construction business, where McCullough worked growing up.
McCullough said he was often called into the principal’s office based on something his brother did. “They couldn’t tell us apart,” he said, laughing.
“Back then, a parent didn’t mind whipping their kid. I had my share,” he said. McCullough said his parents, who still live in Carson, also showed their children lots of love. He also has an older brother, Maurice.
With the influence of both parents, McCullough majored in education at the University of California, Los Angeles, but he didn’t graduate. He taught construction classes at Compton College in California, and his father taught there, too, using his real-life experience.
McCullough also taught construction classes and courses such as apartment maintenance at a Los Angeles high school, and he helped the students construct buildings. “I love doing that type of stuff,” he said.
McCullough and his second wife, Lydia, came through Arkansas once on their way home from Washington, D.C.
“We were talking about how beautiful it was,” he said, and they decided to retire to the state someday.
He said it was “weird” the way it happened, but the couple went to the library and got a map of Arkansas. They hung it on the wall and decided to throw a dart. “We said, ‘Wherever this dart lands is where we’re going to live,’” he said. His wife threw the dart, and it hit Harrison.
“We drove all the way up there; it was kind of different,” he said, laughing. They decided, instead, to live in Ozone near Clarksville.
They lived in a log cabin with six of their combined nine children.
“It was just nice, because I’d never been in the woods before,” he said.
That was in 1992. McCullough did construction work and worked for Job Corps, where he served as a residential adviser.
He and his family moved 23 years ago to Bigelow in Perry County.
“It’s so peaceful,” he said.
After a stint at the Conway Human Development Center and the city of Conway Physical Plant, McCullough got a job as a Faulkner County jailer. From there, he became a juvenile bailiff for former Circuit Judge Linda Collier, who asked McCullough to become a probation officer.
“I turned her down the first time; I just didn’t think it was for me,” McCullough said. The second time she asked, he agreed.
He had 156 cases at first, and now it’s about 60 to 70 on an ongoing basis, he said. He deals with youth ages 10 to 21.
“Each kid is different; you have to work with them different. My role is just to help them be able to succeed,” he said.
He goes over the terms and conditions of their probation and provides services, including tutoring, mentoring with University of Central Arkansas students, Girl Scouts, boxing classes and more.
McCullough said he and Leslie Dawes, another probation officer, teach a 10-week program called Justice Circles. The young people have to write a letter to the person they wronged, as well as letters to “their younger self,” he said.
“We’re not there to scold them; we’re there to rehabilitate them,” McCullough said.
When a kid turns his life around, there’s nothing better, he said.
McCullough said he gets texts messages from parents and former clients, thanking them for his help. One parent texted him that her son was going to graduate from high school and said if it weren’t for McCullough, the boy wouldn’t have succeeded.
“One girl did not like me at first,” McCullough said. The girl was sent to boot camp for several weeks, and McCullough went to her graduation.
“She saw me there; she ran up to me, and she hugged me. She said, ‘Mr. McCullough, thank you for everything you’ve done for me, and I love you,’” he said. She started working with Job Corps, and she texted him and thanked him again.
“Those things stick with you,” he said.
McCullough can relate to the heartbreak of the youth’s parents; he’s gotten those late-night calls. One of his sons has been incarcerated.
“The only thing we can do for him is pray for him,” McCullough said. “You have those who are hard-headed, like my son. You can bang your head against the wall, but eventually, you’re going to get tired of banging your head against the wall, and you’re going to straighten up.”
He praised the work that Deliver Hope is doing, and he said it makes a difference. Deliver Hope offers mentoring and tutoring in the detention center and other programs for at-risk youth.
“They’ve given a lot of the youths hope,” he said. McCullough said it’s good that the Deliver Hope Resource Center is right across the street from the detention center, because it’s the first thing youth see when they leave.
“I wish they had a bigger sign — Dare to Dream,” he said, spreading his arms in the air.
McCullough said he and his wife have talked about how they’d like to open a home for young people who have nowhere to go. That’s his dream.
The Dare to Dream Award means a lot to him, McCullough said.
“I believe that when you say ‘dare to dream,’ that’s saying you can do anything, and it doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re good or bad — you can do anything,” he said.
Deliver Hope founder Daniel Tyler said Circuit Judge Troy Braswell Jr., who presides over juvenile cases, nominated McCullough “because of his selfless commitment to encourage and speak life into kids on juvenile probation. Deliver Hope is thankful for Dwight and his commitment to helping kids dream again.”
McCullough said he was afraid that when Braswell became judge in January 2015 that he wouldn’t keep McCullough on as a probation officer.
When a letter from Braswell arrived in the mail, McCullough said, he “let it sit in the box for two days.”
“I was so afraid to open that letter,” he said.
Before he and his wife left on a weekend trip, he asked her to open it. “I said, ‘I can’t open it; my nerves are shot.’”
Braswell asked McCullough to remain on staff. “That was the best letter I ever received,” McCullough said.
McCullough shouldn’t have worried. Braswell can’t praise him enough.
“I knew Dwight was going to be a special part of our team when he showed up for his job interview wearing a suit and tie,” Braswell said. “He stood out among the other applicants. It told me that he was ready to work and that he was taking it seriously.
“Dwight has a commanding physical presence. At first glance, I am sure some of the juveniles are intimidated. I guess it’s no surprise that he handles some of our tougher cases. But there is more to Dwight than his intimidating presence. Dwight has a heart for the kids under his supervision. He wants nothing more than to see his kids succeed — for that, our community should be grateful.”
Braswell related a recent situation in which McCullough helped a young woman overcome “serious life issues.”
“She was raised in a broken home surrounded by drugs, dropouts and bad influences. She had no hope. She had no drive. Frankly, she didn’t have a chance,” Braswell said. “Now the young lady is flourishing and is going to be an amazing woman. She is going to break the cycle in her family. She is beginning her own legacy. It was rewarding to see Dwight and the young lady cry while he read her progress report in court. Dwight was tough on her, but he was there for her. He was her rock. So while the intimidation helps, his heart makes the biggest impact.”
McCullough said some of the juvenile offenders with whom he works might think he doesn’t like them, or even that he doesn’t care.
“I do care; I care a lot about them, a lot about them,” he said quietly, looking down as he nodded.
“I’m loving; I care about people. Judge calls me a teddy bear sometimes,” McCullough said, laughing again.
That’s who he is.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.