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Malik Mendez, 14, stood still at the front of the classroom as educator Raul Navas folded, looped and pulled through a half-Windsor knotted navy blue tie around Malik's neck. Two dozen of Malik's male classmates at Thurgood Marshall Middle School then began to fiddle with their own undone ties, which Navas, the school's media specialist, had brought for them.

After a few failed attempts to repeat the exercise by himself, Malik, an eighth-grader from Temple Hills, successfully completed a knot and began showing friends his technique.

"It's fun doing it," he said. "It's like constructing something."

Navas' workshop was part of the second annual "Men Make a Difference Day" on Tuesday at the Temple Hills school. The in-school retreat was held at public schools throughout Prince George's County, providing young men of all ages with an opportunity to connect with male role models in their community through lectures, workshops and discussion.

About 80 men — fathers, male guardians, staff and teachers, and other community volunteers — participated in the event.

For many young men being raised in single-parent, female-headed households, male role models can be lacking, said Sabrina Vann, the school's event coordinator and parent liaison.

"They need to be mentored," she said. "They need support."

The Thurgood Marshall program began with lectures for the 450 young men gathered in the school gymnasium on truancy and proper behavior from school administrators. It was followed by a star-studded video on the importance of completing their education, featuring commentary from actor Jamie Foxx, rapper and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs and others.

The boys then broke into smaller groups for workshops led by male teachers and volunteers from the community on topics such as the importance of going to college, how to save money and dining etiquette.

Eighth-grader Juwan Whitaker, 13, said he has many male role models in his life, from his father and grandfather to several teachers at school. He said he enjoyed the program's focus on making connections with other successful mentors in his community.

"It encourages kids to do the right thing and leads them on the right path," said Juwan, who lives in Temple Hills.

Vann said the long-term goal of the program is for some of the men to become mentors to some of the boys they meet at the retreat. Juwan said he still keeps in touch with Steven Morris, a retired school teacher and administrator in the county who presented at this year's retreat as well as last year.

"I want them to see me as an example of what they can do," said Morris, of Fort Washington, who is also running for the District 8 seat on the county Board of Education.

Robert Henderson, a peer mediation counselor at Thurgood Marshall who ran a workshop on inappropriate and appropriate public behavior, said boys need adult men in their lives to teach them basic skills, like how to dress and show respect to others.

The retreat is important because it shows boys "they still have men in their corner," Henderson said. "They don't have to do this alone."