Tag Archive: graduation


Site Coordinator Snapshot: Providing a New Path

Filed Under: Site Coordinator Snapshots by Tracey Savell Reavis — Leave a comment
January 24, 2013
Reggie Hester

Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Site Coordinator Reggie Hester. Photo courtesy May Johnston.

Reggie Hester starts every workday the same –behind locked doors inside Jail North, the county jail in Charlotte, N.C.

From his office in the minimum security building, Hester, a site coordinator for Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, works to provide critical resources for incarcerated high school students in order to ensure they graduate and are prepared for life. The nearly 200 16- and 17-year-old male students he works with are classified as youth offenders, identifiable by their color-coded outfits to distinguish them from the adult inmates that are in the same facility. The students are required to attend classes while at Jail North, and Hester does everything he can to make sure graduation is a goal within reach.

“Society may say one thing, but I don’t constantly beat these young men down,” said Hester, who has a master’s in educational behavior disorders. “Having a support system in place breeds resiliency and makes students want to continue their education. We do everything we can to meet their needs, and let them know they are supported here.”

Hester came to this position in 2009, when Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the Mecklenburg County’s Sheriff’s Office and Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system officials all realized there was more that could be done to support students while in custody and after they were released from jail.

In the last four years, Hester has coordinated with as many as 13 high schools to not only make sure the course work they were receiving at Jail North matched the schools’ curricula, but that the students are also introduced to college access programs. He arranges for targeted services like counseling and provides programming that has included art therapy and presentations from local business leaders. And Hester also builds relationships with the students’ families and their schools, so that when students are released, they continue to receive resources and are supported as they integrate back into their community. He also provides the same support for female students at Jail Central, the maximum security facility in Charlotte.

Jamal Tate

“Mr. Hester was a great guidance. I definitely benefitted from having a positive male figure in my life." - Jamal Tate, Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg alum.

“I know that on a day in and day out basis, I’ve given them everything I can,” said Hester. “We wear a lot of hats, but it is rewarding. Especially at graduation.”

One of the young men Hester supported is Jamal Tate, a Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg alum, who went from spending three stints behind bars to graduating from high school on time and becoming a college student.

“I was lost and hopeless and did not know where I was going in life,” said Tate, now 20 and a sophomore at Central Piedmont Community College in N.C. “Mr. Hester was a great guidance. I definitely benefitted from having a positive male figure in my life. Even his bowties and funny socks made me laugh and having that in such a negative place was helpful.”

Hester was instrumental in Tate’s eventual success, arranging for counseling, making sure all of the required assignments were delivered to the student and making sure he took all his necessary tests for graduation.

Said Tate, “Communities In Schools gives students a system of support. I trusted Mr. Hester and I knew that he had my best interest. I think it [Communities In Schools] is an awesome program and students should take advantage of it.”

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What We’re Reading

Filed Under: What We're Reading by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
December 7, 2012
Cupcake Diaries cover

"The Cupcake Diaries" is one series The New York Times highlights for its inclusion of a Hispanic character.

New York Times: While Hispanic children make up nearly a quarter of the United States’ public school population, they’re having trouble finding likenesses of themselves in reading materials in classrooms and libraries. Many of today’s popular book titles feature main characters who are white. And according to numerous education experts, this results in Hispanic students feeling unable to connect with and get invested in the stories they’re reading.

“Kids do have a different kind of connection when they see a character who looks like them or they experience a plot or a theme that relates to something they’ve experienced in their lives,” said Jane Fleming, an assistant professor at the Erikson Institute, a graduate school in early childhood development in Chicago.

In response, publishers are beginning to promote titles that more accurately reflect today’s classroom demographics. For instance, Simon & Schuster is rolling out a series for girls with a Hispanic protagonist. And Houghton Mifflin allocates a specific percentage of its published content to feature Hispanic characters.

UNICEF: Making education accessible to all, regardless of economic status, is truly an international issue. In 2010, the global population of those between the ages of 15 and 24 reached one billion, and according to Pauline Rose, director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, many of these young people are not learning the skills necessary to succeed as adults. In an enlightening podcast with UNICEF, Rose discusses what needs to be done by both local communities and national governments to help children get the education they need to attain viable careers.

Across the United States, Communities In Schools focuses on preparing young people  for life after high school graduation. Our site coordinators take students on college visits, help students with college and financial aid applications, and provide career-building opportunities such as visits to professional offices, internships, and job shadowing experiences.

Huffington Post: A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation revealed that nearly 6.5 million teenagers and young adults in the United States are neither in school nor working. According to the “Kids Count” report, the number of unemployed youth in the country has reached its highest level since World War II.  And these young people are not only having trouble finding viable careers — they’re   having trouble finding entry-level jobs in places such as restaurants and grocery stores, where they can learn ground-level professional skills necessary to succeed in the adult workforce.

As these young people continue to face barriers due to economic status and lack of education, the nation is at risk of facing a huge boom in chronic unemployment.

“All young people need opportunities to gain work experience and build the skills that are essential to being successful as an adult,” Patrick McCarthy, president and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said in a statement. “Ensuring youth are prepared for the high-skilled jobs available in today’s economy must be a national priority, for the sake of their future roles as citizens and parents, the future of our workforce and the strength of our nation as a whole.”

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What We’re Reading

Filed Under: What We're Reading by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
November 30, 2012

Chronicle of Philanthropy: We made it through the crowded shopping aisles and parking lots on Black Friday. We refreshed many an overloaded online store on Cyber Monday. And on Tuesday, rather than rushing to buy things, we gave. The first Giving Tuesday kicked off this past week, and people were encouraged to take a break from their holiday shopping to donate to their favorite nonprofits. The amount of online donations processed by Blackbaud, a processor of online gifts, shot up 53 percent to a whopping $10 million on Tuesday, compared with the same day last year, before the inception of Giving Tuesday.

Did you make a donation on Giving Tuesday? Let us know in the comments!

Education Week: On Monday, the Department of Education released high school graduation rates from the 2010-2011 school year that for the first time reflect a common method of calculation for all states. The new method of calculation requires states to track individual students and report how many first-time ninth graders graduate within four years.

State-by-state data, available on Education Week’s website, reflects large achievement gaps. While 88 percent of eligible students graduated last year in Iowa, only 56 percent graduated in Washington, D.C. Across the country, Communities In Schools’ local affiliates are committed to closing the achievement gap and making sure that students have the resources they need to graduate and succeed.

Huffington Post: One thing holding many students back from pursuing a post-secondary education is the cost. College can put students back thousands of dollars, and with the current state of the economy, many are afraid they won’t be able to earn enough after graduation to pay off their loans.

On Tuesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott challenged colleges across the state to provide bachelor’s degrees at a fraction of the current cost – $10,000, to be precise.

“Today, I’m issuing a challenge to our state colleges to help improve the value of higher education for Florida families by improving affordability and results,” Scott said. “I’m issuing a challenge … to find innovative ways to offer a bachelor’s degree at a cost of just $10,000 to Florida families that will provide graduates with a great opportunity for employment.”

St. Petersburg College is the first school to step up to the challenge. President Bill Law is currently looking into making the school’s Technology Management and Development program available to students for $10,000.

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What We’re Reading

Filed Under: Dropout Epidemic, Race Equity, What We're Reading by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
September 21, 2012
Caine Monroy

Caine Monroy. Photo courtesy Caine's Arcade.

Imagination Foundation: Last October, the world was invited to play in Caine’s Arcade, an arcade built out of cardboard, packing tape and imagination by a nine-year-old boy from East Los Angeles. Since filmmaker Nirvan Mullick made a short film about Caine and the amazing toys he built in his father’s car parts storefront, thousands of people have visited the arcade and donated enough money to pay for Caine’s college education. And millions of children have been inspired to invent their own wonderful games out of boxes and dreams. Mullick also created the Imagination Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “finding, fostering and funding creativity and entrepreneurship in kids.”

So this October 6, exactly one year since Caine’s Arcade became an online sensation, the Imagination Foundation is hosting the “Global Cardboard Challenge.” Children and adults from around the world are invited to get creative and build their own toys out of cardboard and share them with their communities. Visit the Imagination Foundation’s website to organize a Global Cardboard Challenge event in your neighborhood, or learn where you can play!

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Thanksgiving is the official kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Right after we’re done digesting all that turkey and mashed potatoes, there’s Black Friday and a weekend of deals. Then there is Cyber Monday. And now there’s…Giving Tuesday?

This holiday season, nonprofits across America are encouraging shoppers to open their wallets for donations, rather than presents. Organizations like Charity: Water, GlobalGiving, Kiva and the United Nations Foundation are spreading the word through social media, and are using the hashtag #GivingTuesday on Twitter.

Do you think an event like Giving Tuesday could catch on with consumers, like Cyber Monday has? Sound off in our comments section.

Education Week: While the four-year graduation rate for black males has been on the uptick over the last decade, a study released Wednesday morning revealed that they still have a long way to go before they are at the same level as their Hispanic and white peers.

The study, conducted by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, revealed that during the 2009-2010 school year, 52 percent of black males graduated from high school with a regular diploma within four years. In that same span of time, 58 percent of Hispanic males graduated, and 78 percent of white males got their diplomas. In 10 years, the achievement gap between black males and white males has only closed by three percent.

“We recognize the progress, but at that rate it would take over 50 years for black males to be on par with white, non-Hispanic males,” said John H. Jackson, president and chief executive officer of the Schott Foundation.

The study offers numerous reasons to explain the achievement gap, and what schools across America can do to close it once and for all. Read the full report on the Schott Foundation’s website.

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Representing Success

Filed Under: Race Equity by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
August 2, 2012

Can you believe that it’s August already? Back-to-school season is officially underway, and many young adults are packing their suitcases and buying out Target in anticipation of their first year of college.

College is often considered an “awakening” period – especially for college students living on campus. They’re leaving home, and learning how to take care of themselves and be a part of a larger, more diverse community. Living on campus often means living with thousands of young people from all over the country (and even from other cultures).

Unfortunately, according to a new study by Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis, college campuses are not always as ethnically and culturally diverse as their brochures make them out to be. According to the study, which analyzed race, income and enrollment patterns at top-tier universities between 1982 and 2004, black and Hispanic students are considerably underrepresented in the United States’ most selective colleges.

Even after taking income disparities between black and white families into account, white students were five times as likely as black students to enroll in a highly selective college, and three times as likely as Hispanic students.

Stanford’s study also looked at how low-income students fared during the college application process. While scholarships, grants and other forms of financial aid are available for students who have difficulty affording a post-secondary education, only six percent of students enrolled in selective colleges came from families in the bottom quartile of income distribution.

Part of this certainly has to do with the economic downturn. While millions of adults struggle to find jobs and make ends meet, the cost of college still continues to rise. Many students, upon graduating high school, are faced with a very difficult choice: go to college and sink into debt, or earn money that can go towards supporting themselves and their family?

Communities In Schools works to make sure that all of the students we serve, regardless of race or income, are able to make their dreams of college come true. We provide them with tutors, college campus visits, assistance with college and financial aid applications, SAT prep and more. Our site coordinators have even helped students find part-time work, so that they can go to school and earn an income at the same time.

And during the 2010-2011 school year, the work certainly paid off: 81 percent of graduates monitored post-graduation went on to some form of post-secondary education.

Looking for inspiration? Read about Rey Saldaña, a Communities In Schools of San Antonio alum who utilized our resources to go to Stanford University. Now, he’s a city councilman and making a positive difference in his community.

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