Bringing It Home

When a child’s world is falling apart, school may be the last thing on his mind. Kenya McCormick knows all about that and also knows that a world can be rebuilt.

Kenya McCormick, 14, has lived through a lot.  His father died when he was very young, leaving his mother as the single parent of four children.  She struggled financially, moving her family often, and for a while they did not have a home of their own.  Kenya had struggles as well – both academically and with disciplinary issues – that put him at risk of losing his way.

Today, through his own resolve and with support from Communities In Schools, Kenya is looking at a much different world: one in which he achieves his dreams.

“What I want people to know is that I’m not worthless,” Kenya told a reporter for The Charlotte Observer, which published a story on his efforts to stay in school.

Dennis Dixon, Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg site coordinator, works hard every day to ensure that neither Kenya nor any of the other Communities In Schools students at John Taylor Williams Middle School in Charlotte, N.C., some of whom are homeless, ever feel worthless.  “They come to school with so much baggage.  Dealing with kids who are homeless requires patience and understanding.  It’s not showing favoritism but giving them the support they need,” Dixon said.

When Kenya began working with Dixon three years ago, he was “pretty angry” and failing in school.  Even at the beginning of the current school year, the principal placed Kenya on a contract after he had been held back to 7th grade at the end of the previous year.  The contract gave Kenya a set of objectives and 45 days to meet them.  Dixon worked with Kenya to ensure that he met the objectives, providing intensive counseling and mentoring as well as incentives for progress.  That effort paid off when Kenya met his objectives and moved up to 8th grade.  “At this rate, I expect Kenya to be promoted to high school,” said Dixon.  “His grades have improved every year, and his academic performance this year is the best yet.”

Kenya is one of Dixon’s most motivated students, and Dixon is happy to tell you that Kenya has helped himself as much as Communities In Schools has.  “Kenya is here because he wants to be here.  While the family was in transition, they lived for a time with relatives who were not on the school’s bus line.  Kenya caught a city bus to get here.”  Communities In Schools gave him weekly bus passes so he didn’t have to pay for transportation.  Kenya and his family recently moved into an apartment.

Kenya is doing well academically, loves music and decided on his own to take “Exploring Business Technology,” a course he loves and has an “A” in.

It has, however, taken consistent and regular support to keep Kenya going.  Through Communities In Schools, he has received individual counseling and one-on-one mentoring with Dixon, who is also a part of all academic decisions that involve Kenya.  Kenya participates in an after-school tutorial on Tuesdays and Thursdays; attends “Lunch and Learn,” which allows him to work in the classroom while eating lunch when he needs to make up lessons; and takes advantage of the school’s Saturday School, which allows him to make up incomplete work.  Dixon supports Kenya and other students at Lunch and Learn, the after-school tutorials and Saturday School by providing incentives, being available to provide help and offering snacks.

Dixon makes sure to stay in touch with Kenya every day, seeing him “somewhere … in the hall, in my office, in one of his classes.  He is motivated because of our relationship, which he considers a father/son relationship,” said Dixon.  Dixon helps each student he works with build the skills necessary to succeed, which, in Kenya’s case, include coping and life skills.  Getting Kenya to communicate has been a big part of Dixon’s strategy to keep Kenya in school and working on his education.  It’s important, Dixon says, that Kenya let teachers and administrators know what he’s facing in his home life.

In addition to mentoring, working with teachers and administrators and keeping in touch with parents, Dixon makes sure the students have access to health care.  For Kenya, this meant a visit to the dentist and getting a voucher for free glasses when a vision check-up showed he needed them.

Kenya has big plans for the rest of his life.  He loves the arts and plans to attend college so he can study music, with the goal of having a career as a musician.  With the support and help of Communities In Schools, those dreams are within reach.

January 2009