Finding Enough Hours in the Day

Imani Lewis has a long list of goals and the ambition to complete them. She needed an academic environment that would help her move at the pace she wanted and found it at the Communities In Schools Bulloch County Performance Learning Center®.

For Imani Lewis, a 24-hour day is probably about 12 hours too short.  She’s got a very long list of things she wants to do and the energy, drive and purpose to accomplish them.  As she looked forward to her senior year of high school in Statesboro, Ga., where she has lived since she was eight, Imani saw an opportunity to continue working at her part-time job, helping her mother and younger sister, and, most importantly, excelling at academics.

What she needed was a supportive environment where she had both the freedom and guidance to accomplish that long to-do list.  She found it at the Communities In Schools Bulloch County Performance Learning Center® (PLC).

Imani hoped to take courses at nearby Georgia Southern College and finish up the few remaining high school classes she required during her senior year.  That wasn’t possible at the public high school she attended, so she turned to the PLC where her mother, Vicki Lewis, is the language-arts teacher.

Under the guidance of Danny Edenfield, her Communities In Schools academic coordinator at the PLC, Imani received individualized attention that included academic support and information to help in taking the next steps after high school graduation.  Plus, she received a “jumpstart” into the future life that she was seeking.

Vicki Lewis said the technology in use at the PLC provides students like her daughter with the opportunity to move as quickly as they want to.  “She could create a more flexible schedule that allowed her to take classes at a local college and work on her high school classes at her own pace.”

Edenfield was delighted when Imani decided to attend the PLC.  “She’s such a well-rounded student and a very sharp young woman who has given a lot of her time to service through her church and club activities.  A traditional school environment can stifle a student like Imani.  She was ready but unable to move ahead, which was frustrating.”

Imani loved the smaller setting at the PLC.  “Instead of going to school with 300 other seniors, there were 30.  I got a lot more individual attention and if I needed help, I got it immediately.  I can’t think of one person I didn’t go to for help, from my Communities In Schools coordinator to my mom to the principal.”

She enrolled at Georgia Southern and with the help of Edenfield’s wife, an associate dean at the college, took honors classes, which easily transferred to Emory University in Atlanta where she is currently a freshman.  She could continue her work at a local small business and still have time to pick up her 15-year-old sister, Nia, from school when her mother couldn’t.  “I struggle with time management,” Imani noted.  “Communities In Schools offered support and flexibility at the PLC, which made things easier.  I felt that I had more time in my day because no time was wasted.”

Through her experience with Communities In Schools, Imani found out about and applied for a Walmart Foundation Communities In Schools Scholarship Program scholarship, which she received.  In addition to direct financial assistance, Imani and the other Walmart Foundation Communities In Schools Scholars receive comprehensive support services – including counseling, tutoring and academic support – throughout their college years.  Imani also applied for and received a Gates Millenium Scholarship, which covers any financial gaps between tuition and the money she has available to pay for it.

Self-identified as someone who likes to stay busy, Imani is not only taking a full course load, she’s also the secretary and freshman representative for the Black Student Alliance, the events chairperson for the Young Democrats and the historian for the French Club.

She has not yet decided what she will major in.  “I’m thinking about a dual degree in engineering and maybe biology…or possibly English or psychology.”

Imani’s mom described her daughter as “a focused, headstrong, committed perfectionist and goal-setter.  If it’s in her power, she will accomplish the goals she has set for herself.  Because she’s such a positive thinker, it doesn’t occur to her that things might not work out for her.”  Her mother laughed and continued, “And usually they do work out.”

Like mother, like daughter, Imani might say, since she described her mother as her role model and someone “who works really hard to make things easier for her daughters.  She’s working on her doctorate in education right now.”

They are a “go for the gold” kind of family, according to Imani’s mom.  “I tell them to reach for the stars.  You never know if you’ll make it unless you try.”

For this talented, hard-working college freshman, stars are well within plucking reach.

June 2010