Urban Prep Academy in Chicago, the first all-male charter school in the country, recently announced that all 107 members of their senior class have been accepted to four-year universities. A big accomplishment considering most of them were far below grade level when they started. Check out more from this interview on MSNBC.
I realize there are only a few days left, but did you know President Obama declared January National Mentoring Month? The goal is to urge Americans to help young people (especially those in single-parent households) grow up to be responsible, productive adults. In conjunction with the announcement, several mentor/mentee pairs, including a duo from our friends at The Mentoring Project (pictured above) were invited to a special ceremony at the White House.
The President also announced he and several of his top aids would be hosting their own mentoring program aimed at encouraging local D.C. area kids in education, career planning, and community service.
Its amazing what can happen when people use their unique skill set to influence others. Check out how Joe Youcha of Alexandria Seaport Foundation is using boat-building to help troubled teens in the Washington D.C. area.
With over 75% of the student population at Las Vegas’s Whitney Elementary dealing with homelessness, Principal Sherrie Gahn decided to make the school not only a place of learning, but a refuge of hope.
Along with the help of many generous community members, Gahn has made numerous provisions such as healthy meals, clothing, haircuts and even dental care available to her students at no cost. They even host monthly birthday parties since most parents can’t afford to throw them for their kids. Check out the full story in this CNN video above.
“Non Sum Qualis Eram“ or “I am not what I once was“ that’s the motto posted in the school wing of the Connecticut state prison where Wesleyan University, long recognized as one of the nation’s most selective schools, is offering classes to selected inmates.
While other schools have offered similar opportunities before, the Wesleyan program is set apart by its rigorous and highly competitive selection process as well as the fact that past criminal conduct is not a factor in admission, no matter how serious a crime was commited. This NY Times article has more on the story and links to some of the student-inmates work…pretty impressive stuff.
Our friends at TNHF just launched their Community Impact Model, outlining their sustainable plan for empowering young people from the townships around Cape Town, South Africa to reduce poverty in their communities.
Check out the video above for more details or find out how you can get involved here.
Statistics show that every 9 seconds a student in America drops out of school. With her new film Ten9Eight: Shoot For The Moon, director Mary Mazzio, wants us to “imagine if they didn’t”
Following the stories of several inner city kids as they compete in a national business plan competition Ten9Eight provides an inspirational look at the amazing things young people can achieve with the right motivation and guidance.
For the past decade, a New York Public Radio initiative called Radio Rookies has been empowering teenagers from some of the city’s most under-resourced neighborhoods to create radio programs featuring stories from their communites.
Through their free workshops, Radio Rookies helps the aspiring reporters with everything they need to know, from how to conduct an interview to editing it into a final version; and all the necessary equipment is provided as well. This is a great way to help young people communicate about what’s important to them, and learn some valuable skills as well. Check out some of the stories here.
This is the sign that welcomes residents to the small town of Baldwin, Michigan, current population: 1,000. That number may increase soon thanks to the passing of new legislation which uses money from property taxes to give scholarships of $5,000 per year (up to 4 years) for each the town’s high school graduates.
With over 90% of the districts students living below poverty level, these scholarships will help make college a reality for many young people who may not have had the opportunity otherwise.
This fall Teach For America will place over 4,000 new teachers in schools across the country. Add that to 2008-09 Corps who will be completing the second year of the program, and you have 7,300 high-energy educators impacting over 450,000 elementary, junior high and high school students.
And while that may be an impressive quantity, its the quality of the group that is even more remarkable. With an average GPA of 3.6, SAT’s of 1344 and nearly 90% holding various leadership roles in college, this corps is enlisting some of the nation’s finest upcoming leaders to tackle educational inequity. We wish them the best in their efforts.
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