For Immediate Release:
July 14th, 2008
CONTACT:
Tom Tillapaugh
720-299-3420
Drop-out Crisis Jeopardizing America's Future
Major efforts have been made recently to determine the magnitude of America’s dropout epidemic. The sheer number of young people who are leaving or are being expelled from high schools is staggering—7,000 per day according to America’s Promise Alliance, a national youth-focused coalition started by Colin and Alma Powell. The impact this crisis will have on our workforce and economy has been estimated at nearly $192 billion per year for each successive class of dropouts.
The dropout crisis threatens the very fabric of our society, including our political and economic systems. In order for free enterprise to work, we rely upon an educated populace that is able to participate in and benefit from it. There is a growing underclass of those with an incomplete education. They may be in jail, on welfare, or just simply unmarketable and cannot take full advantage of our economic system. If we don’t engage in educating these young people, our nation’s survival is at risk.
The good news is that there is a school model that works for America’s youth at risk of educational failure. This summer, faith-based urban and at-risk youth educators from across the nation will meet in Denver for the 11th annual National Association of Street Schools conference to learn and share best practices, and gear up for another year of trying to persuade young people to give themselves a second chance.
The Street School model has evolved since 1984, when, as a young science teacher, I moved to Denver with my wife and two young children to follow a personal call to open a Christian school for homeless and troubled dropouts. I was 30 years old and in the eyes of the world—and my grandma—a fool.
We had nothing and did whatever it took to survive as I began sharing my vision with anyone who would listen. On May 13, 1985, I grabbed three kids off the streets and started the Denver Street School in the dining room of a house in the most crime-ridden neighborhood in town. My motivation for starting the school was seeing so many young people falling to the wayside because of their poor choices or the circumstances of their lives. I set out to determine the optimal school environment in which youth at risk would find success.
I found the school had to remain small so young people without strong external support systems are known and can be engaged; no more than a 10-1 student-to-teacher ratio. I discovered that it is critical to incorporate strong interpersonal relationships in a small family-like environment, creating the atmosphere most conducive to motivating adolescents to stay in school, lure dropouts back into the classroom.
By 1989, I began to receive calls from urban leaders asking for advice in operating similar schools in their cities. As a result the National Association of Street Schools, now the StreetSchool Network, was founded in 1996. Today, there are over 40 member schools in 25 states, with two to three startups a year. Students receive over 80,000 hours of literacy intervention per year, raising their GPA 67% over their previous school experience. Since 2002 we’ve served over 15,000 students and have awarded over 1,000 diplomas. The StreetSchool Network is part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Alternative High School Initiative.
I have been on the front lines of the dropout crisis for 23 years. We can debate curriculums and best practices, but I have found that there is NO substitute for physically being present with kids, demonstrating love for them by being engaged and in their lives. The more time young people spend with adult mentors, the greater the chance that positive changes will take place. This results in better attendance, behavior, grades, and ultimately graduation and success in life.
Simply put, it will take nothing short of the sacrificial intervention into the lives of these teens by caring adults to the point of extreme inconvenience. A significant portion of our time, energy, efforts, and financial resources has to be invested in our children.
Thankfully, because of the StreetSchool Network and other like-minded organizations and individuals, an increasing number of at-risk youth are finding that second chance to finish their education and go on to become self-sufficient adults with hope.
The dropout problem affects us all through an increased crime rate, a shrinking labor pool, social service costs, and an undereducated populace without the tools to participate in our democracy or economy. I encourage you to think about what sacrifice you might personally make to help our schools better prepare young people for success in life. Consider being a mentor, tutor, or coach. Provide training, job shadowing and internship opportunities. Get your church involved and financially support an organization reaching out to the dropout population. The future of our nation depends upon your engagement.
Tom Tillapaugh is the president and founder of National Association of Street Schools, now StreetSchool Network, and Executive Director of Denver Street School, which is celebrating its 24th year serving youth at-risk in Denver, CO.
Freedom Center Academy helps Grand Strand struggling students Many high school students might feel like school is a struggle or they’ve had some problems within their school programs. Freedom Center Academy is working with students on an individual basis to help them find a new way to their education. Ryan Casiere is in the ninth grade and had some challenges so he turned to the Academy for help. The teacher teaches hands on and not in front of a whole class. Ryan Casiere’s mother, Anne Casiere, said she is extremely happy with the results and has seen a huge attitude change in her son. “He talks more, he’s was kind of shy and withdrawn that was one of my concerns when I had him going into high school,” Anne Casiere said. Many of the students have had their own challenges and the director of the program, Angie Ashurst, has dedicated her lives to these children. “These are really good kids that want a high school diploma, that either through pressures or bad influences of their peer groups in school they are making wrong decisions,” Ashurst said. The school is always looking for help and is asking anyone who can to step in. “We are in desperate need of people who are willing to sponsor and donate, the growth of this school could be exponential with the backing and support with the funding of the community.” You can call The Freedom Center Academy at (843) 251-6455 for more information. Click on link below to view: http://www.scnow.com/scp/news/local/grand_strand/article/freedom_center_academy_helps_grand_strand_struggling_students/29291/ Center helping students succeed
By Dru Forster
Published: January 22, 2009
By Heather Gale
January 15, 2009 - January 21, 2009 Myrtle Beach Herald
SOCASTEE —Roughly 30 percent of all students fail to graduate with their peers, according to a report in Education Week. This is said to be because of the inability to connect to public schools, teachers and other students, but one local organization is determined to change that percentage.
The Freedom Center Academy, part of the StreetSchool Network, strives to reach students in a different way to help them succeed, said Angie Ashurst, director of the Freedom Center in Myrtle Beach.
“Our public and private schools use a very traditional approach to teaching. Students sit in desks in rows in a classroom where teachers lecture and give reading assignments. Students are expected to memorize fact after fact,” she said. “(The) Academy has a very different vision for education. We offer a contemporary approach to teaching, collaborative learning through investigation, discussion-based curriculum, development of crucial critical thinking skills, hands-on experience and integrated studies.”
Ashurst said the school’s target student is very bright, but just does not fit the mold of the traditional student.
“They seem to be very ‘arts’ minded,” she said. “They love to doodle, play music and express themselves through clothing and hair styles. They may have gotten into trouble, made poor decisions or just do not seem to fit in anywhere. And, often parents have become frustrated, but homeschooling is not an option.”
One student, Jake, recently graduated from the Academy and said he was really changed by the school.
“One thing that really helped was that everything we learned actually applied to my world,” he said. “I learned how to make a budget, how our government worked and to start making plans for my future.”
Jake said in his story that he began to look at his life and worked to get rid of the vices that were keeping him back.
“My grades began improving and I enjoyed coming to school,” he said. “Also during that time, my home life was not quite as stressful.”
After all his hard work, Jake graduated from high school, something he said he never thought he could do.
“I was proud of myself,” he said. “Come to think of it … this is probably the first time in a long time that I could say that about myself.”
Jake said in the newsletter that he is currently attending college and working toward a degree.
“Freedom Center Academy was definitely a turning point in my life,” he said. “It changed my life.”
Ashurst said stories like Jake’s are inspiring and help keep her going.
“I started this school in August 2006 after teaching in a private school,” she said. “I noticed then that a portion of the kids were not being reached. They were hungry for attention and would do anything, even act out, to get what they needed.”
Currently, Ashurst said, the school is accepting students and is looking for partners or sponsors to grow the school. For more information, call 251.6455.
“My dream is to give back to the kids,” she said. “And right now, we really need people in the community to help out so that more students can be reached and can afford to come.”
