At Risk: Stories of Hope

I created this blog for anyone interested in reducing the drop out rate in America. There are many factors that cause a sense of hopelessness. I passed through it myself, so I became a middle school art teacher in Detroit at Earhart Middle School. Intervention came in the form of a mentor for me, so I simply learned the same sense of social responsibility and used those principles on my students. I identify with those that perceive teaching as a calling.
Detroit has taught its residents resiliency and perseverance in order to survive its mean streets. For those of you who are not familiar with it, you should know that it has the lowest high school graduation rate of all major cities in America. It also was considered the most dangerous city in America based on the level of gun violence. I got an intrinsic reward whenever one of my mentees graduated and beat the odds against them. I hope you will gain some insight so that you can use it for yourself as an educator or that you would inform an educator that you know about this site. Prospective or novice teachers will especially enjoy this blog.

We should be concerned about at risk children because without intervention, they grow up and engage in at risk behavior as adults in order to make a living because they do not have the educational level that allows them options in life. Their job flexibility is limited to their level of education. A drop out is an example of the ultimate failure of a society to properly rear its children.

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The most frequently asked question I remember hearing from teachers rather they were just beginning in the education field, or seasoned teachers is “How can we get different segments of the school’s population to get motivated to learn?”

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I had some excellent teachers at Adrian Madison. It was the only school I had ever attended from K-12. I loved Mrs. Rambo, my kindergarten teacher who turned me on to the biggest box of crayons I had ever seen. Poor boys in Sunnyside can’t afford the big 64 pack with a sharpener. But she had boxes of these for free! I just had to figure out how to impress upon her the fact that I needed what she had in her magical kingdom.

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I thank the Rare Foundation of Troy, Michigan and the folks who nominated me for this prestigious award. It made my teaching career a dream career. It propelled my students to continue with their education. I told my students that we in the Southwest part of Detroit were going to be in a documentary and that the only difference between Hollywood and ours is that we are real and we have no script. Read the rest of this entry »