The Black Informant

African-American culture, news commentary, politics

It takes a Village to raise results (dailynews.com)

By Rachel Uranga, Staff Writer

LA Daily News

RESEDA - Like too many other African-American students at Cleveland High, Brae Brown was a slacker - ignoring teachers, cutting class, failing subjects.

Then came the day a dedicated group of educators pulled Brown and his friends into the auditorium classroom for a reality check - dismal test scores, high dropout rates and a bleak future as adults.

That first session two years ago shocked Brown and moved others to tears. It also spurred them to action.

“I got more serious when I saw the dropout rates and talked about how we were doing,” said Brown, now 16 and earning average grades as a junior. “I said, I don’t want to be one of those people. I didn’t want to be a statistic.”

The program known as The Village is one of the success stories in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Targeting the 300 black students among the 3,700 teens attending Cleveland, the monthly workshops seek to understand the connections between culture and academics. (more…)

February 27, 2006 - Posted by Duane | Uncategorized | | 4 Comments

4 Comments »

  1. ohhhh!!!! This is beautiful, now we need more like this in every city

    Comment by Mechi | February 27, 2006

  2. On the backs of our people have we gained opportunity that we didn’t realize that we should appreciate. As we find ourselves lost in this country we will continue to need reality checks. Take your experience and use it to pull others up!

    Comment by Pam | February 28, 2006

  3. A Better Today Brings A Brighter Tomorrow

    The sum total of this book/online resource is an extensive list of organizations with services ranging from: after school tutoring, pre-college preparation, mentoring, talent, summer opportunities and career training.

    Comment by lhenry | March 1, 2006

  4. I wrote ABT as a tool for African American parents interested in finding youth programs / academic opportunities for black children.

    Comment by lhenry | March 1, 2006

Leave a comment