“His mentor – everyone – worried that he would do something,” Mejia remembers. Together Luis’ mentors and the Bridges to Graduation team guided him to intensive therapy. The intervention turned his life around, and Luis, 17 at the time, enrolled into a tech program, got a job and went back to school to earn his G.E.D. “Because we were there, he couldn’t be invisible and we were able to reach him,” Mejia says, adding, “we’re not your traditional example of success.”  | Math tutor Bill Multack enjoys sharing skills with small groups of students.
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Communities in Schools is not your traditional form of schooling. It can’t be, because traditional schooling has failed the thousands of young people the Bridges program rescues and sets back on their feet. Based on a national model and on the idealism and efforts of Bill Milliken, renowned youth advocate and author of several books including “The Last Drop-Out: Stop the Epidemic,” Communities in Schools is the largest stay-in-school network in the country. For the past 19 years in Miami, the organization has provided a wide range of support – mentoring, tutoring, counseling and services – to young people at risk of dropping out of school. Bridges, the organization’s flagship program, this year receives $314,000 from The Children’s Trust to support more than 500 youths at four sites: Corporate Academy North and South, the School for Applied Technology and COPE Center South. “Most people give up on the older kids – they’re not photogenic, they’re a challenge – but somebody has to be there for them,” Mejia says. “We refuse to give up on them.”  | One-to-one mentoring helps build relationships and is an important component of Bridges to Graduation.
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The program’s holistic approach is based on five key principles: a personal relationship with a caring adult; a safe place for learning; a healthy start (counseling, drug and alcohol education, physical, dental and eye exams); a marketable skill; and the chance to give back. Mejia, who joined Communities in Schools 12 years ago and has served as executive director for five, says Bridges was immediately successful at keeping young people in school, engaged and learning. In fact, Melinda Hoder, a Bridges’ project director for many years, was awarded one of the first Children’s Trust Champions for Children awards for advocacy. Bridges’ success has broadened since then: 90 percent of the program’s students – all either dismissed or withdrawn from traditional schools – are now not only graduating high school, but going on to tech schools, community colleges and 4-year universities. Bridges’ graduate Gina Keane, for example, “had a big, big challenge and needed lots of support” in school, according to Mejia. Keane is now completing her masters in social work and serves on the CIS board of directors. Mike Guthrie, who’s spent 35 years in the education system, most of them with the public schools, is project director for Corporate Academy North, one of Communities’ four alternative schools of choice. “The kids are here because of some violation of school conduct,” Guthrie explains. “They did ‘whatever,’ but they were not functioning in their home school.”  | Students at Corporate Academy North practice language skills with their tutor.
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In Bridges, students get the attention they needed at their home schools and, too often, don’t get at home – though Guthrie doesn’t fault parents. “Many of our kids come from homes where a language other than English is spoken, where parents are preoccupied at work and lack knowledge of the U.S. school system,” he says. “The demands on the kids are different: Few parents have college experience, they don’t know timelines or how to do a college search, how to dress for an appointment – and so much more.” The Bridges program is “embedded” in the regular school, providing additional resources during the school day. At the request of a mentor or tutor, students are released from class, usually an elective or during free time. Each site has two tutors who work with 10-20 students daily for a minimum of a half hour. Students visit local workplaces six times a year where they shadow workers; the experience helps them envision their own professional career. Health education workshops provide necessary information on nutrition, hygiene, healthy sexuality and mental health. Students also attend sessions on violence prevention, gang awareness and other topics. Health needs, such as eye exams and eyeglasses, are provided by the Heiken Children’s Vision Program and other organizations. A big part of Bridges success results from the personal attention that mentors and tutors can provide the students.
Bill Multack began as a volunteer math tutor at the Academy two years ago. With a degree in accounting, Multack forged a successful business career. Now retired, he serves as a tutor, working with groups of 4-5 students for several hours a day, three days a week. When he started, Multack noticed that students were lacking basic skills, so over that summer he created a special course. Still, he found it difficult to keep attention focused teaching in a class setting. “They’re good kids, but their attention wanes,” he says. Multack prefers tutoring, working with a small group. “I try to get them to see there’s a logic in math and that they have the tools,” he says. Rute Pierre is a Bridges reading tutor who meets with students 3-4 times a week. With a firm voice, she drills Regina Johnson, Yaelalyssa Brooks, Demetrius Lane, Don Collins, Jr., Tequita Coley, Joseph English and Ismael McGruder on verb forms. “Today I know, yesterday I knew, tomorrow I will know,” Pierre trumpets, and the students echo back in unison. “With Rute, you want to learn – she gets you in the mood,” Coley says. “She feels like a big sister.” The students all agree that the Bridges environment has improved their performance in school and shifted their attitude in life. “It’s better with fewer people. There’s better understanding – everybody knows your name,” English says. “We’re more focused – and you know it’s for the good.” Dr. Barbara Hawkins has been the principal at Corporate Academy North for the past eight years. “Through the Bridges program you can really see their growth,” Hawkins says. “Within three years they’re usually ready to pass the FCAT – there were just skills they’d missed. Quite a few go on to trade schools and college – they become productive citizens.”
Written by Michael R. Malone, The Children's Trust | | Bill Multack knows that math is not for everyone. At the Chicago high school he attended, Multack struggled with math – until he got to geometry with its focus on logic. Then his interest rocketed, and Multack went on to forge a successful career from his expertise with logic and numbers. Multack is back at school – as a math tutor and mentor at Corporate Academy North. As he tries to pry open the math door for students and to connect with them, he remembers his own early struggles, because he knows: “If you’re not a math person, you kind of turn off.” Early this semester, he observed a few girls in the group were bored by the FCAT skills he was teaching. “Are you sure you don’t want to give this a chance?” he asked one. She responded by telling about her interest in a parenting class she was taking.
“So, you’re a mother?” Multack asked.
“No, of course not,” the girl answered, surprised. “Well, I’ve heard that you have to pass the FCAT in order to be a mother,” he told her. They both laughed, the ice broken, and the girl’s interest was engaged. “I got lucky with that,” Multack says, though it’s clear he gets “lucky” often. He tries new approaches constantly, such as using math puzzles, to encourage confidence and interest. His mentoring schedule fits easily into his retired life: Academy North is a 15-minute drive from his home on Miami Beach and close to where he plays bridge with friends after class. The commitment fills a big part of his life. “When I started I worried about how I would interact. Now they all say ‘Hello, Mr. Bill’ in the halls. I enjoy it so much and get more out of it than the kids do,” he says. Multack shares his skills with Communities in Schools in other ways, too. He’s helped develop data systems and spread sheets to facilitate data monitoring. “It’s a talent I have and it keeps my mind active,” he says. But tutoring is what he enjoys most. “I always wanted to do something that meant something, and I’m really grateful for this opportunity,” Multack says. |
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