Communities in Schools partners review successful year
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 9, 2014 1:50 AM
Tammy Keel admits she was "astounded" by the studies and statistics about high school dropouts.
So much so that the Mount Olive Middle School principal decided to launch a mentoring program at her school three years ago, collaborating with Selena Bennett, executive director of Communities in Schools.
"We began to see in our children a loss of hope, children did not understand why they needed to come to school, why they needed to do anything when they got there," Mrs. Keel said. "It became apparent to me that I needed an early prevention dropout program."
Studies have shown that children as early as third grade may subconsciously make the decision that they will not complete high school, she said.
"It's our responsibility to make sure that our students graduate from high school," the administrator told a gathering Thursday at the annual community partner meeting of Communities in Schools in Wayne County.
Educators at the school are assigned a student -- those who may be failing two or more subjects, have attendance and/or behavior issues. At present, about 70 students at the school receive the mentoring services.
The principal said she is often asked, "How can I make a difference in 15 minutes a week?"
"We have children that come to our school and have no clue where they're going to lay their head that night. Once a week for 15 minutes is a huge investment in their future," she said. "If you're ever in doubt of why you do what you do as a mentor, why you support CIS, the reason is because you're investing in the future of a child and there is no greater benefit to a child, nothing that will impact their life more than having them to graduate. It's essential to our economy and it's essential for our future."
Mrs. Bennett called the gathering at Bethel Church a celebration of the CIS partnerships forged around the community -- from the school system to businesses, civic groups and other agencies -- affiliations that allow the organization to "think outside the box."
"I can truly say that in CIS we can do some things differently," she said.
Communities in Schools works closely with Wayne County Public Schools, she said. While Superintendent Dr. Steven Taylor handles the red tape of working with the Department of Public Instruction and coordinating classroom teachers, CIS is able to work in a support capacity.
The superintendent praised the agency's contributions.
"There's so many things that they do," Taylor said of the agency. "But the main thing they do is partner with us to make our kids successful. We have some kids that just need a helping hand.
"We have a lot of students that would not have graduated on time (without CIS). It's a team effort to make our kids successful."
For the 2013-14 school year, CIS served 3,118 students at seven sites, 123 students through Teen Court, and had success coaches working at six schools -- Goldsboro and Southern Wayne high schools, Grantham, and Brogden, Mount Olive and Spring Creek middle schools.
Joe Setzer, CIS board chairman, said on the impact for the 2013-14 school year, with 95 percent of CIS students promoted, 95 percent of potential dropouts stayed in school and 95 percent of CIS seniors graduated.
"The thing I'm most proud of is that CIS is the most effective prevention dropout program in America," he said, adding, "CIS is the only dropout prevention program in the nation proven to decrease the dropout rate and graduate high school seniors on time."
Mrs. Bennett said it had also been rewarding to have individuals, businesses and groups approach her to help.
"It's phenomenal to be able to have people in the community say, 'We want to support you,'" she said, noting that it well reflected the CIS mission -- to surround students with a community of support.