Communities in Schools takes aim at New Orleans' dropout rate

Sarah T. Reed High School student Jynico Harris has a long way to go before graduation, but he's already preparing for college with the help of a program designed to help him succeed.

The 14-year-old incoming sophomore was idling away his summer before becoming involved in a summer leadership

Now Harris has toured several college campuses, learned valuable leadership skills and has begun down a path that will one day lead to a college education.

Only 64.8 percent of Louisiana's high school students graduated during the 2006-07 school year, compared with nearly 75 percent nationwide, CIS New Orleans executive director Sarah Massey said.

CIS has been fighting to stem the tide of dropouts in New Orleans for the past 12 years, but the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina helped reinvigorate and expand the program, Massey said.

"I kind of equate us to the musicians in a second line band," she said. "We sound the horns that say, 'This child needs some additional support,' and then we go rally what those supports would be in the community."

By maintaining a presence in eight New Orleans schools, Massey said her staff of nine leadership coaches and trained social workers is able to identify the specific needs of the student population and connect the students with outside help.

Rosa Perales, 18, a senior at Reed, said CIS site coordinator Teidra Gaspard offered her invaluable help last semester after Perales gave birth to her first child.

"A lot of times the students come to us first and they don't even know who their school counselors are," Gaspard said. "We try to help them as much as possible and we're there to work with the school staff to make sure all of the student's needs are met."

The teen pregnancy services Gaspard provides at Reed are some of the program's most sought after and effective measures to help keep students in school, Massey said.

"Our goal at the end of the day is to do anything we can to help those resources that are in the community get connected to kids more efficiently," she said. "With the pregnant teenagers, that's obviously a group that is at higher risk for dropping out. We were able to work with a number of resources in the community to get each of those teenagers specifically what she needed."

From daycare to setting up doctor's visits, Perales credits CIS with helping her stay in school and bringing her closer to her goal of becoming a social worker to help children in foster families.

Reed senior Terrell Wishem, 17, said the resume writing and interview skills he learned through the CIS leadership camp will help him as he begins to apply for colleges during the coming school year.

"When we were writing resumes, it was really great to actually see the different things that I have accomplished with school through the ROTC and band," Wishem said. "It made me realize that I have accomplished a lot and I have developed leadership skills that I will be able to use in the future."

CIS leadership coach Eric Jensen said each of the seven students in the summer camp received specific help tailored to his or her strengths.

"The idea is to offer a kind of holistic exposure to leadership skills and develop communication skills that will help them at school and in life," Jensen said.

While Jynico Harris said he doesn't have any specific colleges in mind yet, he plans on pursuing computer programming and engineering or zoology in the future. He said CIS field trips to Tulane and Louisiana State universities, as well as the Audubon Insectarium, helped bring his visions of the future into focus.

"That's really what our program is all about," Massey said. "We're helping kids stay in school and connecting them with what they need to succeed in the future."

Credit: Stephen Maloney