By Kathleen O'Donnell, July guest blogger
In late June, while most kids were just settling into summer, Destination 2010 students came together to prepare for the final leg of their K-12 journey. Their third annual summer weekend retreat was held at Camp Saint Croix with the theme of Rising to the Challenge and Exceeding Expectations.
Destination 2010 is an initiative of The Minneapolis Foundation designed to help a cohort of students graduate on time (in 2010) and pursue higher education — while sharing lessons learned along the way. Instead of creating new programs, the initiative weaves together existing resources to provide information, opportunities, and support to the students, the majority of whom are low-income students of color, and many of whom will be the first in their families to attend college. The program also conducts campus tours, connects kids with summer enrichment activities (and underwrites the costs), and offers many other activities to keep kids involved, focused, and achieving year round.
It’s an unusual program for its size and scope — launched in 2001, every 3rd grader in seven struggling Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools was invited to participate. Every student who remained continuously enrolled in the two districts would receive a $5,000 or $10,000 scholarship to pursue post-secondary education. As they prepare to enter their senior year, 185 students remain in the program. This includes 40% of the original 364 students, along with students in another program who merged with Destination 2010 midstream.
The high attrition rate underscores the fact that mobility has posed the same challenges to Destination 2010 as it has to the school system itself. And the effect on the students can be devastating. We’ve witnessed first-hand the corrosive effects of mobility on relationships over time, on access to information and opportunities, and on academic success.
On the flip side, one of our greatest successes has been the ability to keep students on our radar who might have otherwise fallen off. For many students, the identity of being in Destination 2010 has transcended time and place. We’ve been able to maintain relationships with some students through homelessness, multiple moves, family upheaval, and time in the juvenile justice system.
Another significant challenge has been the need to constantly combat the pull of low expectations — both from external sources and within the students themselves — especially among so-called ‘average” students. Generally speaking, high-performing low-income students (those who are “beating the odds”) garner attention. Students viewed as average or underperforming often pass under the radar of efforts to nurture college aspirations. Yet even as Destination 2010’s approach has been to set the same high goals for all students, that vision hasn’t necessarily taken root for every single student or family.
And, honestly, for some students, the barriers can seem overwhelming. It can be very challenging to continue to hold high expectations and demand accountability for our students, when we’re aware of the difficulties and instability in their personal lives. It’s a balancing act for everyone who teaches young people to strive to achieve amid stressful circumstances.
Fortunately, we work in close partnership with the families, community programs, and school leadership and staff. To connect most effectively with the students and their families, a group of Destination 2010 liaisons who reflect the diversity of our students serve as the primary contacts. The liaisons have built relationships that open the door for tough conversations about what it will take to get into higher ed. They work with the students, but also help families navigate the roadmap to higher education (financial aid applications, appropriate pre-college class selections, etc.). They even keep family phone numbers current...not a small task. They keep our students encouraged and connected; keep the families informed, involved, and empowered; and have helped make Destination 2010 a diverse yet cohesive community of students striving to achieve.
Destination2010 student Rakeem has reflected, "I have been through a lot of programs in my life due to certain circumstances, but D2010 is by far my favorite. I look forward to seeing my friends and fellow students doing something productive and so serious about their lives to come. I see so many of my peers throwing their lives away with drugs and what not. I have made the choice to do something better and I feel that the decision I have made is the right one. Well, I am aware of my surroundings and I am capable of getting to my destination, are you?”
Question to readers: What strategies have you found to be successful in keeping students connected through achievement programs that aren’t necessarily focused on a specific school, neighborhood, or activity?
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