Thursday, June 26, 2008
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The odds were never good for 16-year-old D'Angelo Gardner. His father died of a heroin overdose when he was 9 years old, and by the eighth grade, he was caught up in a gang.
"I had a real bad attitude towards ... everybody. I didn't wanna talk, I didn't wanna do work," D'Angelo recalls. "It was just hard, and I didn't wanna be there."
Growing up in Englewood, one of the city's toughest neighborhoods, the statistics for young black men are grim. Only one in 40 African-American males in Chicago will finish college, and 50 percent will drop out of high school. If that weren't bad enough, guns and gang violence are almost a part of daily life. This year, nearly 30 Chicago Public School students have been shot to death.
But in the center of this impoverished neighborhood, there is hope.
The Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men, founded in 2002, has become a haven. The charter school, which is not part of the Chicago Public Schools system, has a mission to prepare young black men for college and promote self-esteem and success.
Students regularly recite the school's creed, which reaffirms their commitment to higher education. They pledge to respect themselves, family members and fellow classmates and to live "honestly, nonviolently and honorably."
D'Angelo's mom did everything she could to get her son into the school, where 90 percent of the students come from single-parent, female-headed households. When D'Angelo and his fellow freshmen entered the school two years ago, they were reading at a sixth-grade level.
Teachers and administrators have seen a dramatic improvement. D'Angelo says he used to be allergic to homework, but not anymore.
"I still have to get my study habits up, but I touch books. I touch books now," he says.
Tre Childress, who teaches math and science, has been at the charter school since it opened. He says that at first, D'Angelo and his classmates didn't have the skills to think critically.
"They kind of wanted to just sit there and be spoon-fed," Childress recalls. "Now, they want to actively be engaged in discussions. They want to debate each other, and they're performing at a high level as far as their own cognitive ability."
Academics aren't the only thing students have embraced at the school. They've also accepted their teachers as role models. Sophomore Marlon Marshall says he knows he's not alone when he walks down the halls of Urban Prep.
"When they see I'm not working to the best of my abilities, they pull me aside or they give me extra work," Marlon says. "They say, 'This is the level you need to be working on, because this is where I see your ability.' "
The young men take pride in their school as they stride through the hallways lined with banners from Ivy League and historically black colleges and universities and into classrooms where Mac laptops await them.
"It's always great when [mothers] come and say, 'My young man was doing this, and I was pulling my hair out, and now he's helping out around the house, helping with his brothers and sisters; he's more responsible.' That makes you feel really good," Childress boasts. "They're living our creed at home and in the community, and that really makes our chest stick out a little more."
The Urban Prep Creed
"I had a real bad attitude towards ... everybody. I didn't wanna talk, I didn't wanna do work," D'Angelo recalls. "It was just hard, and I didn't wanna be there."
Growing up in Englewood, one of the city's toughest neighborhoods, the statistics for young black men are grim. Only one in 40 African-American males in Chicago will finish college, and 50 percent will drop out of high school. If that weren't bad enough, guns and gang violence are almost a part of daily life. This year, nearly 30 Chicago Public School students have been shot to death.
But in the center of this impoverished neighborhood, there is hope.
The Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men, founded in 2002, has become a haven. The charter school, which is not part of the Chicago Public Schools system, has a mission to prepare young black men for college and promote self-esteem and success.
Students regularly recite the school's creed, which reaffirms their commitment to higher education. They pledge to respect themselves, family members and fellow classmates and to live "honestly, nonviolently and honorably."
D'Angelo's mom did everything she could to get her son into the school, where 90 percent of the students come from single-parent, female-headed households. When D'Angelo and his fellow freshmen entered the school two years ago, they were reading at a sixth-grade level.
Teachers and administrators have seen a dramatic improvement. D'Angelo says he used to be allergic to homework, but not anymore.
"I still have to get my study habits up, but I touch books. I touch books now," he says.
Tre Childress, who teaches math and science, has been at the charter school since it opened. He says that at first, D'Angelo and his classmates didn't have the skills to think critically.
"They kind of wanted to just sit there and be spoon-fed," Childress recalls. "Now, they want to actively be engaged in discussions. They want to debate each other, and they're performing at a high level as far as their own cognitive ability."
Academics aren't the only thing students have embraced at the school. They've also accepted their teachers as role models. Sophomore Marlon Marshall says he knows he's not alone when he walks down the halls of Urban Prep.
"When they see I'm not working to the best of my abilities, they pull me aside or they give me extra work," Marlon says. "They say, 'This is the level you need to be working on, because this is where I see your ability.' "
The young men take pride in their school as they stride through the hallways lined with banners from Ivy League and historically black colleges and universities and into classrooms where Mac laptops await them.
"It's always great when [mothers] come and say, 'My young man was doing this, and I was pulling my hair out, and now he's helping out around the house, helping with his brothers and sisters; he's more responsible.' That makes you feel really good," Childress boasts. "They're living our creed at home and in the community, and that really makes our chest stick out a little more."
The Urban Prep Creed
We believe.
We are the young men of Urban Prep.
We are college bound.
We are exceptional -- not because we say it, but because we work hard at it.
We will not falter in the face of any obstacle placed before us.
We are dedicated, committed and focused.
We never succumb to mediocrity, uncertainty or fear.
We never fail because we never give up.
We make no excuses.
We choose to live honestly, nonviolently and honorably.
We respect ourselves and, in doing so, respect all people.
We have a future for which we are accountable.
We have a responsibility to our families, community and world.
We are our brothers' keepers.
We believe in ourselves.
We believe in each other.
We believe in Urban Prep.
WE BELIEVE.
CNN
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