| Local educator shares her expertise |
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| Written by News Release | |||
| Wednesday, 03 December 2008 03:00 | |||
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America’s conflicted national mood — a sense of renewal and optimism following the recent national elections, tempered by apprehension about the challenges ahead — was on display at the Nov. 14-15 national conference of College For Every Student (CFES).
The conference was a gathering of students and educators on the front lines of bringing change and hope to underserved schools across the nation, from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Hawaiian Islands. “CFES Scholars,” along with K-12 educators, representatives of 48 colleges and universities, and CFES staff, shared their expertise and experiences in bringing the organization’s core practices to life, and changing lives by doing so. Thirty educators from Colorado attended the conference, including over a dozen from Western Slope schools and colleges — Cedaredge High School, Delta Middle and High Schools, Delta-Montrose Technical College, Delta Opportunity School, Hotchkiss High School, and Olathe Middle and High Schools. Delaine Hudson, principal at Delta Opportunity School, shared her expertise on a conference panel, discussing the issues facing rural schools and students. The National Conference is an annual autumn affair in the lakeside hamlet of Bolton Landing, N.Y., but this year’s guest speakers and conferees alike conveyed an added poignancy in their dialogue, a sense that America’s internal crises — including that of better educating children in underserved communities — might finally gain some traction. This made their work with CFES even more timely. Founded in 1991, CFES works with students and educators to design programs incorporating three core practices for inspiring underserved students to attend college: Mentoring (structures for creating positive relationships between underserved students and supportive individuals); Pathways to College (exposing students to college as a realistic, achievable goal, and linking schools to college partners); and Leadership through Service (activities in which students find ways to make their schools and communities better places). Twenty-four workshops explored those core practices, as well as related challenges such as engaging families in their children’s success, financial aid for college, and challenges specific to rural or urban communities. Diversity, which can be a new and unsettling experience when students reach college, was dramatically on display at the conference, where students exhibited Native American drumming, Hawaiian chants, and tap dancing. Meanwhile, in the hallways of the Sagamore Conference Center, connections were being made. CFES Scholars — students who had already proven themselves in terms of leadership and academic ambition — were making acquaintance with colleges and universities seeking exactly those qualities. And dedicated educators striving to bring excellence to their schools were finding in one another new ideas, new resources, and hope for their daily struggles. “Everything revolves around relationships,” Michael McDonald, a faculty member at Henry Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury, Mass., said during one of the sessions. “Kids don’t care how much you know. They care how much you care.” Indeed, this is what featured speaker Geoffrey Canada, creator of the Harlem Children’s Zone, called “saving the country one person at a time.” Canada was unequivocal about what’s at stake. “America’s future is not about how many machine guns we have,” he said. “It’s about how many scientists, how many doctors, how many teachers we have. “The answer,” Canada said, surveying the committed students and educators before him, “is what’s happening here.” CFES president Rick Dalton emphasized a similar belief in his welcoming remarks. “Your work will determine the course for our nation,” Dalton said. “We’re in a time of peril and turbulence. But talk to the scholars here and you will be reassured about the future. Over the last three years, 93 percent of our CFES scholars have gone on to college; that’s 2,500 kids, many of whom might not have even graduated from high school without your support. I’m full of hope for a greater, greener America.”
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