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A view from ground level High school scholars personalize the drop out problem

Our Weekly - August 21, 2007

By Cynthia E. Griffin 

A multi-media presentation by students studying five distinctly different schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) resulted in almost identical conclusions: In order to keep young people from dropping out of school, officials must make sure that pupils develop relationships with adults at the school; create a curriculum that is more challenging, that interest them and has relevance to their lives; personalize the educational experience more; and insure that students feel safe going to and from school as well as on campus. 

These results are not new, nor will they be a surprise to educators, said John Rogers and Jeannie Oakes of the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, which coordinates the summer youth program that produced the presentations given last Friday at City Hall in the Tom Bradley Tower. 

Teams of young people conducted face-to-face interviews with students, teachers, administrators, parents and community organizers and surveyed pupils at or around Wilson High School, Roosevelt High, Crenshaw High, Locke High and Belmont High in an attempt to find out what makes students drop out of high school. 

They evaluated statistics and studies and weighed their own survey results to come up with their answers. 

According to Rogers, the summer seminar has been held for seven years, and during each five-week workshop a different subject is explored. He believes the result of this year’s effort demonstrate something quite simple in its broadest terms: “It exemplifies the work that you should be expecting from students in South Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.” 

“Our goal is two-fold,” added Oakes. “We want to communicate to public officials how important it is to make a difference and the urgency. . . that there are real people, powerfully compelling young people behind the numbers that should give them a greater sense of urgency. Also this demonstrates how powerful and intellectual the young people are, and that they are living of examples of the expectations they should have in the schools.” 

For Earl Moutra, a student at Opportunities Unlimited High School in South L.A. and whose group (The Fantastic Four) explored Watts and Locke, the intent was to stir things up. “I did this so they could make changes to the problems in Los Angels that they cover up. The biggest change I want them to make is clean up the schools and make them safe,” said the senior who left Washington Prep for Opportunities Unlimited because of the gang violence. “I’ve been shot at a number of times at Washington. 

And it was like a gamble (to go there). You never knew what would happen. It was like testing your luck.” 

Elizabeth Silva, whose group of five studied Wilson High and the nearby community of El Sereno, said change was also her motivation. “I’m part of the Watts Youth Collective, and I want to change so much. . . I feel that if they hear it from the students it’s going to make a difference,” added Silva, a junior at Inglewood High, who learned about the program from her fifth grade teacher at 99th Street Elementary School. 

Whether their efforts will effect change remains to be seen, but some of the people who have the power—including Deputy Mayor for Education Ramon Cortines, and members of the mayor’s education team, Marshall Tuck and Mark Kleger-Heine, attended the presentation. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also promised to view and read their findings.

 
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