Program helping more black students into college
| Tuesday, Apr 14 2009 06:17 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Apr 15 2009 11:46 AM
Project BEST success
In 1993, the dropout rate for black males in the Kern High School District was 9.5 percent; last year it was 6 percent.
In 1995, the A to G completion rate for college preparatory classes was 4.5 percent; 12 years later it has increased to 14.5 percent.
Dutton estimates that over the course of the program, about 200 men have completed four-year college degrees.
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Melvin Harris Sr. is the proud father of his sons Cornelius, center, and Melvin Harris Jr. who are part of Project Best at Highland High School. As a senior this year Melvin was honored along with other seniors in the program. Project Best helps and encourages black males to pursue a college education.
If you were looking for Stockdale High senior Nathan Alede this year, you might have looked for him at the track practicing the long jump and 100-meter sprint.
But a better bet was to find Alede, 17, at the library where he spent most of what he described as a "hectic" senior year studying or helping peers with their projects.
For the past four years, Alede has been involved with Project BEST, the Black Excellence in Scholarship and Teaching program, which first targeted the class of 1996, to encourage black male students to go to college.
"They gave you tools and guidelines and set you straight for life," said Alede, who's considering attending Cal State San Bernardino or Virginia Union University next year to major in biochemistry.
On Tuesday night, the program celebrated the step from high school to college, awarding $60,000 in college scholarships to more than 30 students at Harvey Auditorium on the Bakersfield High campus.
But the journey for most of the students began four years earlier, when advisors recruited freshman to the program.
The message program advisors preach is straightforward: It's OK to be smart, it's OK to go to college, and it's OK to challenge yourself and set goals, said Fuchsia Ward, director of alternative education in the Kern High School District.
A range of events fosters college and community for the students: Professionals come back to the program to tell their stories, students take field trips to visit colleges, including Cal State Bakersfield to meet with former members, and they volunteer in the community.
Stanford, UC Riverside, Fresno State and Cal State Bakersfield are among the colleges Project BEST graduates will attend next year, according to Ward.
The program is working.
Black males are staying in school longer, their rates increasing in A to G classes, the college prep courses, and they're dropping out at lower rates, according to Project BEST director Chris Dutton.
Last year, all of the 116 young men involved in Project BEST graduated. They represented nearly 68 percent of the 171 total black male graduates in the district last year.
In addition to the advisors who recruit and shepard the students for four years of high school, Dutton said getting a group of students together creates a band-of-brothers feeling and creates a powerful model for success.
"It's an overwhelming effect on a kid to be in a room and see so many successful black males," Dutton said.
The long-term goal is to get Project BEST graduates to come back to education to mentor the next generation of kids.
"Wherever they settle down, we want to see them give back, mentor and be a positive influence in their community," Dutton said.
