Published: Monday, April 16, 2007
Education in the Valleys
2nd chance for dropouts
Programs offer ways to get that...
Almost 150,000 in the Youngstown-Warren metro areas lack high school diplomas.
By ANGIE SCHMITT
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown resident Lee Cowart, 25, was making $5.15 an hour working at a carwash, when he started looking for a way out. He needed a high school degree and job skills — things that would make him marketable to an employer that could do better than meeting his most basic needs — to escape his hand-to-mouth existence.
Cowart found what he was looking for in Youthbuild, a federally financed program that teaches low-income youths the basics of construction while they work toward their GEDs. When he completes the 10-month program in June, Cowart is set to begin a construction job paying $23 per hour, GED in hand.
"I want to throw a party," he said. "This is one of my dreams."
For Cowart, Youthbuild was the remedy to a lifetime of hardship. But almost 150,000 people living across the Mahoning and Shenango valleys lack high school degrees, making them almost twice as likely to live lives of poverty, according to the 2000 census. Government agencies and private companies, however, offer a range of programs, such as Youthbuild, that can help dropouts claim their degrees in an environment that suits their needs.
Because of funding limits, only about 25 low- to moderate-income students between ages 18 and 24 are admitted to Youthbuild each year. The program is sponsored by a federal grant and students are paid $35 per day for their construction work, said director Valencia Marrow.
ABLE classes
However, a state-subsidized program called Adult Basic Literacy and Education (ABLE) offers GED training to anyone over 18 free of cost. Students can attend classes in the morning or evening at locations across the Youngstown-Warren metro areas, said coordinator Christine Rosebaugh. ABLE classes are offered in three- to four-hour blocks at close-to-home locations such as the Southern Park Mall; Choffin Career Center; and the Beatitude House, in Trumbull County. Close to 75 area high-school dropouts have earn GEDs through ABLE programs since July, said Rosebaugh.
Though government-backed agencies work to put degrees in the hands of former dropouts, school districts across the Valley are working to prevent their students from becoming another statistic. High school dropout rates are a national problem, according to the National Education Association, a teachers union. Graduation rates across the country average only about 70 percent, it reports. Among local school districts, however, the extent of the problem varies.
Lordstown, Lowellville, McDonald and South Range in Ohio, and Commodore Perry in Mercer County in Pennsylvania are among a handful of school districts in the area that reported 100 percent graduation rates for the 2004-05 school year. On the other end of the spectrum, the Youngstown and Warren City School districts struggled with graduation rates of 66 percent and 82 percent, respectively.
Graduation rate up
Despite appearances, the Youngstown City School District's aggressive, multidimensional approach to dropout prevention is working, said district spokesman Mike McNair. The district's graduation rate increased 10 percent from 2003 to 2005, as a result of the district's innovative approach to student retention, he said.
The district has also instituted several programs aimed at re-engaging chronically truant students, the population McNair says are at the greatest risk of dropping out. Such students are allowed to earn high school credit from home computers through a program called NovaNet. Others chose to work toward degrees while learning technical skills at Choffin Career and Technical Center, said McNair.
"Differentiated instruction and programs are the hallmarks of trying to save all of the kids," he said. "We're trying to pick them up and say, 'You can do this.'"
The district refers adult degree seekers to Choffin for GED classes, officials said.
Warren's programs
The Warren City School District has adopted a range of programs to stem the tide of students who abandon their studies each year. The district recently opened an alternative school for struggling students — Washington High School. At-risk students are also welcome to earn credits from home computers with the district's Virtual Learning Academy, said Kathy Shook, district executive director of the department of teaching and learning.
"We are trying to expand the offerings so students don't feel pigeon-holed," she said. "If students want to be here and they feel interested and engaged, they'll want to stay."
Though devastating to public school systems, the dropout problem has been a windfall for Life Skills Center. The charter school has built a nationwide total of 37 schools, serving dropouts and students considered at-risk for dropping-out. Its students spend half-days at the school regaining lost high-school credits. They are required to hold an outside job while they attend, as well, said spokesman Bob Tanenbaum. Life Skills serves more than 600 area students at its Warren and Youngstown locations, he said.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Almost 150,000 in the Youngstown-Warren metro areas lack high school diplomas.
By ANGIE SCHMITT
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown resident Lee Cowart, 25, was making $5.15 an hour working at a carwash, when he started looking for a way out. He needed a high school degree and job skills — things that would make him marketable to an employer that could do better than meeting his most basic needs — to escape his hand-to-mouth existence.
Cowart found what he was looking for in Youthbuild, a federally financed program that teaches low-income youths the basics of construction while they work toward their GEDs. When he completes the 10-month program in June, Cowart is set to begin a construction job paying $23 per hour, GED in hand.
"I want to throw a party," he said. "This is one of my dreams."
For Cowart, Youthbuild was the remedy to a lifetime of hardship. But almost 150,000 people living across the Mahoning and Shenango valleys lack high school degrees, making them almost twice as likely to live lives of poverty, according to the 2000 census. Government agencies and private companies, however, offer a range of programs, such as Youthbuild, that can help dropouts claim their degrees in an environment that suits their needs.
Because of funding limits, only about 25 low- to moderate-income students between ages 18 and 24 are admitted to Youthbuild each year. The program is sponsored by a federal grant and students are paid $35 per day for their construction work, said director Valencia Marrow.
ABLE classes
However, a state-subsidized program called Adult Basic Literacy and Education (ABLE) offers GED training to anyone over 18 free of cost. Students can attend classes in the morning or evening at locations across the Youngstown-Warren metro areas, said coordinator Christine Rosebaugh. ABLE classes are offered in three- to four-hour blocks at close-to-home locations such as the Southern Park Mall; Choffin Career Center; and the Beatitude House, in Trumbull County. Close to 75 area high-school dropouts have earn GEDs through ABLE programs since July, said Rosebaugh.
Though government-backed agencies work to put degrees in the hands of former dropouts, school districts across the Valley are working to prevent their students from becoming another statistic. High school dropout rates are a national problem, according to the National Education Association, a teachers union. Graduation rates across the country average only about 70 percent, it reports. Among local school districts, however, the extent of the problem varies.
Lordstown, Lowellville, McDonald and South Range in Ohio, and Commodore Perry in Mercer County in Pennsylvania are among a handful of school districts in the area that reported 100 percent graduation rates for the 2004-05 school year. On the other end of the spectrum, the Youngstown and Warren City School districts struggled with graduation rates of 66 percent and 82 percent, respectively.
Graduation rate up
Despite appearances, the Youngstown City School District's aggressive, multidimensional approach to dropout prevention is working, said district spokesman Mike McNair. The district's graduation rate increased 10 percent from 2003 to 2005, as a result of the district's innovative approach to student retention, he said.
The district has also instituted several programs aimed at re-engaging chronically truant students, the population McNair says are at the greatest risk of dropping out. Such students are allowed to earn high school credit from home computers through a program called NovaNet. Others chose to work toward degrees while learning technical skills at Choffin Career and Technical Center, said McNair.
"Differentiated instruction and programs are the hallmarks of trying to save all of the kids," he said. "We're trying to pick them up and say, 'You can do this.'"
The district refers adult degree seekers to Choffin for GED classes, officials said.
Warren's programs
The Warren City School District has adopted a range of programs to stem the tide of students who abandon their studies each year. The district recently opened an alternative school for struggling students — Washington High School. At-risk students are also welcome to earn credits from home computers with the district's Virtual Learning Academy, said Kathy Shook, district executive director of the department of teaching and learning.
"We are trying to expand the offerings so students don't feel pigeon-holed," she said. "If students want to be here and they feel interested and engaged, they'll want to stay."
Though devastating to public school systems, the dropout problem has been a windfall for Life Skills Center. The charter school has built a nationwide total of 37 schools, serving dropouts and students considered at-risk for dropping-out. Its students spend half-days at the school regaining lost high-school credits. They are required to hold an outside job while they attend, as well, said spokesman Bob Tanenbaum. Life Skills serves more than 600 area students at its Warren and Youngstown locations, he said.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Youngstown resident Lee Cowart, 25, was making $5.15 an hour working at a carwash, when he started looking for a way...
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