Both inside and out, George Rogers Clark School possesses all of the characteristics of the average American elementary school. In the school's adjacent yard, boys and girls wearing rainbow-colored windbreakers bounce oversized, blue rubber balls and toss foam footballs, often dropping catches clumsily while shrieking and giggling. In the lobby and hallways inside the building, posters line the oatmeal-colored walls. In the middle of a display of scribbled bumble bees, a sunshine-yellow sign reads, "Clark students are 'Thinker Bees.' We know how to be kind."
As ordinary and simple as Clark may seem, extraordinary things are happening within its halls. Here, the I Have a Dream program is alive and well. This national program, of which Clark is a local participant, subsidizes the cost of college or trade school for as many of these Charlottesville elementary school students who will graduate from high school in 2012.
And the chosen 60 "Dreamers" at Clark now are those same second-graders who intently attempt to craft tiny yellow baskets to celebrate Thanksgiving on the second floor.
"They are starting to catch on. They are beginning to realize that something in this school is different for them," said project coordinator Beth Shapiro.
Under the supervision of Shapiro, program co-sponsors Jeff Gaffney and Chris Poe will aid a motivated band of teachers, aids, volunteers and mentors. The I Have a Dream program aims to help the second-grade class through the entire course of its schooling right up until graduation day, where they hope to present as many full scholarships as there are proud graduates.
The I Have a Dream program can seem like a dream in itself to Clark student families: Over 70 percent qualify for free or reduced-fee lunches and nearly 7 percent meet the governmental criteria for being homeless.
"Many of these children are coming from families where education is not necessarily stressed," Shapiro said. "And this is because education was probably not emphasized to be important to them. This is the cycle we are trying to break."
And if the notion of funding higher education for 60 children seems an astounding commitment, it is probably because I Have a Dream developed from an impromptu idea in the mind of an incredulously charitable man. In 1981, when Manhattan businessman Eugene Lang discovered that 75 percent of the graduating sixth-graders at his East Harlem alma mater were expected to drop out of school before graduation, he scrapped his original commencement address and made a pledge: For all of the students who graduated, he would fund their continuing education, whether it be college or vocational school.
After a tide of acclaim and national media attention from the likes of CBS's "60 Minutes" and the New York Times, cities from Los Angeles to Denver to New York City have upstarted local I Have A Dream projects. Today, the I Have a Dream Foundation has flourished to include more than 180 projects in 60 cities, including one in Charlottesville.
Program co-sponsor Chris Poe, a Charlottesville businessman and father, watched the "60 Minutes" segment on Eugene Lang and vowed to get involved with the program some day.
As co-sponsors, Poe and Gaffney are responsible for the fund-raising aspect of the Charlottesville project, an estimated $1 million for the college scholarships alone.
Shapiro, who has a permanent office in Clark, spearheads the many educational and cultural extracurricular activities planned for Dreamers, all the while working closely with the students. Logistically, one of Shapiro's chief goals is to find dedicated University students to volunteer with Dreamers during after-school homework assistance sessions, held Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"I do think we have starving kids and homeless kids right here in our community that we can do something about it right now," Shapiro said.
Her plans for further enriching the program include a full-fledged mentoring program, and the ability for community members to individually sponsor Dreamers over the next 10 years during, at a cost of $83 per month.
In further expansion of I Have a Dream, Gaffney, a University graduate and an All-American soccer player during his college days, launches his I Have a Dream soccer league this week.
"It's an incredible opportunity to lend some support, to come out and tell kids that they're great," Gaffney said. "Our goal is to inject as much positivity into these kids' lives as possible and at the right age. Right now is the perfect time to be letting these kids know that they can grow up and be contributing citizens."
Whether it be through Homework Help, Madison House's Booster program with Clark, or I Have a Dream soccer coaching, University student volunteers are in high demand. While Clark possesses the most troubling statistics within a two-hour radius of Charlottesville, the school is also within close proximity to the University, whose outreach can be an instrumental part of I Have a Dream's success.
For University students looking to become part of a long-term program that will forge a consistent relationship with an at-risk child, I Have a Dream is eagerly searching for University volunteers and support.
"The thing I like about this program and the one thing that really does distinguish I Have a Dream from other programs is that you are working with the same group of kids for 12 years," Poe said. "You really have the ability to make a significant difference in their lives."
Gaffney echoes Poe's sentiment that I Have a Dream is a unique and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for volunteers.
"Most volunteers come to Clark hoping to teach a child, but most will see that the roles reverse," Gaffney said. "The volunteer ends up learning so many things and realizing all the things that we take for granted."
As Shapiro sits in her office at the end of a Monday afternoon, a Dreamer named Ashley enthusiastically dashes into her office to show off a newly formed clay basket. Ashley's favorite things about I Have a Dream are parties and picnics. But before returning to her classmates, she says to Shapiro, "You've been doing a lot of things for us, too."
And Shapiro is content to see that the efforts of I Have a Dream are affecting the Clark second-graders.
"The number one goal for these kids is to recognize their self-worth and that I Have a Dream will expose them to things that they will strive for better, will feel successful in whatever capacity that means," Shapiro said. "As long as they feel successful, then the program has accomplished what it set out to do."
Read More
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 22 hours agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
Perfecting the subtle art of the ‘sexile’
By Val Vixen | December 7, 2024Approach this sacred college ritual with a newfound confidence.
