By Keri Mitchell Published July 19

By Keri Mitchell Published July 19, 2004
Baytown Sun

‘They all have big hearts’
Reggie Crockerm, Dalia Arredondo and Brenda Morales take part in a team-building exercise as part of Communities in Schools in Goose Creek as part of a summer program.

CIS primes for dropout prevention

When Goose Creek trustee Rosa Rodriguez attended Sterling and Lee high school graduation ceremonies last spring, she was blown away.

At least six students who crossed the stage to get their diplomas were those she had worked with years ago as a Communities in Schools volunteer — and she never thought they would make it to commencement.

One student in particular floored her. She had known him during a time when gang problems were plaguing Goose Creek schools. The boy’s brother was involved in a drive-by shooting, and the boy began heading down a path of crime as well.

“He was just lost. He was so wild, and there was just so much hatred,” Rodriguez said. “I told him (at graduation), ‘The way things were going, I thought you didn’t exist in this world.’”

That student and the others told a stunned Rodriguez that not only did they make it out of high school, but every single one also will attend college in the fall.

“They told me it was because people cared,” Rodriguez said.

These people who cared, Rodriguez said, are employees of Communities in Schools, a national organization that became a local presence on Goose Creek campuses in 1993. The organization’s goal is to remove the barriers that keep students from staying in school.

“If kids are in school, they’re not out on the streets committing crime and doing all those things,” said Janet Stansbury, executive director for Communities in Schools-Baytown Inc.

The organization stations case managers at both district high schools and all five junior schools to work with “kids that, just for different reasons, are struggling,” Stansbury said.

This time of year is critical for the organization as it tries to secure funding for the coming school year. The state gives it the most financial backing — $443,000 last year — but this amount is down from previous years.

Goose Creek trustees doled out $190,000 for Communities in Schools last year, and this week the organization went to the board with an overview of the past school year. The board soon will vote on the details of next year’s district budget.

Stansbury said she relies on other grants and endowments as well to provide salaries for the already-underpaid case managers.

“We have about $45,000 to $50,000 that we don’t know if we’re going to get again,” she said.

Funding for the organization is based on student improvement in areas such as attendance, behavior and academics; the goal is for 85 percent of case-managed students make gains. Though students fell short of the goal in two areas last year, the organization showed improvement in every category compared to the 2002-2003 school year.

The key to persuading a student to show up to class or propelling him to do his homework is relationships, Stansbury said. Once the case managers bond with the students, they often try harder knowing that someone else cares about their grades or their behavior, she said.

Struggling students referred to Communities in Schools for help have gone on to become Mr. Robert E. Lee or the governor of Sterling. Stansbury said one student was the president of his class at Sterling last year.

“You never know what kind of impact you have on a child until they come back and let you know,” Stansbury said.

Rodriguez experienced this firsthand at graduation ceremonies. The same boy she assumed had died or dropped out of school said he plans to attend college and become a social worker — following the path of the people who turned his life around.

Rodriguez cannot say enough about the merits of Communities in Schools and specifically lauded the Goose Creek workers.

“They all have big hearts,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a true thing.”

Serving all of Baytown, Lynchburg, Highlands, McNair, Barrett Station,
Crosby, Mont Belvieu, Anahuac and West Chambers County.