I forced myself into shoes that were too small for me

Ursula Adams Director of Digital Engagement United Way for Southeastern Michigan

In 2008 Stepha’n Q., a middle school student with a 1.0 grade point average, was treading the path of a dropout. Nearly 1 million teenagers  quit school each year, and as adults, these students will suffer from a doubled unemployment rate, resulting in crime, drug abuse and poverty.

“I went to school and tried to fit in,” Stepha’n said. “I forced myself into shoes that were too small for me.”

That same year, we launched the United Way Venture Fund. Our goal was large — we would settle for nothing less than turning around the low performing schools in our region. We organized into small, autonomous learning communities, each focusing on a specific discipline, such as science or technology. We restructured to put more decision-making into the hands of the local administrators. With these changes, teachers were given the opportunity to provide personalized instruction in smaller class settings.

Luckily, for Stepha’n, and for us, a year later something pretty spectacular happened – our paths crossed. Stepha'n enrolled at the Academy of Mathematics on the Osborn campus, one of our turnaround schools. And let me tell you, Stepha’n excelled in his new environment! He went from a 1.0 GPA to a 4.0 GPA. He’s even the President Elect of the City-Wide Student Council. Today, we have 17 schools and 12 campuses helping more than 12,000 students like Stepha’n to stay in school and find their way toward a productive future.

I can tell you that statistics show that the turnaround school concept works. Last year alone, chronic absences – a key indicator to high school success – were reduced by 25% in our schools. But Stepha’n is so much more than a statistic – he is living proof that small schools can work.

Click here to watch his inspiring story, in his own words, now. And, when you have finished, please consider making a special year-end investment in United Way’s Venture Fund so that we can continue this work together.

There are thousands of children in our region headed down the same path Stepha’n was in middle school. You can help rewrite their stories by investing in the United Way Venture Fund.

Please, give now at www.LiveUnitedSEM.org/YearEndEducation.