| Tutors open minds, doors - Communities In Schools volunteers invest an hour a week to guide kids to a lifetime of success
Susan B. Hansell says the success of Communities In Schools
of Wake County is measured by the dreams of its students.
"Children in communities of poverty usually don't
believe they can be anything they want," said Hansell,
the group's president. "Many of the students don't
believe they have the right to dream. They don't see people
who look like them and talk like them who are doing things.
"We want to give them the right to dream."
She has seen it happen. The nonprofit group's mission is
to give students the resources -- including adult mentors
and after-school tutoring -- needed to ensure their success
in school, and life in general.
Founded in 1991, Communities In Schools of Wake County,
or CIS Wake, initially brought volunteers into schools to
help students who were having a hard time.
After merging with Community Learning Partners in 1998,
the group included sites outside of schools to make sure
students were comfortable where they were learning. Program
volunteers meet with students at 13 Wake County schools
and at five public housing complexes.
"That's unique because students may or may not feel
comfortable in their schools," Hansell said. "The
school may be in a community very different from the ones
[the children] live in. We're able to be a bridge between
home and school life."
LaToya Jefferys, the volunteer director of CIS Wake, said
the organization works with students to provide five basics:
a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult; a safe place
to learn and grow; a marketable skill to use upon graduation;
a healthy start and healthy future; and a chance to give
back to peers and the community.
During the 2004-2005 school year, about 300 adults volunteered
to help 1,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Jefferys said students who come through the program benefit
from the motivation the adult volunteers give.
"With the caring adult," she said, "[the
students] have the opportunity to find their success."
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