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I-LEAD In The News
I-LEAD ARTICLE IN THE May 4, 2004 NEW YORK TIMES
For Future Leaders, a Retreat to Remember
By DAVID GONZALEZ The rock had to go. Simple as that. It was in the way, and it had to go. So Christon Harris and his friends took turns slamming it with a pickax, slipping their hands around, over and under it, prying and pushing until it popped out of the dirt where it had tripped up absent-minded hikers for who knows how many years. Similar battles - some less successful, others more modest - played out along a path in the Catskill Mountains shrouded in dangling branches and swarms of gnats. The symbolism was evident to even the most citified among them, since they had plenty of experience helping one another overcome various obstacles during high school. This ritual in sweat and stone, one of several during a weekend retreat, would unite them one last time before they scattered across the country and into college. "I got a lot of tension out," Christon said later, sitting quietly among his friends as night crept over the campground. "Everything felt in balance. New York City versus the woods." Tension and balance. What was and what could be. That will define their lives for the next four years. Over the last four, they have been taught and counseled, encouraged and challenged in a leadership group for high school students blessed with talent and promise, but not money. In September, they will confront the competing tugs of identity, ambition, community and class as they enroll in some of the country's most selective colleges, where they will be in the racial and economic minority for the first time in their lives. Past generations measured success by the mile - by how far they escaped from the streets and people of their childhood. These teenagers consider it a little more complicated: they want the impressive degree and the good job, but they are expected to remember the old neighborhoods as vital places that need their skills. "We're helping them get through the glass ceiling," said Richard Rivera, the director of the program, which is known as the Institute for Leadership, Excellence and Academic Development. "But we're also telling them: 'Look, you have been given an incredible opportunity. You have a responsibility to create opportunity for others. It's not about getting out and getting away. It's about coming back and making a difference.'" Seventy teenagers had barely started their freshman year at various Catholic high schools in the city when teachers and counselors decided they could be leaders and selected them for a new enrichment program financed by the Goldman Sachs Foundation. They had good grades and they were hungry. They were willing to sacrifice their Saturdays for classes and cultural activities and they spent their summers as scholarship students in college programs or foreign exchanges in places as far away as Australia. "The only continent they haven't gone to yet is Antarctica," Mr. Rivera said. "And I'm working on it." As it is, college and professional careers are virgin territory for many of their friends on the block. But the 42 who survived all four years talk like veterans who have earned their place in college through hard work and determination. What others outside their world think, however, is curious. Rhenita Brade, a clear-eyed and confident senior at Aquinas High School who is headed to Trinity College, remembered how two summers ago she was the only scholarship student in a summer program in Ecuador. "The 20 other kids just had rich parents," she said. "One night they were talking about drugs and sex and they said to me, 'You know what I mean.' To be honest, I had no idea what they were talking about. They just expected me to know because I am African-American and come from the Bronx." Christon, a senior at Rice who is going to Cornell, knows it will not be easy. Then again, what was over the last four years? He was rambunctious and impatient in the beginning, often coming close to quitting. Then, something clicked. Maybe it was the fact that adults refused to accept his excuses. Maybe it was because they let him talk. Maybe he looked around his Bronx neighborhood and realized this was no game. "I can't say I had an epiphany," he said. "I just knew what I had to do. I changed." Greater change awaits. "I know I will be one of the few black males from a working-class family," he said. "Maybe I can change the stereotypes people have about us. It doesn't scare me." Such self-assurance came easily after the four years he and others spend supporting one another. Sure, there are cliques within the group, with shy loners or strutting jocks. But there was also a common goal and a spirit that pushed them along, a spirit forged in three previous retreats. A nervous, melancholy air hung over their final retreat, held on the last weekend in April. Some of them were full of bluster, as if to deny the fact they would soon be away from one another and on their own. Others were quiet, almost rebelliously so. To remind them one last time of themselves and their goals, they participated in "The System," where they surveyed a room filled with seats arranged in a pyramid. Alvin Herring, the retreat leader, told them to sit where they thought that society had made a place for them. A few dashed to the top of the pyramid, many more in the middle. A couple of others rejected it outright and sat off to the side. The students broke into small groups and debated one another intensely. Do poor people choose to not get ahead? Is your parents' economic class your destiny? Was there an alternative? Who set the rules? Why not a circle? "I think the whole idea of an equal playing field is ridiculous," Rhenita said. "The only person looking out for what is best for you is yourself." While the arguments raged, a couple of teenagers walked around the room and knocked down all the chairs. Mr. Herring said it was the only time an exercise like this had ended with an impromptu class uprising. "That is one of the key challenges in higher education right now, since so many schools are pursuing a strategy of ethnic and cultural diversity," he said. "But there is no class diversity. There is no class dialogue. As you can see, these kids want that dialogue. They feel comfortable in the chaos." The next morning the circle won out. There was still tension, hard feelings over some nighttime pranks that got out of hand. They were gently reminded that goodbyes were near, that new beginnings were, too. They got up and walked around the room, saying quiet thanks and tearful farewells. "Are you ready to lead?" Mr. Herring asked. Jaleni Thompson gave it his own reading: he thought he was asked if he was ready to leave. "I'm not ready," Jaleni said. "But I know I have to." Rebekah Grant was definitely not ready to go. She spoke haltingly about how relatives had always wanted her to do more, to take the spotlight. Mr. Herring gently asked her to stand beside him. Who was kind to her? Two people stood up and faced the girl. Who would like to be kind? Almost everyone joined them. Like a revival meeting, her friends talked about past moments of grace and laughter with her. One talked about how she listened when others wouldn't or couldn't. Someone got close enough to notice - after four years - that she had a dimple. "I didn't talk much," Rebekah finally said. "But I really like you. And I still need your help and encouragement." The small crowd closed in on her. Even the jocks were biting their lips and dabbing at red-rimmed eyes. "Can we hug her yet?" someone asked. And they did. Simple as that.
I-LEAD ARTICLE IN THE MAY 2004 EDUCATION UPDATE
Bank Street College of Ed & Goldman Sachs Prepare Students for Top Collegesby Sybil Maimin After four years of rigorous academic, entrepreneurial, and leadership enrichment activities, the 43 students in the first class at the Institute for Leadership, Excellence, and Academic Development (I-LEAD) at Bank Street College of Education, are about to graduate. Known as Goldman Sachs Scholars, participants come from six inner-city Catholic High Schools in New York City. Founding partners The Goldman Sachs Foundation and Bank Street hope to level the playing field and prepare bright, highly motivated youngsters for selection to top colleges where they can receive the education necessary for community leadership and participation in the global economy. As explained by Maxine Roberts, academic advisor to this year's class, parochial schools are chosen because, "public schools get a lot of services, but Catholic schools are seen as having a wealth of knowledge about their students but not the services to help them succeed in getting into select colleges." The results, as seen through this first class, are encouraging. In the benchmarks of enrollment in Advanced Placement classes, PSAT and SAT scores, and acceptance to top colleges including the Ivies, I-LEAD students are outperforming peers in their high schools as well as national averages. The program offers opportunities that would otherwise not be available to these youngsters and includes summers, Saturdays, and after-school requirements. The first summer involves a 3-week residential academic program. Leticia Domenech of Cardinal Spellman High School attended Polytech University in Brooklyn where she studied writing, chemistry, business, and college exploration and had the college-like experience of living away from home. "It was very challenging, but it all pays off in the end," she says confidently. The second and third summers involve the options of travel abroad, attending a college program for high school students, leadership experiences, or community service. Dyan Wright of Spellman studied political science at Howard University. "I didn't think it would be this much work but I realize that in the end the work has a purpose," she reports. Others have attended an 11-day youth leadership conference in Washington, DC, and some have traveled out of the country. So far, I-LEADers have gone to 15 countries in 6 continents including Ghana, Thailand, Australia, Chile, Spain, and the Sioux Nation. At Bank Street sessions, in addition to academic enrichment, participants take PSAT and SAT prep classes and college application and essay writing workshops which include tips about financial aid and interviewing skills. Two 3-day tours to look at colleges¢to upstate New York and to New England¢are offered. This hands-on experience is an eye-opener for many and opens up questions about college "fit" which might not have been considered previously. The dedicated staff of I-LEAD sees their responsibility as going beyond helping the youngsters get into competitive schools. They want them to stay and succeed. Maxine Roberts hopes to help her advisees learn about summer internships while in college, an experience "that mattered most for me." I-LEAD Director Richard Rivera concurs. "From my perspective, the success of this program will be in four years when they graduate from college. Getting them in is just the beginning. Graduation is what it is all about." He will also measure success by how much "they give back, their sense of service and helping others." At an open house at Bank Street where the impressive young scholars showcased their program and accomplishments thus far with films of their activities and witty and sophisticated skits and performances, Goldman Sachs partner Steven McGinnis spoke of the "tremendous opportunity for students. It will pay off and will give you a chance to differentiate yourself from others. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something and please do not take the program lightly." Speaking to the many proud parents in attendance, he advised, "Help them take risks. They will fall down but they will get up. Victory tastes better after you fall down." Bank Street Dean of Continuing Education Fern Kahn praised the staff of I-LEAD for their tireless work and good instincts. Addressing the fact of the demands of the program, she enthused, "I feel good about them working hard and being stressed out. It means something is happening." Participating in I-LEAD are All Hallows, Aquinas, Cardinal Hayes, Rice, Cardinal Spellman, and Academy of Mt. St. Ursula high schools.
BANK STREET'S STREET SCENES - SPRING 2002 The Goldman Sachs Scholars Conclude Second Year: by Richard Rivera May 2002 Bank Street College's Goldman Sachs Scholars presented the Second Annual Open House and Student Showcase at Union Theological Center on May 18. This showcase, for scholars' families and guests, celebrated their academic work. This year, 105 high school students, from four New York City Catholic high schools, Aquinas, Cardinal Hayes, Cardinal Spellman, and Rice helped to develop and present the Open House and Student Showcase.
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