After the first school year, 17 of the 18 seniors in James E. Feazell Sr.'s program passed the FCAT
By SHANNON TAN
Published October 11, 2004
Several groups in Pinellas County want to duplicate a successful program run by retired educator James E. Feazell Sr that focuses on improving students' FCAT scores.
This includes a new center in North Greenwood, which opened last week. Pinellas County Commissioner Calvin Harris will be the director of the Student Development Center at 1250 Holt Ave. His brother, William Harris, a retired principal, will be the center's education director.
The center plans to serve 210 students from eight schools: Dunedin Elementary, Kings Highway, Skycrest Elementary, Dunedin Middle, Dunedin High, Kennedy Middle, Clearwater High and Sandy Lane Elementary.
Many students can't stay after school for tutoring because they have no transportation home. Harris wants those students to take the school bus to the center for free after-school tutoring twice a week.
The center also will offer GED courses for adults. On Saturdays, the center will hold field trips or host speakers and special programs.
"A lot of what we're doing is possible because of James Feazell," Harris said. "We could just replicate his program."
Last year, Feazell partnered with various Pinellas schools to create the "Bridging the Achievement Gap" program in unincorporated Ridgecrest.
He used volunteer teachers and student tutors to work with students who had failed the FCAT. After the first school year, 17 of the 18 seniors passed the FCAT and graduated with a diploma. Fifteen of those were expected to attend college this fall.
After reading about the program in the St. Petersburg Times , or hearing about its success, several groups in Pinellas County approached Feazell. They wanted to duplicate the program.
Things started to fall in place.
The African American Leadership Council moved from a recreation center at Holt Avenue to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in North Greenwood.
The Clearwater City Council recently approved a three-year partnership between the city and the Bethany Education and Human Services Program for the use of the Holt Avenue center in N Greenwood. The city is allowing the program to use the center rent-free, while private donations fund other expenses, such as books.
A private company, the city of Clearwater, the Clearwater Police Department and St. Petersburg College donated computers to the center. Six teachers from Clearwater High, Dunedin High and Dunedin Elementary will tutor students, focusing on math and reading skills. The center is seeking more volunteers.
The African American Leadership Council, which took over the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center Oct. 1, also plans to duplicate Feazell's program.
About 60 middle and high-school students already attend the center's free after-school program, said Bilal F. Habeeb-ullah, president of the council.
"When I read about (Feazell), we said that would be something excellent to model to assist our youth in being better prepared for the FCAT," he said.
Tarpon Springs Commissioner David Archie, executive director of Citizens Alliance for Progress, is also incorporating portions of Feazell's program into an after-school program for K-12 students at Union Academy Family Center. Archie hopes to build a partnership with high schools in the area.
Faith Memorial Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg is putting together an after-school ministry to help students with the FCAT, anger management and conflict resolution.
The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance in St. Petersburg also hopes to start its own FCAT program this month.
As for Feazell's program, so many students are attending that he's had to cap the number at 125. That is, until he gets more volunteer teachers and tutors.
