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Going to the source for solutions

A high school principal organizes groups of black and Hispanic students to get their advice on how to bridge the gap in academic achievement.

By JOSE CARDENAS
Published December 27, 2005

	[Times photos: Kathleen Flynn]
	Aron Anderson, 18, laughs after grabbing a seat during a round of musical chairs at a Christmas party for the Countryside Christian Center's youth group at the Countryside Country Club in Clearwater. Aron has been part of a group of students brainstorming some suggesting solutions for to the achievement gap issue of minority students . Aron excels in school but has observed the problems that some of his African-American peers fellow students face. "Some people just don't have support from their parents, and some people just give up," he said. "My parents have been separated for 7 seven years, but they've supported me the whole time."
	Seidy Rojas, left, and Ana Maria Quintero walk together after taking a final exam at Clearwater High School. Ana Maria has been part of a study group of Hispanic students discussing the problems they face in school. Ana Maria came from Colombia last year but has been studying English since she was 5 years old, so the language transition wasn't as hard for her. The same isn't true for other Hispanic students. Ana Maria suggested that English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers have more knowledge of Spanish.
	Ana Maria Quintero waits in the school cafeteria to be dismissed during finals week. Another suggestion she had to help fellow students is for their parents to have more involvement in their children's schooling.
	Looking to get a job at an Outback Steakhouse in St. Petersburg, Ana Maria Quintero completes a personality test that is part of the job application. She thinks it would be helpful to have Hispanic college students come to Clearwater High School to help kids prepare for their future.
	As guidance counselor Cheri Ashwood goes over his Duke University application, Aron Anderson waits patiently. He recently received an award for having the highest grades on the Clearwater High football team. But he has seen many of his African-American schoolmates struggle through school.

CLEARWATER - In the debate about the achievement gap between white and minority students, there has been no shortage of adult voices.

Parents. Teachers. Lawyers. Researchers.

But what do students think?

Clearwater High School principal Nick Grasso wanted to find out and ask them to suggest ways to close the gap.

So over the last few months he has held focus groups called "Achievement Councils," one each for black and Hispanic students.

In their council, African-American students identified low attendance as the primary problem and said it is caused by things such as a lack of personal purpose and teachers being judgmental.

"It's more their mind-set, the student himself or herself," said Aron Anderson, an 18-year-old senior in the focus group. "They need to change the way they think: "What's the purpose for coming here?"'

In their group, Hispanic students pointed most to the need for Hispanic mentors. For some, a lack of motivation to do well in high school is a barrier because they are in the country illegally and college is not financially feasible.

"When people don't have their papers, and they want to go to college, you don't have the same opportunity as somebody from America," said Ana Maria Quintero, an 18-year-old senior.

Clearwater High is 16 percent black and 10 percent Hispanic. The school's No Child Left Behind report shows that black and Hispanic students, though improving, trail far behind their white peers in the percentage of them who can read and do math at grade level.

Principals in other parts of the country, particularly Texas, have long met with students to talk about life in general as demographics in their neighborhoods change, said Clayton Wilcox, superintendent of the Pinellas County School District.

For Pinellas, which faces a lawsuit over its achievement gap, Grasso's approach is innovative, Wilcox said.

"I think ... there will be other principals who will follow his lead," said Wilcox. "One of the things we have consistently said is "We are going to close the achievement gap,' and Nick has taken that to heart and said, "If I'm going to do that, I'm going to understand the problems."'

Grasso invited Bill Horne, Clearwater's African-American city manager, and Robin Gomez, a Hispanic city auditor, to take part in the focus groups.

Both are mentors to students and welcomed Grasso's effort.

"I think he was thinking out of the box in the context of going at the problem and enlisting the input of the students," said Horne. "In this day of political correctness, some principals would not isolate the target group ... and say, "Let's focus specifically on African-Americans."'

Though the black students pointed to uninspiring curriculum and teachers as reasons for their apathy, they also talked about the need to take personal responsibility.

"They come to school with, "I have to go to high school because my parents want me to go to school ,"' said senior Victoria Chatman, 17. "They really don't think about what they are going to do in the future."

The students said it is not uncommon for some black pupils to put down other black students who do well in school.

"The main solution for that is broaden their minds from, "I'm black. ... I need to dress a certain way. I need to act like this. I need to talk like this,"' said Anderson. "Just broaden their minds to where it's not talking ... "white' when you talk properly."

Horne said a personal focus on education can help minority students overcome disadvantages.

"I'm mainly interested in how the students and the parents pick up their part," said Horne. "My father, I think he went as far as sixth grade. I'm a college graduate. My daughter, 24, is a college graduate. My dad had an hourly job, and our focus within the family was geared toward ensuring that we got the most out of our time in school."

Black students also suggested holding motivational seminars, a career day for incoming freshmen, a summer academy for students who lack motivation, seminars to help parents motivate their children and training for teachers on how to motivate and be sensitive to black students.

Solutions offered for Hispanic students and their parents included adding bilingual office assistants and a special orientation at the start of the school year.

The students also said they need to make an effort to speak more English at school and home.

"We speak Spanish 100 percent of the time," said Quintero, who came from Colombia less than two years ago. "If we want to learn the language we have to speak (English) with everybody ... in our home also."

But the students said they face bigger barriers.

"With Hispanics, it was more intense," said assistant principal Carolyn Wilson. Hispanics have immigration and legal issues "that we needed to address, which I don't know how much control we have over."

Though school officials can't do anything about the immigration status of some Hispanic students, Grasso and his staff decided there was another way to show them support.

Students in the government class will write to federal elected officials and ask them to pass the DREAM Act. It's legislation pending in Congress that would give legal status to some immigrant high school students.

Gomez said he and Horne could approach the City Council and ask it to support the legislation.

If Hispanic students know that the city where they live supports them, that might encourage and motivate them to be more involved in school, Gomez said.

The most promising solution, though, is an idea to create a pool of Hispanic mentors at the high school.

Gomez was already working with two other people to create a group of young Hispanic professionals in the Tampa Bay area partly to mentor Hispanic students.

"We need mentors to let us know that we can do it, to never give up," said 17-year-old Adrian Hernandez.

For his part, Grasso hopes the issues and solutions his students raised will be beneficial beyond his campus.

"By using our council we can help not only the kids in Clearwater High but the kids in Pinellas County," he said. "Like the mentor program, that could be something that another school could do."

--Jose Cardenas can be reached at jcardenas@sptimes.com or 727 445-4224.

[Last modified December 27, 2005, 02:30:20]