The Trials And Triumphs Of Twelve Gifted Inner City Students

In "And Still We Rise," Miles Corwin chronicles the daily struggle of gifted students in 1997’s South Central L.A. Even with abundant street temptations and challenging peer experiences, these students find refuge in a school system that affords them both happiness and hope. Everyday is a challenge, and yet, they continue to strive for success.

At Hazelwood High School, they do things differently than at my school. At Hazelwood, most of the people worry about themselves and nobody else. Most of the school doesn’t get good grades and the school does not do anything about it. One day in English class Andy walked out when they were reading Macbeth because it was too emotional for Andy to handle. His friends were concerned and told the school counselor. They said, “But… but… it seems like… like… he needs help or somethin’.” Then the counselor said, “Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you boys this, but he is getting some outside counseling… So you boys can relax and be assured that he is getting whatever help he needs”(100). At Harrisburg High School, if someone had an issue like that, the counselors and teachers would be concerned, even if the person was getting outside help. Another thing about education that is different than mine is the school. In Ronda’s English homework, she wrote, “Our school building must have been built about a million years ago, because it was brown and tall and raggedy-looking, but it fit right in with the rest of the day”(16). At my high school, we are very fortunate to have a very new building to learn inside of. At Hazelwood High, they were not fortunate enough to have a new high school be built. Culture and education are very important pieces of people’s

It is essential to consider the interconnectedness of the system from an ecological perspective, contemplating the involvement of the system parts, which include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Characteristics such as the neighborhood in which the adolescent lives, their socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic background, play a role in their development. A spectrum that considers a multifaceted framework, provides a platform to enhance one’s understanding of the assessment outcomes. According to Hill, Bromell, Tyson & Flint (2007), the stages of adolescent development from ages eight to sixteen, involve biological, social, and cognitive components. Adolescents move through phases of identity development which encapsulates changes within relationships of friends, peers, family members, and parents. Within that timeframe, approximately two transitions occur between educational facilities in the adolescent’s life. The biological shift occurring, involves hormonal changes and affects the adolescent’s mood. Behavioral changes are expressed through heightened anxiety, the onset of depression, and extreme high mood levels followed by extreme low levels. The identity development phase involves self-conscious behavior, self-centeredness, and questioning one’s ability to be successful.

Brice, A. E., Shaunessy, E., Hughes, C., McHatton, P. A., & Ratliff, M. A. (2008). What Language Discourse Tells Us About Bilingual Adolescents: A Study of Students in Gifted Programs and Students in General Education Programs. Journal For The Education Of The Gifted, 32(1), 7-33.

Heather Ruha grew up in a “pretty rough” suburb on Chicago’s west border; this background has allowed her to connect with the hardships that her urban students face. Her interest in education was sparked by an incredibly influential teacher’s assistant in one of her classrooms, who Heather described as “giving” but always pushed her to do her best and challenge herself. She graduated from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Psychology. Ms. Ruha has been working in the Kenosha Unified school district since 2006, originally as a teacher in elementary classrooms, until she discovered a true passion for working with middle school students.

While studying five middle schools in South Central United States, Waxman, Huang, & Padron, (1997) determined that motivation was a key factor. About 78% of the resilient students indicated that they would graduate from high school while only 43% of the non-resilient students planned on graduating. The resilient students also were less likely to be late or skip class (Waxman, Huang, & Padron, 1997). Resilient students also indicated that they spent significantly more time doing homework each week than non-resilient students, these students also spend more time on additional readings (Waxman, Huang, & Padron, 1997). These resilient

Growing up in the inner city of Los Angeles taught me many things; make sure you’re inside before the street lights come on, never wear all red or blue, and make sure you get a good education so that one day you can leave the inner city behind. I was fortunate enough to have both a mother and a father who stressed the importance of excelling academically because attending an inner city, LA county, public school did not instill a love of academics in myself or my peers. Our teachers had checked out, the curriculum was not inspiring or relatable, and everyday there was yet another fight happening during recess. As time went on I witnessed my classmates and I take completely different paths. The strong support system I had at home proved effective. As I went on to go to college, many of my peers dropped out, the dismal state of our public school system had clearly failed them. During my undergraduate studies, the stories of my old classmates did not leave my mind.

The goal of the Marcy’s Youth Center  is to help at risk students living within Marcy Housing with low school performance in reading, writing, and math to improve their abilities to the point where they can succeed in school and develop the skills that will prepare them for high school. Studies have shown student who live in Public Housing are more likely to drop out of high school, score lower on standardized exams, and less likely to graduate in four years than those who do not live in public housing. Given this, the Marcy’s Youth Center seeks to achieve the following objectives:

After the L.A. Riots and the O.J. Simpson trial, the atmosphere of Los Angeles was unsettling at best. Many teens dreaded the first day of high school for many varying reasons. The integrated students knew they were labeled by their fellow students and teachers because of their low test scores and frequent visits to juvenile hall. It was just assumed that these teens were “unteachable” and “delinquents”.

Adams County public school system’s current program doesn’t seem to recognize any minority or poor students who could be considered gifted. Educators in this district and committee members seem to lack any motivation to include diverse learners in their program. The fact that Adams County only recognized three out of four hundred thirty-eight over a five-year span is appalling. I feel Adams County need some major changes to extend their idea of giftedness. It needs to start with intensive and in-depth teacher training along with community outreach and awareness programs to help educate parents about giftedness. For instance, parent could learn ways to better support their children and help identify their child’s areas of giftedness.

We closely worked on some projects for the gifted and talented in my class, and I observed her redirect these pupils to the path of intellectual and emotional progression.Consequently, their excess mental and physical energies were engaged towards positive academic endeavours.

During life, we all experience various obstacles. Everyone copes with these obstacles in different ways. The way that someone looks at, and handles stressful situations, is one of the ways of defining resilience (Harrington, 2012). One of these obstacles that many students have to overcome is the ability to juggle their jobs, families, and school. This can be a very daunting task.

Traumatic experiences, difficult home lives, and the effect of drugs can leave a significant imprint on the rest of an individual’s life. The context which individuals are surrounded by during their developmental years has a significant impact on their mental health and development. In the documentary, The Bad Kids this idea is depicted through the portrayal of adolescence and early adulthood periods of the individuals at Black Rock Continuation High School. The film portrays the lives of at risk teens, who are given a second chance to get their life on track and earn a high school diploma. However, there are complications and set-backs that are holding them back from accomplishing their goals.

“We’re better off without him.” When I overheard those words emanating from my parent's mouth, everything I thought that I had known about my relationship with them vanished in an instant. The anxiety resulting from the multiple competitions they had put me in was now worse than ever; I was going to run away to Stonetown. One day while in the city I saw a poster that called my attention. It contained information regarding a test for gifted children and I decided to give it a shot.

The mass majority of individuals past the age of thirty seem to trivialize problems that a plethora of American youth suffer from today. Simply put, the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry describes it best in his book, The Little Prince, in the quote, “All grown-ups were once children…but only few of them remember it.” We are inordinately exhausted from classes and extracurricular activities that promise college appeal, we are emotionally inept from the expectations of our family’s and peers, and we are despondent from the inability to caste away anxiety filled doubt at a future that seems implausible. My greatest contribution to my school and my community is my dedication to establish compassion and comfort for an improved quality of life. The known establishment of my human gifts to my region came about from my own experiences that caused a realization that various students in my community feel outcasted by our society. By creating a persona that promotes nondiscriminatory listening while also creating three clubs that perform as a safe space, I believe my greatest attribute to my small town of Forest City will endure the hardships of time.