NEWS

Local angles: Asheville, Durham, Kinston, Pembroke

Inaugural class to graduate from Durham Scholars, a Kenan Institute-sponsored program for at-risk youth

By KIM SPURR
Kenan-Flagler Business School

CHAPEL HILL -- After graduating from Southern High School, Brandie Bailey plans to pursue a college degree in sports medicine. She’ll be armed with a $10,000 scholarship she earned through a six-year commitment to Durham Scholars, a program begun in 1995 that targets at-risk youth from northeast Durham’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Bailey entered the after-school enrichment program when she was in sixth grade. If she stayed with the program for six years, the scholarship was the pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow. Eleven members of Bailey’s inaugural class of 24 sixth-graders are graduating from the program, which is the brainchild of the late Frank Hawkins Kenan and Dr. James H. Johnson Jr., a management professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Johnson runs the program out of the Kenan Institute, the business school’s innovative think-and-do tank that finds creative solutions to public and private sector problems. Durham Scholars is funded by the W. R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.

The program has opened doors for her, said Bailey, who spent one summer at Camp $tart-Up in Wellesley, Mass., where she learned how to develop a business plan and networked with women entrepreneurs. She has served as a peer mentor to the younger Durham Scholars.

"I’ve been able to develop as a person because I’ve had people to encourage me," she said. "Durham Scholars has pushed me and helped me develop a sense of responsibility."

Bailey’s fellow graduates hope to pursue careers in digital animation, elementary education, biology, computers and cosmetology, among other fields.

Last year, the Kenan Institute began to replicate the Durham Scholars model in three additional North Carolina cities, with a grant of $1.35 million from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The expanded youth initiative primarily will serve Lumbee Indian children in Pembroke and African-American children in Kinston and Asheville.

The Durham Scholars program utilizes a myriad of resources and partnerships to help the 140 children it now serves in grades six through 12. Union Baptist Church on North Roxboro Street is one of those key partners — it provides a home for the program four days a week, complete with 11 classrooms, an office and a computer lab.

"I believe that a church has a civic responsibility to the community it serves," said Union Baptist’s Pastor Kenneth Hammond. "When we look around in our community, and have an awareness of what’s happening with young people, we have to afford them opportunities to succeed academically."

Corporations also are involved. The AOL Foundation provided computer hardware and Internet accounts for program participants through its PowerUp program, and Cisco wired the computer lab. Other donors have given money for students to go to summer camp. Business school MBA students serve as mentors. Eleven public school system teachers and two social workers staff the program, and chartered buses pick up the scholars weekday afternoons from 18 different schools.

The beauty of the program is that it’s not just about academics. Students are expected to abide by a dress code, as well as follow a code of conduct. Parents give written consent, which grants program staff the authority to meet with teachers and guidance counselors, as well as exchange information and gather academic information and copies of report cards. Social workers explore family dynamics, and parental workshops cover topics such as parenting an adolescent, financial literacy and how to buy a house. Students have classes on topics such as how to use the Internet, anger management and character-building.

"We spend a lot of time with these kids; we are an extension of their family. Many of them are battling tremendous odds, but we set realistic goals for them and build hope," said Beverly Hester-Stephens, the program director whom many students call "Mama." She attends their schools’ award ceremonies and graduations and accompanies students to summer camps outside the area.

Johnson, an academic activist in the truest sense of the word, has become a master at mobilizing all the resources in the community to help the students succeed. "Public schools have a daunting task. They can’t be expected to do it all," he said. "We’ve committed long-term support to educational intervention — this is not a one-time inoculation. The biggest variables are patience and persistence."

And just as a management professor should, Johnson sees Durham Scholars as a smart business opportunity — building stronger, more prosperous communities out of the inner city, one student at a time.

"In this rapidly changing knowledge economy, it comes down to brainpower," he said. "These children are the workforce of the future. The extent to which they are empowered educationally will have a direct impact on the bottom line."

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Media opportunities: A June dinner is being planned for graduates and their families. The Durham Scholars’ summer institute at Union Baptist will be held July 1-27.

Contacts: Kim Weaver Spurr, Kenan-Flagler Business School, (919) 962-8951, spurrk@unc.edu
Dr. James H. Johnson Jr., (919) 962-2214, jim_johnson@unc.edu
Beverly Hester-Stephens, (919) 962-2300, hesterb@bschool.unc.edu
Pastor Kenneth Hammond, (919) 688-1304, krayhammond@netscape.net
Brandie Bailey, (919) 688-6918