At 9:30pm on a Friday night, I plopped into a couch, pulled out a pile of wide-ruled notepaper from my manila accordion folder and began reading the draft of a college personal statement written one of my Peer Leaders. I had five - they were rising seniors who attended high school in Oakland and East Palo Alto, where crime rates are too high, income levels are too low, and enrolling in college is far too rare.

Why was I at the UC Merced campus, 3 hours from my SF home, after a long week of work? Read more.

Check out the video of this informative, honest and lively panel.

CSI Presenter: Yetunde Reeves, Principal, EXCEL High School

The facts:

298 students grades 9-12
Defined as low income
Students primarily from West Oakland

Building college going culture in a small urban school: a Case Study for Success

1. College talk

Educators talk about dorm life, food, where they went to college on a regular basis

Educators wear college gear once a week

Alumni…

Continue reading
Comments (1)  | Email this story

Often the notion of being a social entrepreneur and an innovator in public service has been restricted to a handful of charismatic leaders who launch new organizations – just as College Summit’s founder J.B. did.  It wasn’t long ago (1993 to be exact) when he was in a basement of a D.C. housing project developing his idea for the change he sought.  Sixteen years and tens of thousand of students…

Continue reading
No comments  | Email this story

Be sure to check out the New York Times editorial from this week where raising college enrollment rates is identified as a key part of helping the small number of schools that produce so many of the nation’s dropouts.