The first year that Shawn was enrolled in our after-school program, he failed the fifth grade for the second time. His life, up to that point, could best be described as "tumultuous." He had lived in a foster home for several years and had been recently placed back with his mom, who was struggling to free herself from the vices of drug and alcohol abuse and a violent live-in boyfriend. Shawn, like many of the kids in our program, had proven himself to be quite resilient and was doing what he could to make the best out of a difficult situation.
Unfortunately, it was no surprise to the staff that Shawn failed the fifth grade that year. In fact, we were surprised that he had made it to the fifth grade since he could do few math computations outside of simple addition and subtraction, and his reading level was far behind that of his peers. That summer, we worked diligently with Shawn – who was a willing participant -- to help prepare him to successfully complete the fifth grade on his third try. However, during the summer, we came to the conclusion that the public school system was failing Shawn, both literally and figuratively, and that if drastic steps were not taken, he was close to becoming yet another statistic.
At the end of the summer, we helped Shawn’s mother enroll him in a private school that pledged to help Shawn academically. A month into the school year, the private school said that Shawn was so far behind his fifth grade classmates, that in order for him to continue in the school, he would have to be placed in the fourth grade. We knew that this decision, although damaging to Shawn’s self-esteem, was the only way for Shawn to get the basic academic skills he needed. That school year, Shawn worked as he had never worked before, both in school and at Charity Family Life. After Charity Family Life ended each day, it was not unusual for Shawn to stay back with one or several of the instructors for several more hours of tutoring. Even with all of that work, we all held our collective breath at the end of the year to see if Shawn would be promoted to the fifth grade. Thankfully he was, although his teachers were quick to tell us that he had only barely passed the fourth grade, and he would have to work just as hard, if not harder, to pass the fifth grade. Our celebration was short, however, because the school said they did not want to have someone so old in the fifth grade so they were not willing to accept him for another year.
We found another private school willing to accept Shawn on scholarship, but it seemed like life continued to get harder for Shawn. He had worked so hard to pass the fourth grade (for a second time) and was about to try the fifth grade -- for a third time, at his third school -- while all of his friends were headed into the seventh grade. However, Shawn once again proved himself to be resilient and pledged to do his best in the fifth grade.
Shawn continued to work hard that next school year and continued to spend many hours outside of school and our after-school program studying and doing homework. Halfway through the school year, Shawn’s grade average was a "C" While quite unremarkable for many students, the "C" was a huge accomplishment for Shawn. In fact, this was the highest we had ever seen his grades. Shawn continued to persevere and was successfully promoted to the sixth grade—at the age of 14.
At the end of that school year we found out that there were complications with Shawn’s scholarship for the private school. Unless his mother could afford the cost of tuition and books – which she certainly could not – Shawn could not return the following year. Upon hearing this news, we all felt defeated. Shawn had worked so hard and now was going to be put back in the same school system that had so severely underserved him. His mom was resigned to sending him back to public school, and as the summer drew to a close, it seemed as though Shawn was out of options.
However, just before school opened in September, we heard of another private school that would be willing to take him on scholarship. We took his mother to the school to enroll him and for Shawn to take the tests that would determine his grade placement. When we got the results from the testing back, we were dumbfounded—they said Shawn could start in the eighth grade -- if he was willing to work hard and apply himself. His electives would be intense remediation classes and he would have to continue his hard work at Charity Family Life, but they believed he could be successful in the eighth grade—his age-appropriate grade.
Shawn successfully completed eighth and ninth grade, and he joined his school’s football team. His hard work had finally turned things around for him. He had grown from a kid who would never reach high school, let alone have time for extracurricular activities, into a young man who gives back to those who helped him. Other than his time at school and sports, Shawn spends every minute of his free time at Charity Family Life. He volunteers for our after-school and summer programs, and he encourages the young men in our program to try their best and to not shy away from hard work.
Without Charity Family Life, it is anyone’s guess as to where Shawn would
be. Shawn recently said that he believes that if it were not for Charity
Family Life, he would be incarcerated right now. Instead, he is helping to change lives in his community and his future looks very bright.
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