Shannon NickinsonJoe Sims believes in paying it forward. So does Nicole Brown.
And why wouldn’t they? They are flesh and blood proof of what it can get you.
Joe is a social worker in Crestview who works for the United Methodist Children’s Home, a group home for children who are in the state foster care system.
Nicole is a preschool teacher who works with special education students at Jim Allen Elementary School.
Both of them got to where they are thanks, in part, to a Take Stock in Children scholarship, a statewide program that matches mentors with students from poor families. And both take every chance they can get to tell their stories in praise of the program that made college possible for them.
Students who complete Take Stock by keeping at least a 2.5 GPA, meeting citizenship and attendance requirements, and staying away from crime and drugs, get an $8,400 college scholarship.
The Florida Prepaid Foundation matches the donations to the program dollar for dollar.
Nicole came to Pensacola as part of a military family and for as long as she can remember wanted to be a teacher. Without the scholarship, college wouldn’t have been possible for her.
“It helps a lot to know that you have a dream to follow,” Nicole says. Take Stock helped answer the next step: “So how do I get there?”
Now it is her job to pass on the joy of learning to children. How cool is that?
Joe is a son of Brownsville, the second of four children and the only boy. Both of his parents worked and did their best, but four kids in a two-bedroom house meant that his folks couldn’t always keep a close eye on everyone.
When he walked across the stage to graduate from the University of West Florida, he saw his mother crying, because no one in the immediate family then had finished college.
Why do stories like Joe’s and Nicole’s matter?
Because in Escambia County, our graduation rate is 64 percent — 71 percent for white students, 51 percent for black students.
If we allow that to continue, we are committing economic suicide.
Jim Clifton, the chairman of Gallup, says that one of the best indicators of a community’s economic prospects is its high school graduation rate.
Clifton says kids drop out of school when they lose hope that they will graduate and can’t see any prospects worth staying in school for.
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas knows that he has to improve the numbers and is taking steps to do so.
One of the consequences of recent budget cuts was officials restricted the number of students who could make up courses. If you are a ninth-grader and you failed, you can right now start to make that up. The student can come to community school (after hours, one day a week).
In the past, no one did night school until they were 16 or older.
“I think that hurt us,” he says.
Thomas also will look at opening summer school to underclassmen, as well as opening a special summer program for eighth-graders who are at risk.
Parents need to be part of the solution, too. As does the community at large.
If Pensacola truly is to move forward, we need to do better by all of our students.
Without that, the region’s population will remain static and wages won’t rise. Companies that value a highly skilled, adaptable, healthy workforce will keep moving elsewhere.
Take Stock is just one program. There are others, all aiming to tackle the problem one child at a time. They don’t save them all.
But they get enough Joe Simses and Nicole Browns to make it clear that the fight can be won.
Shannon Nickinson is a columnist who lives in Pensacola. Follow her at twitter.com/snickinson. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
