Breaching the Gap with HAP!

Some of us often find ourselves trying to catch up in life. For adults it might be all about time management, but for scholars with the Higher Achievement Program at Kelly Miller Middle School, it's all about receiving better schooling.

The program is designed in such a way that it develops 5th to 8th grade learners from lower income areas in Washington D.C. through study hall, mentoring and the summer academy. The curriculum for the summer program focuses on advancing the learners scope of education to a level of excellence which will assist them on getting into great high schools.

Today was the first day that I met this years group of 7th grade scholars. I greeted them with such enthusiasm and by their response I could tell that they are not much different from South African 7th graders. Getting buy in from these learners is such a difficult part of the program. They realize that it is for the benefit to be in the summer academy but they are not entirely thrilled about it. The issue with public schools in lower income areas is that they are generally considered not nearly as good as public schools in higher income areas. We have been told that the public schooling system is depending on the property taxes of the area. Therefore, due to it being a lower income area, not much property tax is being paid and evidently there is a low investment in the public schools.

Another issue that could be considered as a hindrance to these scholars receiving the best education possible is that they are not allowed to attend schools outside their area of residence. Therefore, HAP attempts to counter the effects of this on the learners and giving them a better chance at getting into better high schools. The program has been successful in getting 95% of their scholars who graduate from the program into excellent high schools across D.C. and assisting them with applying for funding such as scholarships.

Although the public schooling systems in South Africa is different in that it is not dependent on property taxes, I do wish that there was such an amazing and advanced after school program and vacation school program in place, to assist learners who struggle in school. The program is also free for learners and depend solely on grants and personal donations to run. Most tutoring programs in South Africa are extremely expensive and almost non existent on 'lower income areas'. Throughout my schooling career I always saw education as the only way out of my circumstance and the only way that I could attain a better future than most youth in my area was to study hard.

Another important aspect of the program is that it not only concentrates on improving scholars academically but it also teaches them vital social skills such as self-awareness. They also equip scholars with leadership skills, responsibility, autonomy, confidence and teaches them the ability to reflect on their actions. Having the opportunity to observe the facilitators interact with the scholars and being able to assist them, made me realize that the only thing most of these scholars need is someone to invest time in them. I hope that the time that I spend with them can be something of value to them. I do not have much to offer except my experience as a youth and my struggles with academics. Their first activity for the day was to describe the attributes needed to be a part of a program such as HAP. They highlighted three important components for success: hard work, preparation and practice.