$400K Donation Aims To Stem Tide Of Baltimore's Dropout Rate
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Stemming the tide of Baltimore's dropout rate. That's what one large donation from one of the nation's top telecommunications companies aims to do.
As Gigi Barnett explains, the money will create more programs to lure students back to class.
It may be the last line of defense in Baltimore's battle to reduce the number of teen dropouts. The weapon is other teens.
They're all in a program called "Peer Group Connections," or PGC for short. It pairs older high schoolers as mentors to encourage younger students to stay in class.
"They came to me about family problems, they came to me about personal problems, things about themselves," said Erika Scardina, ACCE High School student.
Twelfth grader Scardina once considered dropping out herself.
"I was waiting until I turned 16. I was planning on dropping out and getting my GED and just going to community college because high school wasn't for me," she said.
But then, she joined PGC and started telling ninth and tenth graders to stay put--it's a time students leave school the most, and Erica had to do the same.
"Within myself, I had to look and say they're going through things that are way worse than what I'm going through. And so if they can do it then I can definitely do it. They helped me more so than I think I helped them," she said.
But now, PGC is getting bigger in Baltimore thanks to a nearly $400,000 check from AT&T.
"It's a different way of looking at things and I think it's making a difference and we're seeing that across the country," said Michael Schweder, AT&T president.
"If they enter high school and they immediately form a connection with an older peer, that keeps them in school because that's a place that they want to be," said Margo Ross, CSS senior director.
Nine city schools will split the check to create dropout prevention programs.
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