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Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area, Inc. (CIS) is a private nonprofit agency whose mission is to keep children in school. Fundamental to CIS is the recognition that many bright and talented young people leave school for a variety of reasons. CIS connects the best community resources to children and families in need to address the academic and social challenges that often lead to school dropout. The CIS program exists because of the generosity of donors. The following are a few recent stories of the thousands of children CIS helps.
Elena’s Story
Elena was a Johns Island seventh grade honor student who was hiding a troubled home life. Her father was an alcoholic who abused her mother. He eventually abandoned his wife and four children -- three daughters and a son, of whom Elena was the youngest. Mom was left to run their dilapidated home, but could speak almost no English and had no means of support.
When Elena entered the Communities In Schools Teen Companion Program, her older brother had just been arrested for drugs. The night it happened, Elena and her siblings huddled together and watched the police knock down their front door, handcuff their brother, and take him from their home.
A short time later, Elena became pregnant. She had no insurance and was not eligible for Medicaid. Her mother kicked her out of the house. She told Elena to move in with the boyfriend, who lived with his father and his older brother. So at age14, Elena was pregnant, living with three men away from her home and not sure what to do. She easily could have become a school dropout.
Elena told her CIS youth specialist about the pregnancy and that she no longer lived at home, and the specialist contacted a local social service provider about its housing and residential education program. Because Elena wasn't on Medicaid, she had to come up with $500 per month for her room, board, schooling, and medical expenses. Elena’s CIS youth specialist approached individuals and churches on Johns Island and raised the $2,500 needed for a stay at the residential program until she delivered her baby.
Meanwhile, the CIS youth specialist assisted Elena’s mother in working with Habitat for Humanity on Johns Island to buy a safe and comfortable home. Her mother also experienced a change of heart and allowed Elena to move into her new home with the baby and the baby's father.
Elena currently attends Septima P. Clark Corporate Academy, an alternative high school in Charleston County that CIS helped open in 1990. She is in ninth grade, earns good grades, and the baby is healthy and happy.
Tyler’s Story
Tyler’s grandmother contacted CIS. She feared Tyler was out of control and she needed help. She also knew her own family could offer no support.
The grandmother had advanced-stage diabetes and received dialysis treatments twice each week. She had been raising Tyler, his two brothers, and his sister for the past 10 years. Tyler’s mother was a drug addict who lived in New York City and had not contacted her family in over seven years. One of Tyler’s brothers was away at college, and the other was a student at St. Johns High School. This brother was on probation for breaking and entering.
Tyler increasingly snuck out of his grandmother’s Wadmalaw Island home and hitchhiked to Johns Island, skipped school, and ignored responsibilities at home. His grades were terrible, his personal hygiene was bad, and he was always in trouble. When grandmother contacted CIS, she was at her wits’ end.
The CIS youth specialist tried talking to Tyler; they met several times each week, but Tyler showed no signs of improvement. Finally the youth specialist contacted Connie Maxwell Children's Home in Orangeburg, seeking the supervision Tyler needed but his grandmother was too frail to provide. Connie Maxwell had an opening but it was at the upstate campus. The family did not have transportation, so the youth specialist took them to Orangeburg for the initial interview. A few weeks later they took the trip to Chesterfield to drop Tyler off. This was in the early spring.
Luckily, he only had to stay there a few months before space opened in Orangeburg. Tyler could get home for visits more easily and his youth specialist coordinated with his pastor to help transport him home once a month for visits.
By August, Tyler’s fellow churchgoers were talking about it: He looks better than he ever has. The pastor reports he is doing very well. Tyler’s mom has moved to Wadmalaw and is caring for the family and working. The same CIS youth specialist is now working with Tyler’s brother on probation, and he is receiving life skills instruction.
Tyler and his youth specialist occasionally write letters back and forth. He enjoys the structure he has in Orangeburg, earns solid grades, and displays positive behavior.
Laura’s Story
Laura spent her entire life in foster care, living in nine homes by the time she was fifteen. With each new foster home came a move to a new school. Uncertainty and disappointment surrounded her. She had difficulty making friends and adjusting to her constantly changing environment. She often received detentions and suspensions at school, and her behavior often resulted in new foster placements.
Laura began spending time with a group of teenagers known for their delinquent behavior. She frequently skipped school to get drunk and "hang out." She became sexually promiscuous and earned a bad reputation in her high school, was often ridiculed and teased by other students, and earned failing grades. She had a poor attendance record and little motivation to stay in school. She had little self-esteem and even less concern for her future.
Laura was told she would be placed in a juvenile detention center or group home, and she knew that to avoid placement in another new surrounding, she had to make changes in her life. She applied to Septima P. Clark Corporate Academy, the Charleston County School District’s alternative high school, and enrolled in Communities In Schools’ Teen Companion Program. This initiative teaches life skills through mentoring, service-learning, and individualized attention. It also focuses on adolescent pregnancy prevention.
Since changing her school environment, Laura has maintained a B average, has received behavioral referrals, and is no longer sexually active. She is an active participant in the Teen Companion group sessions, sharing her negative experiences with her classmates. She credits encouragement from her foster mother and the support she has received from CIS at her new school as critical to her newfound success. She says that she respects herself more now and that she isn’t afraid to ask for help. Laura is using her experiences to help her classmates make healthy choices and to stay in school. |
