Local administrators help students further education

Athens-Clarke County is one of the most poverty-stricken counties in Georgia, but the city’s recession has not deterred the local school system from preparing its students towards a better future.

Despite experiencing rapid population growth over the past twenty years, Athens-Clarke County has been plagued with all the troubles of becoming a middle-sized city. Along with people, an increase in crime, poverty and congested city life has transformed the once sleepy southern town into an urban community.

As a result of these drawbacks, an exodus occurred among the county’s wealthy citizens to near-by Oconee County. Oconee attracts people by boasting a better quality of life and wide-open development, along with close proximity to Athens and the University of Georgia.

With Oconee becoming an attractive escape from city-life, it has become almost a suburb for the well-off citizens, leaving Clarke-County with all the problems of an inner city. This progression mirrors many of the revolutions that have occurred over the past 50-years to America’s biggest metropolises, like Chicago and Atlanta. This movement of the wealthy away from the inner city is known as “flight of the affluent”.

“Athens has been hit by the flight of affluent, and it results in a snowball effect. Oconee County offers lower crime rates and a better overall living environment, so Athens is left behind with lower income, education and citizen-involvement,” University of Georgia Professor Conrad Fink said.

One of the biggest causalities of this snowball effect is the public school system. The average graduation rate from Georgia high schools in 2008-2009 was 78.9 percent, according to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. Clarke-County’s numbers fell well below this average at 63.3 percent and have remained sub par over the past five years. In contrast, Oconee County boasted a 91.7 percent graduation rate for its students.

Socio-economic status plays the largest role in determining the disparity that exists between these statistics. 58 percent of students in Clarke County fall under the category of economically disadvantaged, compared to only 12 in Oconee.

“Tax payers are needed to fix to fix the public education as well as the influence of parents in the school system. Neither of these can occur effectively when so many people are economically challenged however. People look at the numbers and say we need to improve education here in Athens, but in order to do that, you have to turn around the entire basic structure of the city first,” Fink said.

Dr. Maxine Easom, who served as principal for Clarke Central High School for nine years and worked within the school district for over 35, believes that the numbers for graduation rate do not represent the quality of education at schools, but rather the economic hardships that many face.

“Many students must help their families survive by contributing financially at whatever age they can, and people have different opinions on how to succeed. Sometimes finishing school is not part of that plan. Kids with financial issues have more responsibilities and less flexibility. Both these factors contribute to kids not finishing school on the eight-semester plan, although many still graduate at some point.”

While there is no sugar-coating the numbers, do not be quick to assume that quality of education the students are getting is any lesser then in Oconee or anywhere else. Clarke County administrators are doing all they can to help their students succeed and have continued to produce some of the best minds in the State of Georgia.

Over the past decade, Clarke Central High School has consistently sent students to Ivy League schools along with other prestigious universities around the country, according to Guidance Counselor Lenore Katz.

Clarke Central’s diverse student bodies have been the recipients of multiple merit awards and scholarships, such as the Belk Scholarship from Davidson College. Similar scholarships have been awarded in recent years from the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Spellman College and the University of North Carolina.

One of the school’s newest programs called the “Scholarship Club” helps students research and apply for collegiate scholarships. As a member of the club, the student must fill out a minimum of 25 applications that could potentially reward them with financial aid.

Katz and the other counselors at Clarke Central try to help their students further their education by providing individualized career advisement to upperclassmen. Students meet twice a month with a counselor in to help them recognize opportunities in specialized subjects, such as English, art, business and technical studies.

Clarke County administrators are not the only ones doing their part to help students take the necessary steps toward college. The University of Georgia in recent years has taken on a pro-active role in reaching out to the local school systems with multiple programs to help students.

The Young Dogs Program provides high school students with internships in their desired study of interest. Within the corresponding department, University staff members each mentor a individual student and assign them several different projects to give them a taste for the major as well as build their resume.

Caleb Hayes, a junior at Clarke Central, currently interns at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications, where he spends three mornings a week helping create a magazine about high school journalism programs.

“It’s a really cool experience just to be able to spend time at the University and around the professors,” Hayes said.

“But the work they have me do also helps me grow as a writer and helps me prepare for college. I imagine interning at UGA also doesn’t look to bad on a college application,” he added.

Katz says a great relationship has developed among Clarke Central’s counselors in accordance with UGA administrators to provide access to helping underprivileged minorities. Programs such as Multiple Initiatives and C.A.R.E help minority students with their college applications. The University has even started to help out both formally and informally at the local middle schools.

UGA students have also gotten involved in the process with local fraternities forming the Collegiate Candidates Program, which helps underprivileged students with tutoring and college applications after school.

“I realize we might not have the best scores necessarily, but I don’t feel a lack of quality in the education at all and I think the exposure to so much diversity among the students help prepare us for real world experiences,” Hayes said.

“Our administration team puts forth a huge effort from the time we are freshmen to help us graduate and get into college. I also believe we benefit from UGA being right down the street. They give us lots of opportunities to be involved and make an effort to recruit students from right here in Athens.”

While there is no hiding Clarke-County’s economic struggle, the school administrators and local community are doing an avid job to provide its diverse student body with the best resources and tools available to further their education and succeed. The numbers may not initially reflect success, but the Athens public high schools are full of bright-minded individuals who continue to succeed on a perennial basis and defy the odds thanks to the efforts of their caring faculty.