12/13/06 - The Washington Post - "Charter School's Lessons Extend to
Another Continent."
On any given morning, half the students enrolled at YouthBuild
Public Charter School in Northwest Washington are not in class. They
are out on a construction site, renovating an old home.
The school, founded 11 years ago by the Latin American Youth Center,
targets young people, up to age 24, who have dropped out of
traditional programs. Yesterday, some of the students explained to a
delegation of South African government officials why the school
works for them and why a similar approach would help South African
youths struggling with self-esteem and direction.
"It's a good environment for me," said Lamont Williams, 21, one of
65 students at the Columbia Heights school. "The thing that
motivates me is the money."
Williams, like other students at YouthBuild, earns while he learns
at the construction site: $7 an hour. He also is studying toward his
General Educational Development diploma. It was this combination of
studying and on-the-job training that most interested the visiting
officials from South African President Thabo Mbeki's office and the
country's youth and housing agencies. As South Africa launches a
major National Youth Service program, the Washington visit was part
of research into ways of saving those who have failed to complete
their education.
"Our jails are full of young people," said William Jiyana of South
Africa's National Department of Housing, who estimates that more
than 4 million youths in that country are vulnerable because of lack
of education and skills. "We need to find a way of stemming that
tide. We have to give them some hope."
The YouthBuild Public Charter School is one of more than 200
YouthBuild schools and programs nationwide, and was selected by the
national office as a showcase for the visitors, said Lori Kaplan,
executive director of the Latin American Youth Center. Launched in
1995, it became a public charter school in the fall of 2005, using
D.C. charter school funds and a federal grant. It occupies a small
building at 3014 14th St. NW.
Last year, students transformed 10 dilapidated apartments in
Northeast into affordable condominiums, the school's executive
director, Patricia Bravo, told the guests. They also renovated three
rowhouses into housing for homeless youths.
"When you walk away at the end of the year, there's a house you've
built," Bravo said, adding that the program also teaches goal-
setting and other real-life lessons. Two case managers guide the
students through emotional problems.
Kaplan said the program comes down to "rebuilding a physical
building while you're rebuilding your personal life."
"I hear the students say things like, 'Someone believes in me,' 'I'd
be home doing nothing if not for this,' " she said. "These are not
kids; they are young adults, and many other systems had let them
down before they got here."
Credit: Sue Anne Pressley Montes, Washington Post Staff Writer