mbutts@heraldsun.com; 419-6684
DURHAM -- The secret to educational success? It's simple, Dan Kimberg suggests -- Appreciate and nurture the brilliance in every child.
"They all have the potential to change the world, and that's why we love them so much," Student U's executive director said of the program's participants. "They're getting these academic skills here in order to make their dreams come true and to make the world a better place."
Now celebrating its fifth year, Student U aims to empower rising sixth- through 10th-graders to take ownership of their education and become leaders, with an ultimate goal of succeeding in college. Students take hands-on core classes and electives, go on field trips and have plenty of "family time" in which students and teachers discuss the challenges of adolescence.
The program, which comprises both a summer component and year-round support, began programming in the summer of 2007 with 50 rising sixth-graders. Kimberg said it's been a joy to watch those kids, some of whom were once shy and unsure of themselves, "grow into leaders and adults who have the skill set and desire to make a huge difference in the community."
Each year, the program will add 50 rising sixth-graders to its ranks, while continuing to serve existing students as they grow -- even while they're in college, Kimberg said.
Celebrations are already set for 2014, when Student U's first students -- then seniors in high school -- make their college decisions. They'll sign letters of intent, "just like the athletes do when they're going to college," Kimberg said.
It all starts with developing students' passion for learning. During a science class recently, Willis Allen, a rising Shepard Middle School seventh-grader, was illustrating the physical symptoms of tuberculosis on a large paper drawing.
"His lungs and his muscles are tearing because he's coughing himself to death," he explained, pointing to inflamed-looking organs. "And he has an empty stomach and a dry throat with mucus."
Willis said Student U is "something to do in the summer," but it's more than that, too.
"It's a learning opportunity," he said. "I'm not saying that we're better than others, but most of us [in Student U] know more because we come here during the summer. When school hits, we're already ready for that. We're ahead of the game."
While the program -- facilitated by nine local certified teachers and 36 college-age teachers -- helps advance students academically, it seems to also have an effect on their mind-set. Angelica Cohen, a rising 10th-grader at Jordan High school, said that before starting the program, she "was the kind of student that always just did the minimum."
"Then, coming here, they helped me realize that education is so crucial, so important, that it changed me," she said. "It helped me want to go back to school and want to learn and do my work and not just do the minimum -- but push to do the best that I can do."
Alexandra Zagbayou, director of operations at Student U, said she sees herself in many of the students she works with.
"I was one of those students who had a lot of potential, could have done great things, but I didn't necessarily really see it in myself," she said.
It was thanks to mentors, teachers, family members and friends that she saw "the beauty within myself," she said, enabling her to go to college, do well there and land the job of her dreams.
"I think the beauty of Student U is I get to do this with my 250 kids every day," she said. "We have 36 young teachers who come with enthusiasm and a belief that every single one of their students can and will succeed. They push themselves to be excellent teachers and their students to be excellent students and advocate for themselves so they can be successful."
