Promoting Academic Success
Since 2009 DEC has provided after school support to middle and high school aged students to help them to succeed in school and graduate high school with a diploma. Many of the students come from the Sudanese and Somali refugee community. Attendance is steady, with between 20 and 45 students attending per day and 300 students served in ’09-’10. There are an average of 340 individual visits during any given month. Students who attend regularly show improvements in grades and maintain passing scores. As Sue Martin, the ELL coordinator for Lewiston schools reports, “For most students this is a significant change from previous school history.”
The program runs during the school year M-TH from 3:30-5:30 out of the second floor computer lab in the Lewiston Public Library.
| Opportunities for Involvement | |
| Student Involvement | Participation – Bates, CMCC, Kaplan and USM’s LA |
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Roles: Knowlegde and Skills: |
Departments: Sociology, American Cultural Studies, Political Science, Human Services, Gender Studies, Leadership Studies, Composition, Mathematics Programs: Work Study, Service-Learning, Volunteer
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Research Questions: What have other communities done to help refugee youth (particularly Somali Bantu) succeed in school? (i.e. – models of effective programming, both in school and out) |
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