When assessing the state of America’s children, people speak of the achievement gap between the middle class and the poor. However today there is an everything gap: a health gap, a safety gap, and a technology gap. Schools can help make up for some of these deficits, but they can’t make up all the difference.
As Paul Tough explains in “Whatever It Takes,” Canada “believed that he could find the ideal intervention for each age of a child’s life, and then connect those interventions into an unbroken chain of support.” Canada’s goal is to “contaminate” the entire culture of Harlem with aspirational values, disciplined self-improvement and the cognitive tools to do better than those who came before. That depends on offering services to as many people as possible.
What would it take? What would it take to change the lives of poor children not one by one, through heroic interventions and occasional miracles, but in big numbers, and in a way that could be replicated nationwide? “If you want poor kids to be able to compete with their middle-class peers, you need to change everything in the lives — their schools, their neighborhoods, even the child-rearing practices of their parents.” Whatever It Takes contains, "the most cogent, provocative, and original thinking on urban poverty to come along in many, many years.” It is an inspired portrait of Canada and the parents and children in Harlem who are struggling to better their lives. Running schools, of course, presents a unique set of challenges, but as Tough explains in the book, providing a high-quality educational system that can serve every child who enrolls is a key piece of the HCZ vision. "As Canada often said, he was tired of programs that helped a few kids 'beat the odds' and make it out of the ghetto; his goal was to change the odds, and to do it for all of Harlem's kids. “ “The only way to serve large numbers of poor children in a neighborhood like Harlem is to give them all a high-quality education, even the least motivated and least prepared, beginning at a very young age, and to do it in the context of a broader transformation of the entire community.” Strong schools are an essential element of HCZ's conveyor belt strategy, and for the group of children who have had the opportunity so far to follow the conveyor belt from Baby College to elementary school; evidence suggests Canada's model is working. For example, in 2008, 100 percent of third graders at one of Promise Academy's elementary schools and 97 percent of third graders at the second one tested at or above grade level on the statewide math exam. "If we know it works, there's no reason this program should stop at the end of those blocks in Harlem. It's time to change the odds for neighborhoods across America." Geoffrey Canada would likely be the first to agree, whatever it takes.
On Friday when we went to Valencia 826 I was truly inspired by what Emily had to say about their mission statement and what they are all about. I thought the whole place was so interesting and it made me eager to learn. From hearing about their goals and objectives I wanted to help that very second. They had me sold on their product, which was helping local kids in San Francisco get free tutoring; I thought that the idea of helping high school seniors write their college application essays was awesome. I wish I had the same opportunity because I remember I stressed so much over all of that and it put so much pressure on me as well. All I had was my mother who was great in helping me formulate my essays however I wish I could of just gone to my local recreation center to receive free help with all my friends. Once we took the walk through the Mission district I felt the diversity of cultures all around me with a large Latino influence. All the small shops and restaurants added so much character to the neighborhood. Of the few murals I saw before I left were astonishing and just took me back because I never could imagine creating such a piece of artwork myself. I am very excited to go back to the Mission to check out even more murals and each mural told a story in my eyes.
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