BLUEFIELD, Va. — —
State educators seeking ideas came to a local nonprofit agency Thursday and heard how it gives struggling students a second chance.
The Second Chance Learning Center hosted Virginia Deputy Secretary of Education Javaid E. Siddiqi and Elizabeth Creamer, director of education and workforce development and explained how alternative methods and tutoring help students who might otherwise drop out of school.
Erik Robinson, executive director of Second Chance Learning Center, gave the visitors a tour and told them about troubled students who had overcome their problems and gone on to finish high school. One boy who was reading at the elementary school level was encouraged to join a theater company so he could build his self confidence. He went on to graduate and became a welder.
Students receive individual attention and counseling, he said. Once they receive positive attention instead of the attention earned from poor behavior, “they start feeding on the positive attention and want more,” Robinson said.
Siddiqi paused during the tour to say that he had heard about Second Chance’s programs and had just learned that the school had another facility in Tazewell, Va.
“Basically, we heard about the good things they are doing, the way they are not using state funds – using corporate sponsorships and private donations – and the outcomes they are having; so we were wanting to take a closer look at what’s going on here and how they are doing it,” Siddiqi said.
Second Chance’s methods could be used in other parts of Virginia.
“Absolutely. I think one of the things we get to see in our job is some of the best practices and some of the partnerships that are happening at the local level, and basically, ask how do we connect these success stories with other folks,” Siddiqi said. “We all know disadvantaged student are not only in Bluefield, Va. It sounds like something worthy of replication.”
Keeping students from dropping out of school is a significant workforce development issue, Creamer added.
“It cost so much,” she said. “Earnings are so much greater if we can get young people to obtain a high school diploma, so workforce development and industry are interested in strategies such as this, too.”
Second Chance, which does not charge fees, helps troubled students in grades six through twelve with classes and tutoring. Students are even taken of field trips to locations such as the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Va. and the Biltmore House, Robinson said. Students learn to improve in classes ranging from math to history and reading.
Robinson said he tells students, “I won’t carry you on this trip, but I’ll give you a map.”
One subject the visitors and local leaders discussed was the need to help students find opportunities after graduating from high school. Not all graduates want to go to college; instead, they want to work with their hands, said Mayor Don Harris of Bluefield, Va. There is not enough emphasis on vocational training, he added.
Every student who graduates is a triumph, Robinson said. The goal of Second Chance is to give them a chance for a more positive future.
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Related Photos
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Eric Robinson, executive director of Second Chance Learning Center, discusses how the center helps area students with Virginia Deputy Secretary of Education Javaid E. Siddiqui Thursday afternoon. Staff photo by Jon Bolt
Discussion
May 11, 2012
State educators get first-hand look at Second Chance Learning Center
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