Spring 2016
Welcome to the Southeastern
North Carolina Dropout
Prevention Newsletter. We
highlight dropout prevention
activities and accomplishments
in the region, as well as local
and national events, resources,
funding and research. Please
send us your stories,
highlights, accomplishments
and upcoming events.
GradNation Summit Attracts 250 Attendees
On Dec. 1, the Watson College was host to the GradNation Wilmington Regional Community Summit,
convened by UNCW’s Watson College of Education Dropout Prevention Coalition. More than 250
educators, community leaders, parents and students attended the event. Morning and afternoon
breakout sessions featured successful programs that helped to enhance student success and increase
high school graduation rates. Topics covered included early intervention, student mentoring, mental
health, the role of student resource officers in schools, faith based support, arts and recreation, early
colleges and various services offered by nonprofit organizations in the region.
Larry Scott from Rachel’s Challenge was the keynote speaker. Rachel’s Challenge is a motivational antibullying program that has been adopted by schools around the world, including 120 schools in
Southeastern North Carolina.
Jonathan Barfield, Sterling Cheatham, Lisa Estep, Connie Majure-Rhett, Tim Markley and Ron Zapple
participated in a lunch panel presentation titled “Community Support for our Schools and Students.”
Barfield is chair of the New Hanover County Commissioners, Cheatham is Wilmington City Manager,
Estep is a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education, Majure-Rhett is president and CEO
of the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, Markley is Superintendent of New Hanover County
Schools and Zapple is a New Hanover County commissioner.
Summit Media Coverage
WWAY:
http://www.wwaytv3.com/2
015/12/01/gradnationsummit-explores-ways-toencourage-graduation/
StarNews:
http://www.starnewsonline.
com/article/20151201/NEW
S/151209961/1177?Title=Ne
w-Hanover-Countyeducators-look-to-raisegraduation-rate
WECT:
http://www.wect.com/story
/30643950/school-resourceofficers-talk-aboutperception-role-in-schools
GradNation Blog:
http://www.gradnation.org/
blog/wilmington-dropoutprevention-aboutrelationships
The final session of the day featured a student panel discussion on obstacles faced and opportunities
available to high school students. Attendees said it was important to hear students’ perspectives and
several called the messages “powerful.” The participating panelists are members of the local student
organizations Girls Rocking It in the South (GRITS), Young Moguls and LITE Manhood. Aquil El-Amin, a
student at Wilmington Early College High School served as panel moderator.
The summit was co-sponsored by America’s Promise Alliance as part of its GradNation campaign, a
national movement of dedicated individuals, organizations and communities working together to raise
the national high school graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020 and increase postsecondary enrollment
and completion. The Wilmington Regional Summit was one of 100 summits being held around the
country through 2016, with generous support from AT&T.
Watson College professors and Dropout Prevention Coalition (DPC) co-coordinators Janna Robertson
and Robert Smith planned the summit, with a team that included DPC Advisory Board members Clifford
Barnett, Judge J. Corpening, Matt Edwards, Susan Finley, David Hand, Beau McCaffray, Deloris Rhodes,
John Shannon, Judy Stubblefield and Stephanie Willis. Nicole Geczi, administrative associate in the
Watson College Dean’s Office, managed logistics for the event and Robertson’s daughter Jessie
designed original artwork for the program cover.
Robertson is just beginning to compile outcomes of the summit, which already include increased
support for Friends of Rachel’s Clubs in schools, plans for a regional event for Rachel’s Club members to
be held at the university, mental health training initiatives for teachers and youth workers in the
community, a sharing out of ideas and planned collaborations between schools and community
organizations.
Local News
State News
National News
Announcements, Funding
Page 1, 5-6
Page 2, 4
Page 8
Page 3,7-8
Dropout Prevention Coalition E-Newsletter
Taken from:
http://www.civicenterprises.net/MediaLibrary/Docs/StateReportCards/NC.pdf.net/MediaLibrary/Docs/StateReportCards/NC.pdfhttp://
www.civicenterprises.net/MediaLibrary/Docs/StateReportCards/NC.pdf
Spring 2016
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Dropout Prevention Coalition E-Newsletter
Spring 2016
UNCW PRESENTS
You Can Still Register!
http://dropoutprevention.org/conferences/2016-at-risk-youth-national-forum/
The UNCW Dropout Prevention Coalition is a co-sponsor.
Good News: Our members get a discount! Several DPC members are presenting this year. If
you live near Wilmington and want to attend for the day on Tuesday, Feb. 16, we can usually fit
you in the UNCW van. Just let us know.
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Dropout Prevention Coalition E-Newsletter
Spring 2016
North Carolina News: Trillium Compassion Reaction
Trillium Health Resources is committed to increasing mental
health awareness within our schools and communities by
applying Medicaid Reinvestment Dollars to give back. The
Compassion Reaction initiative encompasses the following
programs below, as well as education and training for schools,
administrators, teachers and the community. Compassion
Reaction will inspire, equip and empower a permanent positive
cultural change in your schools and communities.
To see presentations on each of these initiatives, see: http://trilliumhealthresources.org/en/Community-Partnerships/TrilliumInitiatives/Compassion-Reaction
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Create a safe and productive learning environment by delivering proactive
antidotes to violence and bullying
Stimulate real culture change by actively involving the entire community in the
process
Change lives by providing culturally relevant social/emotional training
Improve achievement and ensure results by engaging the participants’ heart,
head and hands
Youth-led national organization devoted to improving services and systems that
support positive growth and development
Develop a youth-peer-support model
Encourage youth with experience of life struggles to support and advocate for
the wellness of their peers
Encourage youth to take an active role in community meetings that encourage
and develop change around mental health policy
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Tailored online mental health resource
Online resource for families, students, counselors and providers
A web-based approach to wellness and self-motivation
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Presents an overview of mental illnesses and substance use disorders in the U.S.
Introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental health challenges
Builds understanding of the impact of those challenges
Overviews common treatments
If you have any questions, please call 866.998.2597 or email CompassionReaction@TrilliumNC.org.
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Dropout Prevention Coalition E-Newsletter
Spring 2016
Pastor Nurtures First 2000 Days Summit
Adapted from Lynda Van Kuren, StarNews
“What can I do to help?”
That’s the question the Rev. Clifford Barnett asked staff at the school and at the Community Boys and Girls Club near his church when he
first moved here. Seven years later, it’s still his mantra. Barnett’s overwhelming desire to help compels him to take on numerous volunteer
projects, ranging from board member to PTA member to serving as a stand-in school janitor. No matter what position or project he takes
on, he infuses it with a contagious passion that makes things happen.
“While others say, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice ...’ Pastor Barnett says, ‘It’s going to happen here, we’re going to do it, and here’s what I will bring
to the table,’” said Jane Morrow, executive director of Smart Start of New Hanover County, an initiative to improve a child’s first 2,000
days (from birth to kindergarten).
As children are one of Barnett’s passions, it’s no surprise that Smart Start is one of his passions, too. After attending a regional faith
summit on the importance of a child’s first 2,000 days in 2013, Barnett spearheaded the movement to bring it to Wilmington. Then he
decided to make the program an annual President’s Day event.
“I want it to be on President’s Day, because we are raising presidents,” says Barnett. “These children may not become the president of
the United States, but they may be president of a company, a boys and girls club, the PTA, state governors’ association. We are raising
leaders.”
Barnett is on his way to seeing his dream come true. Smart Start of New Hanover County is hosting its third annual First 2000 Days
Community Summit this year. The 2016 conference, which is free, will focus on building resiliency in young children. Sessions will
address how Wilmington’s communities -- work, home, early childhood educators and neighborhoods -- can address this issue. Barnett
also makes distributing the organization’s magazine a full-time job. He puts out copies at his church, Warner Temple AME Zion Church.
He gives one to the parents of every child he baptizes. He gives them to parents in the grocery store, the bank or wherever he might be.
The core of Barnett’s volunteerism is his belief that people have what it takes to be successful -- they just need a little help. “Pastor
Barnett finds people’s strengths and enhances them,” Morrow said. “His message is, 'We’ve got your back. You’re starting on a journey,
and we can help you.'”
It’s a message he gives to as many of the community’s youth as possible. Barnett set up Bridges to Success, a program in which he and
other volunteers help suspended middle and high school students get back in school. Through the program, each student and his/her
family receive counseling, resources to assist them and a mentor. Barnett also works to end the school-to-prison pipeline by getting
troubled teens the resources they need to succeed.
Then there’s the students from Virgo Preparatory Academy, a middle school where he mentors weekly. Barnett talks with them about the
problems they face, their goals, and how they can achieve them. He regularly shows up at Gregory School of Science, Mathematics and
Technology, an elementary school, where he picks up a broom and sweeps the cafeteria. That’s his means of connecting with the kids, to
find the ones who need a smile, a high five or someone to recognize them by name.
For Barnett, helping others is as necessary as breathing and volunteering is a way of life.
“I am called to be a servant,” he says. “It’s what I love to do.”
WANT TO GO?
What: Third annual First 2000 Days Community Summit
When: 9 a.m. to noon, Monday, Feb. 15
Where: The Bridge Church, 2101 Market St.
Cost: Free More info: www.newhanoverkids.org or 910.815.3731
Rev. Barnett
DPC Chairperson
REvera
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Dropout Prevention Coalition E-Newsletter
TEACHER SHOWCASE: NEW EDUCATIONAL NONPROFIT
PROVIDES STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
WILMINGTON, NC – Everyone is saying our students need to do
better in math. Strength in Numbers Tutoring is taking action.
This program was started by a New Hanover High School math
teacher, Mark Anderson, to meet a need.
He saw that although teachers were doing their best to improve
in math, but high school math teachers have too many kids –
sometimes more than 30 per class. That’s where Strength in
Numbers Tutoring comes in. They are a nonprofit founded in
2015 by a math teacher whose vision is to see every student
graduate high school with number sense. That means their
students will understand numbers – which they expect will also
mean they have done well in their math courses. And doing well
in school math increases self-confidence and employability.
Their vision also includes a strong foundation for every student
in another area of numbers – money. You may have heard it said
that the love of money is the root of all evil. We like to say that
knowledge of money is the root of financial success. Again, this is
where Strength in Numbers Tutoring comes in. The second
component of their vision is to see every high school graduate
with money sense. That means the student understands money
– which they expect will prepare them for the many financial
decisions they will face in life after school. And doing well in
“real-world math” increases financial stability.
“Our students will have strength in numbers. Strength from
academic achievement in school math. Strength from financial
knowledge. They will benefit with better grades and a better
future,” Anderson said.
Strength in Numbers Tutoring is answering the bell with a real
solution to help students do better in math – and in life.
Find out more about Strength in Numbers Tutoring by calling
910.619.9191 or by visiting our website at
http://www.strengthinnumberstutoring.org.
Perfect Attendance!
Spring 2016
CIS USING EVIDENCE AND RESEARCH METHODS TO
IMPROVE STUDENT BEHAVIORS
BRUNSWICK, NC – Communities In Schools of Brunswick County
(CIS) strives to always improve and build on their knowledge and
comprehension of evidence- and research-based interventions. This
year, the CIS Action for Success program in Brunswick County middle
schools has shown great success in utilizing these programs.
CIS Success Coach Ruth Thompson has been using the University of
Minnesota’s Check and Connect program to improve student
attendance at Leland Middle School. Check and Connect is an
evidence-based student engagement intervention program. It sets
guidelines on checking in and out with students and heightens
awareness and establishes accountability for their own attendance.
Check and Connect allows students the opportunity to see how
attendance is affecting the overall picture of their academic success.
Thompson implemented the program with students who completed
the last school year with chronic absenteeism. At the end of the
2014-15 school year, one student had 39 absences and 52 tardies,
another had 41 absences and 87 tardies, and the third had 43
absences and 84 tardies. Thompson regularly checks in with her
students each morning to build a meaningful relationship with them
and encourage school attendance every day. If the students were
present in school every day for an entire month, they were awarded
with an incentive at the month’s completion. (These students
receive smaller weekly Friday incentives if they are present all
week.) The students continue to work with Thompson to improve
their attendance.
At Cedar Grove Middle School, CIS Success Coach Whitney Franklin
works with a group of eighth graders who have been identified as
students with severe behavioral concerns. Franklin and the group
meet weekly during the school day for 30 to 45 minutes. During the
meetings, Franklin implements the Why Try curriculum. Why Try is
an evidence-based social-emotional resiliency-based program.
Franklin and the students cover topics such as labels, hurdles in life,
and defense mechanisms in the sessions. The students talk and
discuss in an open, but confidential environment. They work with
Franklin on effective ways to communicate to teachers and other
students and learn to be aware of their tone, volume, posture, and
nonverbal communication and how it may be perceived by others.
The students are learning to adjust behaviors according to certain
environments and the company that is present with them. Since the
group has started meeting, teachers and administrators have noted
a positive change in the behavior of student participants. The
students have shown a 70 percent decrease in the number of
discipline referrals received in the current school year compared to
the previous school year.
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Dropout Prevention Coalition E-Newsletter
Spring 2016
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Funding Sources
Dropout Prevention Coalition E-Newsletter
Spring 2016
An excellent source for funding information is the Foundation Center. Listings of foundations and guidelines
for writing grants are available. Sample proposals and common grant applications are also provided. The
Foundation Center provides a variety of other resources and materials, including prospect worksheets that
can help you focus on funders whose priorities match those of your project.
Many businesses donate money to the communities in which they are located. You will usually find giving
guidelines on corporate websites under headings such as “community” or “corporate citizenship.” Business
grants can be found at: http://www.dropoutprevention.org/grant-resources/funding-sources.
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Government grants can be found at UCLA Center’s Mental Health in Schools site.
Grants Alert – A website dedicated to making life a little easier for those who devote their time to
searching for education grants.
Grant Station can help your organization make smarter, better-informed fundraising decisions.
Grant Watch – A free grants listing service that helps teachers find classroom grants for school
funding.
GrantWrangler – A free grants listing service that helps teachers find classroom grants for school
funding.
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse Funding Opportunities
Youth Today Grants Today – A national source for news, views and important developments in the
youth service field from a nonprofit organization.
Kids in Need Teacher Grants
More grant information is available at Dropout Prevention, Youth Today and America’s Promise Grants.
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National News
America’s Promise Alliance
http://www.americaspromise.org/
news
National Dropout Prevention
Center/Network
http://dropoutprevention.org/reso
urces/e-newsletters/
North Carolina News: Saving Kids
from Pipeline to Prison:
http://www.newsobserver.com/ne
ws/local/education/article4821432
5.html
NOTE: Please send any items you would like to have included in upcoming newsletters to Janna Robertson. We want
to share your news!
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