Thursday, April 1^st

Entire Chicago HS Graduating Class Going to College

All 107 students in the first graduating class of Chicago high school Urban Prep are heading to college. Founded in 2006, the all-male, all-African-American charter school in Englewood that emphasizes a uniform of embroidered blazers and ties, set out to improve its students odds of getting in to college and getting ahead.

"There were those who told me that you can't defy the data," Tim King, founder and CEO of school told Chicago Tribune. "Black boys are killed. Black boys drop out of high school. Black boys go to jail. Black boys don't go to college. Black boys don't graduate from college. They were wrong." Read More

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Wrestling's "MVP" Motivates Troubled Teens

Convicted Felon as a Teen, Today WWE Wrestler MVP Uses his Fame to Deliver an Inspirational Message

Ask any wrestling enthusiast: MVP is a WWE superstar. CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports he's an international celebrity with a seven-figure salary to boot.

"My signature move is the ballin' elbow, because I'm a baller," MVP said. "A big baller, big money, big lifestyle."

That's today. Just 10 years ago, MVP (that's short for Montel Vontavius Porter) didn't have fans - he had guards and he was serving time behind bars.

"By 14, the graffiti crew turned into a gang," MVP said. "And about 15 of us started stealing cars. At 15 I was arrested for the first time for armed robbery," he said. "At 16, I was facing 11 life felonies." Read More

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District Youth Go Online to Apply for Jobs

Mayor's Summer Youth Program in Demand

As temperatures rise and the days get longer, young people in the District have decided to get a head start and find a job, during one of the toughest economic times in history since the Great Depression.

More than 2,000 of the District's youth have registered online for job assignments through the 2010 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) since Mayor Adrian Fenty and Joseph P. Walsh, the director of the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES), formally announced the start of the program, Tue., March 2.

"This summer thousands of youth will be relying on us to provide them with meaningful summer work experiences," Fenty said.

"Inspired by last year's record breaking participation, we are gearing up for an exciting summer that will challenge youth across the District and lay the foundation for their professional achievement for years to come." Read More

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ARISE Celebrates 24 Years of Reaching Out to At-Risk, Incarcerated Youth Through Exciting Group Life

Edmund and Susan Benson have dedicated their golden years to improving the lives of at-risk and incarcerated youth. They established ARISE, a not-for-profit foundation in 1986, and began teaching life-skills to troubled youth in the Dade County public school system. Susan, a school teacher, and Edmund, a business executive, built a successful enterprise, retired, and wanted to help high-risk youth succeed in life. Edmund Benson was a drop-out, a rebel and, eventually, a successful entrepreneur. At 21, he started his own furniture business. When he retired at 52, he dedicated himself to rescuing juvenile offenders and other high-risk youth from lives of crime. Edmund saw today's youth where he had been many years before: vulnerable, unloved, and living on the edge. He chose the most difficult populations to help: youth behind bars, gang members and those on the verge of entering the adult prison system. Twenty-four years later, ARISE is more relevant than ever, with ARISE life-skills groups being taught in 101 Florida Department of Juvenile Justice facilities as well as in Washington DC and other locations throughout the country and around the world. Read More

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Experts Offer Solutions on Fighting Gang Problem

Gangs would not exist if they did not satisfy, albeit in very anti-social and destructive ways, desperate needs young people have for protection, a sense of empowerment and group membership, mentoring and employment. It is not just any youths who are most at risk - it is those marginalized by discrimination based on class, race and nationality. Structural forms of discrimination include attending under-resourced schools, living in neighborhoods with few opportunities and easy access to firearms, and entering the juvenile and criminal justice systems in alarming numbers. Read More

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