Nearly 3,000 students attend Thomas R. Proctor high school in Utica, NY, but only about 69% of students graduate each year. Even more concerning is that only about 50% of students of color in the school graduate. To combat this problem, the city of Utica has designed the Young Scholars Liberty Partnerships Program (YSLPP) to help students graduate and compete for post-graduation opportunities such as college and jobs. In 1993, YSLPP started with students whose guidance counselors and school personnel found “hardest cases” to work with: these students were gifted but, for various reasons, were not performing well academically. From then on, they have helped students “Grow Big Dreams,” as the program’s slogan suggests.
Income segregation has been a persistent problem in American education due to an imbalance of educational resources. Wealthier families can live in affluent communities where local property tax revenues fund their public schools. Schools with higher funding can afford core resources and opportunities such as a greater ratio of experienced teachers per student. Additionally, better-funded schools can afford luxuries such as new and updated textbooks and a more extensive course selection, resources that lower-income schools can not afford (Lareau, 2003). Furthermore, students in inner-city schools can not even afford necessities, such as bookbags, making their educational experience challenging (Lareau, 2003). Privileged high school education can open many doors for higher-income students, such as admittance to a good college to prepare them for a white-collar job (Lareau, 2003). In contrast, students from lower-income families like in Utica, NY, are statistically less likely to follow this route because of a lack of resources (Lareau, 2003).
For decades, the Utica school district has been a title 1 school. A title 1 school has the highest percentage of children from low-income families (US Department of Education, 2022). As of now, more than 75% of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch. This statistic further emphasizes how many students are underprivileged in Utica, creating barriers to their learning. Additionally, Young Scholars students specifically do not have parents who went to college or even graduated from high school. This alone is a considerable obstacle for children to graduate from high school.
Standardized testing is a method schools use to assess how well their students learn the class material. However, Owens’ (2018) findings indicate a large test score gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students and that this gap decreases when school funding is equal across high- and low-income residences. This showcases that the problem does not lie with disadvantaged students’ intelligence but with the lack of resources that make it difficult for marginalized students to compete with their advantaged peers. This lack of funding has been a persistent problem in inner-city schools like the Utica School District.
YSLPP is a multi-year collaborative project established in 1993 that motivates diverse and talented students with the potential to stay in school, graduate from high school, and even encourage students to pursue post-secondary education. Starting in sixth grade, teachers nominate students they believe have the potential to be good students but lack the economic, academic, and emotional support to do well in school. YSLPP provides students with comprehensive academic, social, and cultural enrichment through many services. They provide a classroom in their secondary school campus for students to go to for whatever needs they have to succeed, such as tutoring and social and emotional support from social workers. The program provides college preparatory experience such as SAT tutoring, college visits, and college seminars. Additionally, YSLPP focuses on serving the community through community service events. Students must complete a certain number of community service hours by the end of each school year. The program focuses on students’ academic success and emphasizes the importance of giving back to the community and developing leadership qualities such as compassion and humility.
Furthermore, YSLPP emphasizes the importance of gaining perspective, experience, and preparation for post-college life. YSLPP has designed leadership programs that allow high school students and college students to work for a paid internship, helping them gather experience and hone their skills. Additionally, these internships allow students to see if they truly want to pursue a career in a specific field by bringing in speakers from various professions such as health care, research, art, and business. Students can also develop and polish their skills to succeed in their professions and personal lives through these internships. The program provides resume and cover letter workshops and mock interviews to further supplement their learning. These programs better prepare students for college and choose a career. With these services, the program has helped 86% of its students enroll in college (Young Scholars Utica University, 2022)
Support System
The majority of Young Scholars and the alums from the program are low-income, first-generation, and immigrants. The intersectionality of identities has made it difficult for the interviewees to have the confidence to do well. The Young Scholars program recognizes this barrier and combats it by providing a broad support system. The first alumni I interviewed was an immigrant from a low-income background. Keyla was a strong student but did not receive support and encouragement from teachers because of her socio-economic and immigrant status. She recalls one incident where her teacher told her that she would not be able to go to college at a parent-teacher conference, damaging Keyla’s self-esteem. However, she said,
Young Scholars never said that I had to go to college, but they said that if I had to, I could always achieve my dream and that they would be there to help me. Now I have a doctorate. Having a support system helps heal the wounds and trauma of poverty, of low education, or immigration trauma. This support is important because students may not have that; students may not have that environment from anywhere else around them except Young Scholars.
In her statement, Keyla illustrates the importance of having a supportive environment and what that can do for underprivileged students’ confidence in themselves and their academic capabilities. Keyla mentions that she owes a lot of her success to her mentors at Young Scholars and those who have encouraged and helped her along the way since she lacked such support from her public school teachers.
Charlie is a first-generation, low-income student of color. Before the program, Charlie attended a primarily white elementary school. Because they were one of few Asians in their school, they were ridiculed for how they looked and for their broken English at the time. They recall,
The program is very welcoming. They will never turn down anyone for help. They love helping people and seeing people succeed. I think this is why I am where I am now because I was in an environment where success is not seen as something unattainable. They lift your spirits, and it helps you realize that you can do this. When you’re little, you may feel like it is something unattainable because you are different from other kids and do not have resources. However, they tell you that you can and that they can help you be where you want to be. And that’s what I liked the most. Even when one graduates from high school, the program will always be there for you.
Charlie experienced unwavering support and encouragement from the program that they lacked in their personal lives. Programs like Young Scholars give them the comfort of knowing that no matter what their dreams are and what the journey may look like, the program will be there to support them. Charlie emphasizes that “that’s just the thing that I need the most, just knowing that a group of people will be readily available to welcome you. They’ll be here when I grow up, and that’s the most important part to me, that they are there for me.”
Ruby is a first-gen immigrant of color from a lower-income family who also struggled with a lack of support system and guidance. Ruby states:
I probably would not have worked as hard as I did if Young Scholars and my collective peers’ support in the program did not push me. I would have been less of a good student; I would have cared less. The enthusiasm of those around rubbed off on me. The program motivated me to care more about my academic performance and future. The program makes me feel less lost.
The program not only helped her academically by providing her with resources such as tutoring but also with the encouragement and strength to continue and to see the importance of education.
Ruby’s experience with receiving support has tremendously shaped her educational experience.
Educational Support
Keyla recalls how Young Scholars provided her with tutoring, helped her compete in regional, national, and international science fair competitions, and provided her career experience. When talking about how the program helped her life after high school, Ruby explains how the internships helped her strengthen the skills needed to be a successful and robust candidate and gave her a greater sense of understanding and purpose of what she wanted out of life. Furthermore, she mentioned that the program would reach out to her to help pay for supplies, apply for scholarships, and receive other resources. The program helped her become more confident in herself and her skill sets, even going through college and life. As for Charlie, they recall struggling with English and math when they were younger. The Young Scholars staff would spend designated extra time to tutor them, encouraging them, which helped their academics and how they viewed themselves.
Conclusion
Programs like Young Scholars are vital because they encourage students to reach their academic and personal potential to do well in life. A fulfilling educational experience is more than just performing well in school; it is a combination of resources such as the emotional and economic support that has allowed the Young Scholars albums to succeed in their career and personal lives. A Young Scholars staff member elaborates on their work with the students:
I think, yes, our students are special and that we all are, but they show what almost every student is capable of if they’re given the resources. For example, if every student could go to a room like Young Scholars and work with tutors a couple of times a week, and enter a classroom and sit down and talk to someone, think of the differences that can make.
It is important to note that although this program has not worked for every student, many students were able to achieve their academic and personal potential with the help of this program. Programs like Young Scholars show what a positive and impactful difference it can make when students are allocated resources that help them do well academically, socially, and emotionally. Like other students in the program, my parents have never gone to college. My parents’ highest level of education was middle school because they could not afford to go beyond that level of education. Statistically, I am not likely to have achieved what I have achieved. I am not likely to be here at this college in this course or writing this blog post that you are currently reading, but here I am. Young Scholars helped students like me, students from my background, grow big dreams and achieve them. The students deemed as the hardest cases often come from disadvantaged backgrounds and severely lack the resources to do well and believe in themselves. It is important to not to forget how crucial programs like Young Scholars can provide the resources that encourage students to “Grow Big Dreams” as well as achieve them.
Works Cited
Lareau, Annette. 2003. Unequal Childhoods : Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley: University of California Press
Owens, Ann. 2016. Inequality in Children’s Contexts: Income Segregation of Households with and Without Children. American sociological review 81, no. 3: 549–574.
US Department of Education (ED). 2018. Title I, part a program. Title I, Part A Program. https://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html
Utica City School Districts. Utica, NY. (2022). https://www.publicschoolreview.com/new-york/utica-city-school-district/3629370-school-district
Utica College. 2022. Young Scholars Liberty Partnerships Program. Facts. https://www.utica.edu/academic/yslpp/facts.cfm
