So, inspired by the direction we learned from our last class, I want to blog about the importance of programs like I Have A Dream in the lives of children who come from low-income families and marginalized groups.

The I Have A Dream (IHAD) program chooses motivated children from such backgrounds and follows them through middle and high school (sometimes elementary school, too) with the promise of financial support for college if they do well and graduate.  IHAD provides a daily structured environment for its “dreamers” (participants) where they can complete homework and have supervised recreational time.  I think this is phenomenal because all children crave structure and, often times, the dreamers come from unstructured homes where they don’t get the motivation and guidance they need.  The importance of programs like IHAD is magnified by Jonathan Kozol’s information in his book The Shame of the Nation and in David Guggenheim’s movie Waiting for “Superman.” 

Children from marginalized groups become disenfranchised as soon as they reach elementary school.  One of the primary reasons why is how school districts are drawn.  More often than not, children from poorer neighborhoods get funneled into one, less funded public school, while children from more wealthier areas get funneled into another, well equipped one.  David Guggenheim calls these poorer public schools “dropout factories” and the chances that a disenfranchised student will actually graduate from such a school greatly diminish with each grade.  Not only is district an issue, but also some public schools require an entrance exam to even be considered for enrollment.  These entrance exams can cost up to $200 and those parents unable to pay send their children to underfunded schools and the “dropout factory” process begins.  The dreamers of IHAD, many of who live in the Pisgah View Apartments, find themselves in this situation—the same situation that their parents were in.  Without IHAD and similar programs intervention, this social situation is perpetuated for generations to come. 

It is absolutely crucial to get students excited about learning at the earliest possible stage and to provide them with a positive learning experience.  Without motivation and people pushing them to do well, students fall behind and get pushed through the school system until they give up and settle for the idea of “going nowhere.” It has been proven time and time again that encouragement and long-term support almost guarantee a child’s completion of high school and acceptance into college.  This is something I think many adults (parents, teachers, school policy makers) need to know and understand in order to truly make a difference in a child’s quality of education.