Memoirs of a Mentor - Shared by Sarah Pitcock, of Higher Achievement Baltimore

I have mentioned a few times my love for mentoring at Higher Achievement and for my mentees. They have really brought so much joy into my life in such a short time. I am very blessed to spend time each week with Ta’Shawn Miles, a sixth grader at Collington Square with hopes and dreams that far exceed the small radius of East Baltimore he knows.

Since the first day I met him, Ta’Shawn has been talking about President Barack Obama (he always calls him by his full title). Seeing an African American man become President has truly changed Ta’Shawn’s concept of what he can do with his life. He talks about him ALL the time!

When I went to mentoring on Tuesday, the Center Director told me that Ta’Shawn’s mom had picked him up early that day to go buy him a suit because he was going to the White House to represent Higher Achievement and United Way for a National Mentoring Month event the next day. I nearly fell over, and I’ve had chills ever since just thinking about what the experience would be like for him.

I wasn’t sure if the President would actually be there or if Ta’Shawn would have any contact with him, but I got the full update this morning and the picture below says it all. Ta’Shawn is front row, second from left:



I am just bursting with pride today and wanted to share. Here is Ta’Shawn’s official quote about the experience, for historical record: “It was so exciting. I never thought a day in my life I’d get to meet the first Black President of the United States. It was an honor for me to walk into the White House, because so many people will never have that experience.”

You can watch the video of the President’s speech here.

Remembering Who We Serve

Too often, not-for-profit organizations get so caught up in their day-to-day operations that they can forget what our hard work brings not just to the organization but also to the kids and families they serve. At Higher Achievement, I once described the business we are in as the creation of “hope.” We bring hope and opportunity to families who experience first-hand what it is like to move about amidst dysfunction and chaos in their community and in their schools. We provide their children with a broader perspective of what the world can offer them and that they do not have to settle for their current situations. Our rigorous curriculum, our mentors, field trips, competitions, and other activities are geared towards making them shine, confident, and excel. We cannot lose sight of any of that.

Higher Achievement Featured by the LCCR

Check out the video coverage that the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund recently posted about Higher Achievement. This video was created as a part of the Realize the Dream Campaign. Click here to see the video now!

Higher Achievement Signs on to Race to the Top Letter

Higher Achievement helped draft and signed on to a letter highlighting the role of summer learning in the Race to the Top initiative at the US Dept of Education.

The select group of high-quality summer learning providers listed below, wrote to respond to the recently announced priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria for the Race to the Top Fund. We are requesting further clarification on the new definition of “increased learning time” to ensure there is no confusion among applicants as to whether the new term specifically includes summer programs run by non-profit and community-based organizations.

The letter was also endorsed by:

National Summer Learning Association
Aim High (San Francisco)
BELL
Bridges to a Brighter Future at Furman University
Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools
Energy Express at West Virginia University
Harlem RBI
Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative
Higher Achievement
Parks and People Foundation (SuperKids Camp-Baltimore)
Project Morry
Summer Advantage, USA
Summer Scholars (Denver)
Think Together
Trail Blazers

For more information on the Race to the Top Fund, click here.

Higher Achievement Alumni Gets Accepted into the Posse Program

Higher Achievement is proud to announce that our alumni, Joseph Ferguson,was accepted into the Posse Program at Bucknell University for next fall! Joe (currently a senior at Georgetown Day School) will be able to attend Bucknell University on a FULL SCHOLARSHIP!

Congratulations, Joe!

If you areinterested in learning more about Posse, please click here.

Community Collaboration

A day doesn’t go by that I am not asked about what “we” can do to improve education and opportunity for all children. So, who is the “we?”

It’s me, it you, it’s parents, it’s teachers – it’s the community. We must encourage collaboration between the children, their families and those within the community, like Higher Achievement and other programs, who provide resources. At Higher Achievement, the community is what makes our program thrive. We solicit the help of local and national foundations to sustain our budget as we do this work; we use retired teachers, college students and young professionals to mentor our scholars; we rely on partnerships with the local school system to help provide a space and a means to run our program; we encourage our current mentors to tap into their personal and professional networks to ensure that every scholar has a mentor for every subject; and we reach out to local corporations who provide resources like field trips and school supplies for our scholars. Without all of these external resources, Higher Achievement couldn’t exist.

I am a strong proponent of enabling every member of our community to have access to opportunities to improve their lives, and enable them to fulfill their responsibility in a civil and democratic society. Our development as a community, and as a society, depends on each of us fulfilling our obligations.

At Higher Achievement, we believe in three main principles. First, that talent is everywhere. In every city, every community and every school, there are students who have the talent to do anything they set their minds to. Second, that intellect is built through effort. The more rigor a student approaches their academics with, the more they enable themselves to build intellect. And third, opportunities matter. Every chance you give a student to shine, is a chance that puts them one step closer to their destinies. As we believe in all of these principles at Higher Achievement, I also believe that we have the responsibility to use our talent to improve our lives and the communities we live in. By doing so, we increase our community’s potential to grow and develop and ensure that all of us are thriving.

This work of shaping our community’s potential is not just work that we need to do. It is our responsibility to do so. No ifs, ands or buts. We live in this community and it is our responsibility to make sure that we are building the kind of community our children will want to grow up in, live in, and make a difference in.

Great Things Are Happening in Baltimore!

Higher Achievement Baltimore was featured in the Baltimore Sun today! Click here to read the article.