The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Educational ‘hero’ to speak about ‘saving’ urban students

Staff photo by Jan Underwood Erika Matias (left) holds her 2-month-old daughter Danna, while attending a Taking Off to Success (TOTS) workshop at Ruskin PreK-8 School in East Dayton. The TOTS program is modeled after the successful Harlem Children's Zone program in New York City, linking families with parenting classes, school readiness programs and social services as a way of improving kindergarten readiness and academic performance in school.

Jan Underwood Staff photo by Jan Underwood Erika Matias (left) holds her 2-month-old daughter Danna, while attending a Taking Off to Success (TOTS) workshop at Ruskin PreK-8 School in East Dayton. The TOTS program is modeled after the successful Harlem Children's Zone program in New York City, linking families with parenting classes, school readiness programs and social services as a way of improving kindergarten readiness and academic performance in school.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Margo Rutledge Kissell and Christopher Magan, Staff Writers Updated 10:39 PM Sunday, January 16, 2011

DAYTON — Every Saturday for nine weeks, Rachael Varvel participated in the Taking Off to Success program with a primary goal in mind — helping her 3-year-old twins become ready for kindergarten.

She was amazed to learn just how much children should know by that age, including being able to recognize numbers and letters.

Varvel’s next step: Enrolling the youngsters in a new preschool program at East End Community Services twice a week so they can reap the education and social benefits.

“You can’t really wait until they are 5 anymore,” Varvel said.

Nearly four in 10 Dayton children are not ready for kindergarten, according to state education data, and the TOTS program is trying to change that. It’s targeting families living in depressed neighborhoods around Ruskin and Edison PreK-8 schools.

TOTS is modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone, which has drawn national attention for dramatically boosting student achievement in some of New York City’s most poverty-stricken neighborhoods.

A year ago, a dozen nonprofit and education leaders from Dayton went to Harlem to study The Baby College, a program at the Children’s Zone, which offers a nine-week parenting workshop to expectant parents and those raising children up to age 3.

With support and the financial backing of the Montgomery County Family and Children First Council, the coalition launched TOTS in October introduce the cradle to college approach here.

The Human Services Levy will fund the effort, with $200,000 being allocated annually during three years to both East End Community Services and Miami Valley Child Development Center if they demonstrate progress is being made.

Initially, the Dayton Urban League was to be involved but had to be replaced after it shut its doors Dec. 3 because of financial problems.

Local nonprofit and education officials eagerly are anticipating a visit from Geoffrey Canada, the man behind the success in Harlem, who will be in Dayton this week.

On Tuesday, Canada will meet with area urban educators for a panel discussion before he gives his lecture “Waiting for Superman: The Crisis Facing Youth — What Adults and Communities Can Do to Save Our Children” at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the UD RecPlex. The event is free and open to the public.

“He is a hero to a lot of our students,” said Kevin Kelly, dean of University of Dayton’s School of Education and Allied Professions.

Diane Brogan-Adams, director of East Dayton’s TOTS program, said Canada is “having a huge impact across the country among those who understand this does work.”

They hope it works here, too.

Former University of Dayton President Brother Raymond L. Fitz, a force behind the neighborhood initiative and member of the Family and Children First Council, has said the key to success will be “mending the pipeline at the very beginning” before children fall too far behind.

UD and Wright State University will evaluate the program’s effect on kindergarten readiness scores and officials also hope that the program will help improve the reading scores of young children once they are in school.

Expect UD to play a big role in those plans moving forward.

“There is no division between the university and the community,” Kelly said. “We have to think about all the children in the Miami Valley.”

Contact

reporter Margo Rutledge Kissell

at (937) 225-2094

Share this article