Center to expand, strengthen program
that steers kids away from jailhouse
BY LAYLA GARMS
THF. rH^ONin
The Winston-Salem State
University Center for
Community Safety is looking to
impact even more young lives
with its STARS (Students Taking
Action and Reaching Success)
program.
The program - launched two
years ago - is currently offered
at five local schools. STARS
facilitators
guide stu
dents in
character
and confi
dence
building
exercises.
It address
es the cor
relation
between
low stu
Price
dent performance and incarcera
tion rates.
"This is really a prevention
model that'll allow kids to make
better decisions," said Center for
Community Safety Executive
Director Alvin Atkinson. "It
comes in and it really just helps
lift the students up. If we can tar
get our efforts, then the academ
ics will go up and the kids will
feel good about themselves, and
that's really the key."
On Monday at Knollwood
Baptist Church, trainers from the
Lions International Foundation -
led current and future STARS
facilitators in a daylong work
shop that explored the Lions
Quest Skills for Adolescence
OST program, a social and emo
tional learning curriculum that
will be incorporated into
STARS. The session was organ
ized by the Twin City Host Lions
Club, one of the nearly 46,000
chapters of the revered commu
nity service organization.
"I think if you teach young
people how to navigate adoles
cence, then they're going to be
successful in every aspect of
their lives," said Peggy Willis, a
Lions Quest trainer from
Oakbrook, 111. "...If you give
them the skills and you teach
them how to use the skills, then
you set them up for success."
The workshop was supported
by a $10,000 grant that the Twin
City Host Lions Club secured
from the Lions Quest
Foundation on behalf of STARS.
By supporting STARS, Twin
City Host Lions Club President
John McKenzie said the Club,
which is home to roughly 50
members, hopes to help young
people get - and stay - on the
path to success.
"Kids are our future, we
know that," he remarked.
"Winston-Salem's got such great
opportunities - great kids - and
the STARS program and the
Lions Quest being a part of it are
a good way to make them a
strong part of the community."
STARS facilitator Latoya
Price said the program has
already seen positive results.
"The change in the students
has been, in my opinion, amaz
ing," said Price, who helps facil
itate the in-school programs at
Hanes, Philo-Hill and Northwest
Middle Schools. (STARS is
offered as an after school pro
gram at some sites.)
Dr. Gwendolyn Johnson
Green. director of Alternative
Education for Winston
Salem/Forsyth County Schools,
praised STARS as one of the dis
trict's most "most effective, sue
cessful initiatives."
"STARS is an initiative that
should be a model - a success
model - for others to follow,"
declared Johnson-Green.
The Downtown School,
where Atkinson's wife, Jan,
serves as principal, will become
the sixth STARS school next
month and the first site that is
not an Equity Plus school (a
school where the majority of the
student body hails from low
income households). Atkinson
wants to eventually expand the
program to all middle schools in
the county. He also hopes the
alliances his agency has formed
through the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County
Community Safety Partnership
Coalition (CSPC) - which
includes the school system, the
Twin City Host Lions Club and
Silver Lining Youth Services -
will help STARS reach a broader
cross-section of youth.
"We think in time, it will
really make a difference in
reducing that pathway, that
school to prison pipeline - that's
what we're interrupting,"
Atkinson said of the program.
"We're hoping we can get the
community to join in."
For more information about
STARS, visit http:llcenterfor
communitysafety.org.
? ' ? m ? ? II L ? m 1 a-a m m J
Photos by l.ayla Ganns
Frances Portillo leads the workshop.
???1???p???????I????? I I
Twin City Host Lion Club members on hand to support the
workshop were (from left): Penny Willis, JoAnne Goetz, Slava
Driglov (back row), Alvin Atkinson and President John
McKenzie.
Bennett tuition
untouched;
WFU's increased
CHRONICLE STAFF- REPORT
The Bennett College Board
of Trustees has approved a freeze
in tuition, fees and room charges
for the academic year 2014
2015. New and returning
Bennett students will pay
$17,230 in
tuition and
fees next
year.
President
Rosalind
Fuse-Hall
explained
that the
board
agreed,
"Bennett D
College
under
l-a t ft
Fuse-HalI
stands the financial situation fac
ing our students and their fami
lies. It is important that their
academic success is not stymied
by the cost of a college educa
tion."
Total enrollment at Bennett
College is 629 students, and 98
percent of these undergraduates
receive some form of financial -
aid.
The move by Bennett College
is an unusual one as colleges in
the Triad area and across the
country find it necessary to move
in the opposite direction. Wake
Forest University Trustees, for
example, recently approved an
undergraduate tuition hike of
3.25 percent for the 2014-2015
academic year. Undergraduate
tuition will increase from the
current $44,200 to $45,638 next
year. With changes in room,
board and other fees, the overall
cost of attendance at Wake Forest
is expected to increase 3.8 per
cent to $62,538.
WFU President Nathan Hatch
said the increase - the smallest
percentage increase in 30 years -
is necessary to keep the school
competitive.
The current cost of atten
dance for on-campus students at
Bennett is $26,322. Next year,
that figure will increase by $192
in compliance with a state tax on
meal plans as well as an increase
in the health insurance.
^ *