Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / April 26, 2007, edition 1 / Page 6
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6A NEWS/triie Cliarlotte Thursday, April 26, 2007 Powerful lessons learned on college spring break By Vbnnessa Mizeil and Courney Bowe NATiONAi. NEWSPAPER PUSUSHERS ASSOCIATION NEW ORLEANS - Howard Ledet III doesn't live like the average high school senior. Hurricane Katrina forced him and his family to move to St. Martinville, La., from their home in New Orleans. But his decision to return to his school, St. Augustine High, and his city meant leaving his family and living alone in a FEMA trailer. "My mother didn’t want me to come back because she didn’t want me to leave her, but 1 told her that St. Augustine is a treasure to my heart," Ledet said. had to come back. It was the only choice.’’ He spoke through a mouthful of braces and with the poise of someone older than his 18 years. His trailer, which sits on a friend’s lawn, is three inch es shorter than his 6-foot-8 frame. "It's not too bad. You just have to adjust your mus cles, I guess,” said Ledet, who is quick to say he wants to be a cardiologist, not a basketball player. He was one of the many teens whom Howard University students met during Howard’s Alternative Spring Break, when more than 500 students packed 10 buses to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding effort. It was the second consecutive year in which Howard students traveled to the city; 250 students spent their spring break in New Orleans last year. Although most of the Howard students spent the week gutting and building houses in the Upper Ninth Ward, 38 students reported to St. Augustine, a predomi nantly African-American Catholic school for boys. Howard students expected to offer help in algebra, English and other subjects. Instead, they said, the lessons taught and learned often had little to do with what could be found in a textbook. Cheree Sims, 19, a junior psychology major, asked students in Sister Julianne Blanchard’s theology class to tell where they were relo cated to after Katrina. "Houston.” "Connecticut.” "California.” “Lafayette.” "Missouri.” "Baton Rouge." A boy with the name A. Williams embroidered on his shirt said that while he was in a hotel in Baton Rouge, he saw his great-aunt on the news. She was dying. When the bell rang for lunch and the students filed out of the classroom, one ninth-grader, Dorian White, 14, stayed behind. ”Do you guys get tired of us asking you about Katrina?" Sims asked. "No. We don’t get tired of talking about it,” Dorian said. "It just gets tiring to talk about it when we know nothing is being done.” He and his family left before the storm hit, he said, going to Mississippi before moving to Fort Smith, Ark. When they returned to the city, they were among the lucky ones their house was standing. "The one thing I wish 1 would've remembered before 1 left the house was my photo album," Dorian said. "When we came back to our house, I ran to my room to check if it was still there. And it was, but you’d be lucky to make out one photo." According to the Louisiana Department of Education, 62,000 students were attending 128 public schools in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. Now there are 26,000 stu dents at 57 schools. Of those public schools, 17 are charter schools. Catholic schools operate under the Archdiocese of New Orleans and were the first schools to reopen in the city. Before Katrina, 49,500 students attended 107 Catholic schools. Now 42,000 students are enrolled in 88 schools. The Rev. William Maestri, super intendent of Catholic schools and director of communications for the archdiocese, said the schools have taken in more than l.SOO students from public schools. At St. Augustine, a crowd of students in seventh through 12th grades flood the hallways every 90 min utes, hurrying to class. Frequently they find the Rev. John Raphael, the prin cipal and a former Howard chaplain, in the hallways making sure order is main tained. “Tuck your shirt in,” he tells one boy as he passes. White collars peek from the gray sweaters of the St. Augustine students: the sweaters look as new as the hallway’s purple lockers. Eighteen months ago, those hallways were filled with toxic waters. The school has spent $4 million renovating. "The property was devas tated,” said Raphael. He list ed the damage: four feet of water in the gymnasium, damage to the third-floor roof. About 200 residents used the second floor as a haven from rising water. A Katrina relief fund and donations from alumni and others alleviated the 2005- 06 tuition costs for return ing students, according to Suzanne Davidson, assis tant to the principal. But the loss of other students and faculty also forced the school to increase tuition 5 percent this year. (Tuition is $4,000 to $5,000, depend ing upon the grade level, according to the school's Web site.) It was, Raphael said of the tuition increase, “tough decision." “Of the 700 students we have now, 300 are first- year," he said. “We had 987 students and 80 teachers before the storm." Of the 50 current teachers, half are new. Ledet was one of the stu dents who made it back. At his principal’s request, he led visitors on a tour of the renovated school. At one point, he poked his head into a room in which Howard students were lead ing a discussion about col lege life. “Do you have to study a lot when you’re in college?" one boy asked. “Is college hard?" asked another. "I want to maintain the highest GPA," Ledet said. "So when 1 come home, I make sure to do my school- work, take care of responsi bilities and maintain a healthy lifestyle.” For Sims and Ayisha Mapp, 18, a Howard fresh man political science major, returning to their sleeping quarters at the Salvation Army each night was an emotional experience. They would hold a debriefing and discuss the day’s events. “To hear about how the boys were so strong was amazing and emotional for all of us,” Mapp said. She recounted the story of a 14- year-old who told of riding out the storm alone and finally having to unhinge the front door of his house to float to safety. Some students said the PHOTO/BRANOI WOODSON Members of the Carolina Dymes Motorcycle Club held a car wash and fish fry at Ricky Hendrick’s Performance Honda in Pineviile. Proceeds went to club programs. Grassroots campaign launched to erase N.C. health disparities By Sommer Brokaw THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE RALEIGH - Healthcare disparities are rising, but grassroots agencies are working to tip the scales in favor of underrepresented groups. A statewide con ference last week called on agencies to take action. I The Office of Minority Health and Health [r Disparities and the Minority Health Advisory Council presented the conference at the Hilton North Raleigh. Barbara Pullen-Smith, OMHHD director, said the forum's goal was for leaders of communi ty and faith-based organizations, American Indian tribes and health departments to share success stories and lessons for the field. Please see ACTIVISTS/7A trip to New Orleans had ride back to Washington. not remember all of their changed their lives, some “The boys showed me that names, but I’ll never forget even deciding to change your family and your reli- their stories.” career goals as a result. gion is what it all comes For Sims, it was a quiet bus down to,” she said. “I may 7. The Charlotte Post 704-376-0496 75 ■ ■'/ ■■ \K4 LTanya). Bailey. DDS, MS, PLLC OrthodonJist Customer for two years Fauntroy [ www.bizhub.org First Citizens Bank We value relationships. 1.888.FCDIREa One goal: ;1 Help small businesses succeed i BizHub Network con help connect your small ■ business [even if it's in your head!) to the many : Resource Partners ready to help as you start or grow ' your business. These Portoers - ocross the Charlotte ^ Region - work in government, education and ^ non-profits, including community colleges, chambers and networking groups. 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