nothin Fifth-Graders Haul A Message To Hillhouse | New Haven Independent

Fifth-Graders Haul A Message To Hillhouse

Freesia DeNaples Photo

Teiona Edwards, Stephen Coger, Ta’Hari Mitchell, Sole Petty and Georgeana Johnson.

To five fifth-graders at King/Robinson Interdistrict Magnet School, Connecticut’s pretty high” high-school graduation rate — 85 percent compared to 75 nationally — just wasn’t enough.

The students, Sole Petty, Georgeana Johnson, Teiona Edwards, Stephan Coger and Ta’Hari Mitchell, decided to make their year-end school exhibition project an effort to boost those numbers.

We wanted to tell the high school students to never drop out, because it’ll effect their education and their future,” Ta’Hari said. We went to Hillhouse to meet the principal and the students to talk to them about never dropping out.”

The fifth-graders entered Hillhouse with their project advisor, Matthew Presser, and held up their homemade signs in a silent message. They walked around to classrooms and down the hallways holding up their signs without saying a word, seeking to force the high school students to read the signs themselves.

They have to read the messages on their own to figure out what we’re trying to say,” Stephan said. When they read it themselves, they understand the message.”

Hillhouse had just a 42 percent graduation rate in 2010, according to Principal Kermit Carolina. He said the school has worked hard to increase it — most recently to 70 percent.

Carolina said he appreciated the boost from the King-Robinson kids.

It was exciting to watch,” Carolina said of the visit. I was so impressed by those students, to have the wherewithal, the foresight to think about what dropping out of school, the impact it may have on someone’s life.”

Freesia DeNaples Photo

Teiona Edwards, Stephen Coger, Ta’Hari Mitchell, Sole Petty and Georgeana Johnson.

The messages on the signs were short and sweet. Stephen’s read, Stay in school and become the next president.” Georgeana’s read: If you drop out then maybe I’ll drop out too.”

Teiona and Georgeana each have older sisters who go to Hillhouse.

My sister said she was inspired by them and it inspired her not to drop out,” said Teiona.

Along with making the signs, the five students also learned important facts about the importance of staying in high school and through college in regards to what kind of jobs are offered, how much money you would be making, and what the future would look like.

Their passion for the subject showed as they rattled off statistics, names of the county with the state’s highest dropout rate (Windham) and specific facts about high school dropouts versus high school graduates.

Some high schoolers say that dropping out is an option, but what I like to say is that dropping out is not an option,” Georgeana said. Instead of dropping out, they could try again somewhere else.”

So many times it’s older kids telling younger kids that they care about them,” Presser said, but our kids decided that there’s power in the opposite. When a younger kid tells an older kid they’re important, it can make a difference.”

They felt like celebrities walking into Hillhouse,” Presser said. At first they were nervous as everyone was looking at them holding up their signs, but by the end they were feeling confident. They were feeling like they made an impact, they hung up their signs in the busiest hallway of the school and they felt really proud of what they’ve done.”

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