Students Get Summer Support

August 12, 2005
By MELISSA PIONZIO, Courant Staff Writer

Kids hanging out together, laughing and telling jokes - it's a typical snapshot of what many teenagers do during their summer vacation. But some Hartford Public High School students have discovered that solving word problems, writing their life stories and thinking about their futures can be fun too, through a free academic enrichment program offered right in their own neighborhood.

The students, about 30 in all, are participants in the Crossroads Cooperative Learning program, a three-week session led by teachers from Westminster School in Simsbury. But instead of traveling to Simsbury to improve their math, writing and science skills, the Hartford students meet at Immanuel Congregational Church, a few blocks from Hartford Public, in the Asylum Hill neighborhood.

"These kids are so great. They deserve the same opportunities as the kids that go to our school," said program director Todd L. Eckerson, who started Crossroads in 2001.

The goal of Crossroads is to help the Hartford students graduate from their high school and create a plan for after graduation that includes college or employment. Crossroads is supported financially by Westminster and Immanuel as well as the Barnes, Edward E. Ford and Salmon foundations.

In addition to the summer sessions, Eckerson visits Hartford Public three times a week during the school year, meeting with the students and their teachers and recruiting new participants. He and other Crossroads teachers also visit the students' homes to get to know family members. Most of the students involved hear about the program from their siblings, friends, coaches or teachers, Eckerson said.

"The program is very flexible," he said of the summer session, which encourages but does not require consistent participation. "It's more for enrichment."

After a hot breakfast and time to socialize, the students gathered Thursday for a group discussion on what they have accomplished so far. Compliments flew, not only from Eckerson and the other Westminster teachers, but from the students themselves, who are quick to point out positive things about themselves and their friends.

"Most of my friends are here," said 18-year-old Luis Padilla, who will be a senior this September. "Most of us got each other involved. They kept saying how good it was and it was fun."

Padilla has been busy working on his college application essay, a creative piece about himself, he said. The teachers in the Crossroads program told him to make his essay compelling, to write it so it "jumps off the page," he said.

"Mine will be about how when I started high school, I slacked off," Padilla said. "And it was my wrestling coach that got me more involved and into this program."

Sixteen-year-old Angielee Burgos has been a Crossroads participant for two years. She likes to come, she said, because she meets new people, while getting extra help for school.

"We learn more things that we haven't done before," said Burgos, who hopes for a career in catering. "We learn more about SATs and what you need to pass them."

In addition to schoolwork, the students meet with a guidance counselor to discuss education and career options. They also have access to Naviance, a college preparatory software program that is linked to their own guidance department at Hartford Public. The computer program enables the students to create their own profiles and link with college websites. It also allows the guidance counselors from Hartford Public to track the students' progress because they can access the profiles online at any time, Eckerson said.

"The collaboration with Todd Eckerson and Westminster School is phenomenal," said Richard Serrano, a career coordinator at Hartford Public. "We have 300 students that are graduating; it's very difficult to give them that one-on-one attention. Todd had been great in providing support to the kids."

Crossroads has had good success so far. Ninety-seven percent of the students who joined Crossroads in 2001 will go on to attend two- or four-year colleges this year, Eckerson said. In addition, two of the Crossroads students (who graduated from Hartford Public this year) have received financial aid scholarships so they can attend a year at a Connecticut prep school before taking the SAT and applying to colleges.

"It's all about having a plan," Eckerson said. "Our goal is to keep kids in school."

For information on Crossroads, call 860-408-3048.