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By WALTER LONGYEAR
Rappahannock News Contributing Writer
You’ve probably heard stories about wealthy businessmen who have told sixth grade classes, “If any of you graduate from high school and get into college, I will see to it that your tuition is paid.”
Peter Flanigan of New York City made such a promise. They he hired a social worker and arranged for tutoring. He worked for six years with 50 students he “adopted. ” ,
When the class finished the 12th grade, only seven enrolled in college. Considering all the time and resources he dedicated to the project, he considered the result “a waste.” ..
But he has not given up. Instead, he has changed his strategy.
Even with the promise of a free college education, why didn’t Mr. Flanigan make a dent in these kids’ attitudes? Why wasn’t he able to improve their grades? Why weren’t more of them staying in school?
“We couldn’t change their home lives, we couldn’t change their neighborhoods, and we couldn’t even change their schools. If we could have changed their schools we would have had a much greater chance of succeeding,” Mr. Flanigan concluded.
His new strategy is to pay the tuition of students to attend private school and to spend time with each student. He recruited 637 sponsors for6378tudetns.
The results? 70 percent graduate from private schools and virtually all enroll in college! \
My point is that a desire to achieve academically does not develop when a child is about to graduate from high school. It must begin when the child is young and it nttust
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