Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Teach from the Heart to Support Adolescents

In his conference session, Dennis Littky put the microphone in the hands of 16-year-old student Josue Lopez, who gave a heart-provoking assessment of his life that includes an imprisoned father and the determination to avoid following in his father's footsteps.

Littky admitted that such bold approaches are a leap of faith--for example, the student who wanted to study the rapper Tupac. From that project came the student's evolving interest in people who have an effect on society. Before graduation, the same pupil was researching activist Nelson Mandela and orchestrating a peace forum.

Unconventional gambles like these have paid off in other ways for the poor and minority students who attend The Met. Littky said his students not only get into college, 75 percent graduate--a far cry from the typical 10 percent college graduation rate he described for most African Americans and Hispanics.

Read the complete report on Littky's session.


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