In order to best address the needs of the Durham Public Schools (DPS), it was necessary to first understand the community. Throughout my first three years as a student at Duke University, I observed DPS classrooms and interviewed students, teachers, principals, parents, guidance counselors and school board members. This led to the writing of an environmental needs assessment which focused on both the problem of educating children in Durham as well as programs currently available for youth during the school year and the summer. It became clear that as minority and low income children in Durham move through their middle school years, they are struggling to keep up at school. On a recent end-of-grade test for grades 3 through 8, 64.2% of black students and 59.8% of Hispanic students scored at grade level in reading, as compared with 91.6% for white students. In math, 69.9% of black students and 67.7% of Hispanics, as compared with 93.3% for whites, tested at grade level (Durham Herald-Sun, 9/13/02). Although the environmental needs assessment showed there were many programs in place in Durham to minimize this gap, there were evidently no free academic programs making use of the summer months. After learning about Student U., Superintendent of DPS, Carl Harris, confirmed this need, stating “Durham Public School students will benefit immensely from this program.” My belief in the potential of all children combined with my knowledge that unfortunately, many never have the opportunity to reach this potential, inspired me to begin the journey of starting Student U.

The mission of Student U. is twofold: to inspire Durham public middle school students to believe that they can succeed in an academic environment and to motivate college students to pursue careers in education. Student U. has two main components: The first is a free, 6-week academically intense summer enrichment program in which Durham middle school students are taught and led by college students from the North Carolina region. The second component sustains the summer academic growth through weekly tutoring and monthly mentoring outings also led by the college-age teachers. All middle school students participate in Student U. for three consecutive years after which time students will have improved their academic skills, gained confidence in their academic ability, and be motivated to challenge themselves throughout high school. Many Student U. students will be the first in their family to attend college. After working at Student U. for a minimum of one year, the college-age teachers will have improved attitudes and beliefs about children and education as well as improved skills as teachers and leaders.

After remaining funds are secured and another successful year is completed, Student U. will begin to solicit long term support from major corporations, foundations, and individuals. Student U. will also continue to seek institutionalized support, though direct funding and defrayed costs such as donated services, from its collaborative partners. In particular, Durham Academy is planning its next capital campaign, set to launch in 2009. Current plans consider the inclusion of multi-year funding for Student U. as an objective. Durham Academy’s current strategic plan calls for the school to find ways to become a resource to the greater Durham community, and the long-term stability and success of Student U. is key to accomplishing this goal.