Situational Leadership

Values

Educate, Elevate & Graduate "change project" will assist youth in Bartram High School twilight program reduce drop out. It is an assumption that the students within the twilight program are deficient due to the casual factors such as oppression, poverty, and single household. The deficiencies may lie in the perimeters of education, emotional, or financial stability. Students who dropout of school is often referred to a social deviance. The oppression that many students face can be physical, social/emotional, economical, which often times leads to truancy and the end result more often is dropout of school. Therefore decrease their chance of becoming employable, educated, or obtain personal growth.

Educate, Elevate & Graduate project is in conjunction with Head Start Learning Tree (HSLT) and Bartram High School twilight program. HSLT is a nonprofit preschool/social service agency for low-income families, established in 1984. Head start offers family/community a sense of belonging, other support services, and an opportunity for everyone to involve in activities to help the whole family. Bartram High School twilight program provides students who have dropped out of school an opportunity to obtain their high school diploma during the evening hours, established on the early 1980.

Theses services include counseling, life skills, employment training. The twilight program offer crisis intervention and a safe environment for students seeking refuge from oppression. The program provides students employment training for good work ethics. As part of the training, participants are taught how to construct cover letters and rйsumйs, and learn strategies for interviewing. In addition, students receive academic enrichment to enhance their basic skills. All of the mentioned components from HSLT and Bartram High School constitute a system; a group of related parts having some purpose.

Implicit are definitional problems in the use of the terms truant and dropout. Cassell (2001)(p.17) reports "that the rate of prisons being built in the United States has outgrown the number of schools that address the needs of students, which indicates that over one million inmates are high school dropouts". While the purpose of school is to get students ready for their roles as adults, years of finding instead show that schools in urban areas are not equipping students with the tools of enlightened decision making, positive self confidence, resilience, self- efficacy, or coping skills to deal with life realities.

Ross (1967) states the need for the community to respond to the needs of those in strife and that this encouragement will empower those of the community and promote individual and, in turn, neighborhood growth. The review of the literature confers that studies are needed to determine how the effects of truancy and dropout are passed from generation to generation. In order to assess how this cycle is influenced by adolescents on a national scale and understand the long-term physical and psychological sequel to individual, families and communities of truant behavior on a geopolitical scale. By recognizing and addressing the multi factors of the dropout rate within our society, so we can move closer to eradicate the high rate of dropout.

The values of our liberal society are not very liberal when it pertains to the rights of underprivileged children. In western civilization, humans are set in opposition to nature and men were placed in power over women. "Western society is founded on the oppression of women, prejudice and values associated with European culture (Plantz, 1988)". Plantz (1988) describes prejudice as," an attitude that may or may not exhibit in overt hostility. Combined with power it has the added ability to discriminate or deny to individuals or groups of people equality of treatment". Under privileged individuals have been denied equal treatment for centuries, which is institutional classism is the process whereby privilege becomes institutionalized, that is it becomes imbedded in the norms. Therefore, are considered as (regulations and informal rules) and roles (social positions and their attendant duties and rights) in a variety of social, economic, and political organizations. The institutional emphasis is less concerned with the "origins of incorporated in our societal mechanism"; inequality is built into the system.

As a result of oppression, people underprivileged have been made to feel powerless; they are made to feel that they are not in control of their lives, and that they are lazy or stupid. Adolescents who dropouts of school, in particular, have been told that they are worthless, incapable and for the pain they feel. Therefore, the project contradicts these lies and help students gain a sense personal power and capabilities. Empowerment is defined as individuals beginning to direct their own lives, to control their choices, and deciding what one wants to attain. This also means taking responsibility for their own actions while recognizing that they are not the blame for the inequality inflicted upon them.

The goals of this project are:(1) to provide the students with resources, emotional wellness, and information, (2) enhance their educational skills, (3) develop a modal to assist students obtain their high school diploma, and provide a employment opportunity, which will help them from dependency to independence, (4) Advocate for themselves.

The project incorporates Bayles' Fiduciary model, the client takes part in the decision making process. A responsibility as a service provider is to act on the behalf of the client. The objective is to assist the students in obtaining their goals. Participation, consent and input are welcomed and encouraged; it is essential part of the relationship. The client has most of the authority and responsibility during the decision-making. The change agent is the professional in the relationship, having the benefits of knowledge, resources and experience on the subject matter. The change agent does not discount, reject, or deny the knowledge of the client/clients.

The project takes into consideration the social barrier of dominant society. Western society is founded on the oppression of under privileged and the values associated. This system has educationally, politically, economically, and philosophically and theological trained us. It creates our laws, regulates our economy, sets our salaries, it decides what knowledge is and how it is to be used and taught. However, since it is a system it can be clarified, examined, and changed. It is imperative to define this system in order to rectify. At-risk adolescents need to know the system, not support the system. It has emerged as a unique method to address the critical risk factors, such as racism, sexism, and

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