THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409100211
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Kareem was booted out of school when administrators caught him with a gun.
Jamie was bounced because he skipped school and fought a lot: ``They told me I was a menace,'' he said, frowning. Glenette says she dropped out of school last year because she preferred to just chill with her buddies. No worries, no hassles, no homework.
Sherree, Laticia, Robert and Lamont also have stories about why they dropped out or couldn't stay on track. All of them were older than most kids at their grade level. They had full-grown bodies but found themselves still sitting in seventh-, eighth- or ninth-grade classes.
Special programs designed to steer them toward a high school equivalency certificate seemed to take forever to complete.
Deep down, they really wanted to do right, they said. Instead, circumstance and misguided choices kept pushing them toward a life in the streets.
Besides, few people really seemed to care how they wound up. But ``Sister Epps'' wasn't like that. She was always running around handing out information about training programs or asking somebody to help clean up the neighborhood or volunteer with her after-school tutorial program at the community center in the Swanson Homes public housing project.
Within the past week, Dorita Epps convinced the teens to try out a military-style alternative school for high school dropouts at the Virginia National Guard's Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach. The ``Challenge Program'' begins today.
Hours before she was scheduled to go to work at the Southeastern Virginia Training Center on Friday, Epps took six of the students - from Swanson Homes or nearby projects - to various stores she persuaded to donate clothing or other items to the kids.
``Sister Epps is a miracle worker,'' 17-year-old Glenette Godley proclaimed en route to a discount clothing store.
``Jesus is the miracle worker,'' Epps responded.
After worrying about low enrollment late last month, program officials expect 140 teenagers today. Not everyone will make it through the screening process, however.
The program is open to male and female high school dropouts ages 16 to 18 who are unemployed, drug-free, not pregnant and have not been charged with or convicted of a felony. Only about 100 students will be enrolled, but a waiting list will be set up, the director said.
The program charges no tuition. In fact, if students successfully complete the five-month school, they will return home with a $2,200 stipend they can use to further their education or land a job. A key goal is to help them pass the General Education Development test, a measure of knowledge they could have acquired if they had finished high school.
The program was developed by the National Guard at Congress' direction in 1992. Last year, Congress appropriated money for 10 states to try it. This year, the program is being expanded to 16 states. Virginia is receiving $2.8 million for the program.
The Portsmouth teens said the regimented lifestyle, money and extra education could help them get themselves together. And they like the idea of getting away from the neighborhood, if only for a while.
``It sounds good,'' said Robert Ford, 17. ``I need some help. I can't be a dummy standing on the street all the time.''
Eighteen-year-old Laticia Holland, who quit night school when she heard about the Challenge Program, had a few reservations. ``I've never been in no military camp. I'm scared they're going to be hard on me,'' she said. ``But in those GED classes they just throw you a book. I think maybe if I have discipline. then I'll do what I'm supposed to do.''
Lamont Booker said: ``If I stayed around here for another five months, I'd end up being in jail somewhere.''
For one year, community-based adult mentors will help students who complete the program set goals and spend their stipends wisely. Epps, well-known around Swanson Homes and across the city, is one of the mentors.
In a time when many parents, school officials and neighborhood residents throw up their hands when it comes to the most troubled teens, Epps, 39, hugs more, talks longer and prays harder. She says the Lord compels her to reach out to youths who've lost their way.
When she read a newspaper article about the program's low enrollment, she made photocopies of it and immediately started spreading the news about something that could keep kids off the corners. Some of the youths already had plans to join other programs, but this one seemed more promising, they said.
``This day and time, people give up too easy on these children,'' Epps said. ``This is my neighborhood. People say, `I'm going to move out of the projects and move into a better neighborhood.' I didn't say that. I said I was going to stay here and make this a better neighborhood.
``All you have to do is show these children love. They're crying out for love. You cannot give up on them.''
Epps has been there. She and her daughter, now 21, clashed often during the girl's teenage years, Epps said. Her 19-year-old son is in jail on felony charges. Sometimes, even love and firm guidance don't seem to be enough. But Epps never stops trying.
She anticipates that at least two of the 11 students will change their minds about the program.
But that's OK. She has some fliers advertising a ``pre-apprenticeship program'' with the Tidewater Builders Association. The application deadline is in December. Epps is already gearing up for another mission. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN, Staff
Dorita Epps, center, leaves a clothing shop in Norfolk. With her are
Glenette Godley, 17, right, and 23-month-old Shatia Rodgers, holding
Epps' hand. On Friday, Epps took teenagers - from Swanson Homes and
nearby projects - to stores she persuaded to donate clothing or
other items.
KEYWORDS: DROPOUTS ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL TEENAGERS by CNB