THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602120042
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
Sidereal. The word baffled Alvin Georges, who scratched his head as he pondered the question posed in the mock Scholastic Assessment Test.
Was the word related to stars in the same way ethereal is akin to planets? Or was the link more like that between horticultural and plants?
Finally, Georges, a 17-year-old senior from Chesapeake's Indian River High School, sighed and consulted his dictionary, something he couldn't do if he were taking the real test.
Georges needs to score at least 1,130 on the college entrance test to qualify for admission to Oral Roberts University, where he wants to major in theology. His grades are up to par, but he recently scored 970 on the real SAT. The results stunned him.
``I saw a whole bunch of stuff that didn't click and thought, `how is that possible when I learned everything in school?' ''
That's when he turned to Making A Difference for help.
The not-for-profit Virginia Beach foundation's 17 volunteer teachers work with students throughout Hampton Roads to give them a brighter future. Sometimes this means getting those SATs up where they should be, but in other cases, it means helping students bring up their grades.
Bob Bobulinski, executive director of Making A Difference, is an outspoken critic of public education in America. He cites statistics on the burgeoning population of high school dropouts and blames the nation's growing crime problem on the failure of public schools.
``If you don't teach a kid to read, history is awfully difficult,'' he says, adding, ``as they say, `it takes a whole village to raise a child.' ''
The project, now in its fourth year, began helping promising high school athletes whose chances for college scholarships were jeopardized by low SAT scores and, sometimes, low grades. The results were so striking that the effort was expanded to include others besides athletes, and this year about 200 students each week take advantage of the nightly and Saturday tutoring sessions at various sites in Hampton Roads.
Tutoring for the General Equivalency Diploma and Literacy Passport test also is offered.
Of the 4,600 students the foundation has worked with, more than 1,600 have gone on to college.
Terri Ricks, a young man who might not have had a chance at a college education without the help he received, is among the group's many success stories.
Ricks held the state football rushing record and led his high school to the 1993 state championship. But two years earlier, while a sophomore at Portsmouth's I.C. Norcom High School, he didn't realize how critical his grades and SAT scores were to his future. Mostly, he just thought about football. He dreamed of going to college, and banked on an athletic scholarship to take him there.
Ricks, the second-youngest of Bertha Ricks' eight children, grew up in public housing in a single-parent household. His mother used welfare benefits to raise her family.
Bertha Ricks held high hopes for her son, so when she found out that his SAT scores were low, she searched for help and was referred to Bobulinski by her son's coach.
Terri was determined and worked with Bobulinski each week. His SAT scores went up dramatically. He was rewarded with a full athletic scholarship to Hampton University, where he is now a sophomore.
``I said to myself, `Where's this person been all my life?' '' remembers Bertha Ricks, whose youngest son, Michael, also studied with Making A Difference. Michael started attending the foundation sessions several times a week while a junior at Norcom, and he is now a freshman at Norfolk State University.
Terri Ricks hopes to become an athletic director, he says, ``so I can help somebody else.'' Michael Ricks is pursuing a career in architectural drafting.
Making A Difference was started by Bobulinski and Matt McLean after Bobulinski successfully mentored and tutored Tony Griffin, an All-America wrestler from Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach. Griffin is now a senior at Penn State University on a full academic scholarship.
The organization plans to expand its program and hopes to win grants and secure contributions so that it can hire six or seven people to supervise after-school programs in local schools.
Participants, some starting in sixth grade, now pay $50 a year, though none is turned away for lack of money.
Georges and five other students were hitting the books and the mock SATs on a recent Tuesday evening at Kempsville High School. Answering questions and giving pointers were Bobulinski and volunteer Mike Mitchell.
Chassidy Moore, a senior at Norfolk's Maury High School, was brushing up on her geometry. Her last SAT score was 900, but she needs at least 950 for admission to North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University. She wants to be a pediatrician.
Princess Anne High School senior Donald Liburd, 17, is looking forward to a career in law and is banking on his musical talents to get into James Madison University or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has scored 1,000 on the SAT but wants to raise it 200 points.
``I was flying through the questions, so I was missing the little points,'' says Liburd. The honors English student has been coming to Making A Difference sessions for only a few weeks, but already thinks he will improve his score the next time.
Shaunna Johnson, a senior at Indian River, wants to bring her score of 1,090 up to 1,200 so she can get a full scholarship for college, and Darrell Jordan of Suffolk is working hard on his math. He's a senior at Atlantic Shores Christian School in Chesapeake and the top running back in the state's private-school league.
Across the room, Alvin Georges' right index finger moves slowly down the page. There it is. Sidereal. He reads, ``of, relating to, or expressed in relation to stars or constellations.''
Georges thinks he knows the answer. Sidereal is to stars as horticultural is to plants. Right?
Georges may not come across the word again in, well, a light year, but it's certain he won't ever forget what it means. MEMO: To volunteer, get help or make a contribution, call Bobulinski at
474-0392.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
CLEARING THE WAY TO COLLEGE
STEVE EARLEY photos
The Virginian-Pilot
Darrell ``D.J.'' Jordan, a senior at Atlantic Shores Christian
School, leaves Kempsville High after a night tutoring session.
Bob Bobulinski, director of Making A Difference, tutors Alvin
Georges, a senior from Indian River High.
HELPING HANDS
How it began: The project, now in its fourth year, began helping
promising high school athletes whose chances for college
scholarships were jeopardized by low SAT scores and, sometimes, low
grades.
Expansion: The results were so striking that the effort grew to
include others besides athletes, and this year about 200 students
each week take advantage of the nightly and Saturday tutoring
sessions at various sites in Hampton Roads.
Staffing: 17 volunteer teachers work with students throughout
Hampton Roads.
Results: Of the 4,600 students the foundation has worked with,
more than 1,600 have gone on to college.
by CNB