THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF THE MADISON TIMES WEEKLY NEWSPAPER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still beating the odds

By Marian Wright Edelman

At a Nov. 8 Children's Defense Fund (CDF) benefit, more than 60 former Beat the Odds® winners from around the country came together to share their inspiring accomplishments. The Beat the Odds® program, which was created in 1990 by the CDF with Black entertainment executives in Los Angeles, celebrates the positive potential of young people. Too often we hear about teen-agers getting into trouble; dropping out of school; becoming involved with drugs, crime, or gangs; or becoming parents too soon. But we rarely recognize the many young people who do well despite problems that stand in the way of even the smallest achievements, problems such as poverty, violence, homelessness, family breakup, or substance abuse.  

Every year, CDF works with local education advocates in communities across the country to select and honor students who demonstrate academic excellence and the strength and determination to beat the odds. At special awards ceremonies, we celebrate the remarkable lives of these young people and the families, friends, teachers, and counselors who helped them succeed. At CDF’s Beat the Odds® celebration, we in the audience got to meet an extraordinary group of inspiring young men and women.  

Roxana spent her early childhood in Mexico with her parents and younger brother, but she had to begin a new life in the United States with her aunt and grandmother after her parents' tragic deaths.  Despite the enormous loss and disruption in her life, she excels in school and is determined to be the first in her family to attend college.

Melissa's parents were addicted to drugs and alcohol, and she grew up in a chaotic environment affected by unemployment, domestic disputes, and poverty.  But today she maintains a 4.0 grade point average and is captain of her basketball team. She says she has learned that instead of repeating her parents' mistakes, she can break their cycle by making good choices.

Verenise dreams of working with young people who have been abused or neglected, because she knows what their lives are like. She ended up on the streets as a runaway after a childhood plagued by violence, neglect, and alcoholism. But she became part of a loving foster family and is now back in school, taking honors and advanced placement classes that can lead her to a career helping other youths turn their lives around the way she did.   

Fabricio has been in the foster-care system since he was 6 years old, but that hasn't held him back from ranking second in his class of 713 students, earning a 4.0 grade point average with a full course load of advanced placement classes, and representing his high school at the prestigious National Student Leadership Conference at Stanford University. He also volunteers at a local convalescent home twice a week and tutors other students.  

Luz had one of the most difficult life stories we had ever heard. She was a victim of family violence and neglect, and the murder of two siblings by their father forced Luz and her five remaining siblings into foster care. She resisted the separation of the family and turned her tragedy into determination to succeed and to keep the children intact as a family. Through six years in foster care, they have managed to remain together in the same household, despite attempts to have the two youngest, a set of twins, adopted out of the family. Still a lion protecting her cubs, she is contemplating college for the first time. We are determined to see that she goes.  

These five remarkable young people now join the ranks of more than 300 Beat the Odds®) alumni. They include college students and graduates, a Harvard Medical School graduate, a Princeton Ph.D., a Peace Corps volunteer, teachers, and other professionals committed to serving others. These outstanding young adults are a vivid reminder that every child has enormous potential and that tremendous obstacles can be overcome with hard work, personal determination, and a helping hand. They also remind us that we need to celebrate and support all the young people around us who are succeeding despite obstacles and making positive choices every day.

Marian Wright Edelman is president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund and its Action Council, whose Leave No Child Behind® commitment is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

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