A goal of the program is to build a partnership with families. Relocating youth to learning communities in family-like homes is part of the process. Here, our scholars live with other equally motivated youth under supervision through their middle and high school education completion. Working to include the partnership with our scholars' families is a key indicator of success.
"Delightful. Simply delightful." These are the first words that come to mind when I reflect on my brief time with Hannah last week. She's a seventeen year old junior at Kirkwood High School with a 3.8 cumulative GPA. I asked her about what she's benefited from in her 3 and 1/2 years at BHGH. With a quick smile, she described how she came to live in the Girls' House. "I thought I was applying for the other program, Hope Prep." Hannah's application to BHGH came through our community-based program in Ferguson-Florissant at McCluer South Berkeley. She was a pilot year applicant.
Reflecting on the question further, Hannah described how being in BHGH has given her a competitive peer group. Before the program, Hannah says, "I thought that I would become a police officer and I could do that just by going to the police academy, so I hadn't thought about going to college."
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Hannah (left) has a close relationship with her mom (right), who has supported her participation and placement in Girls Hope.
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She's found an academic competitiveness and rigor that pushes her to be successful. Hannah will take German and French this semester hoping to round off her exposure to multiple languages, including 3 years in Spanish. Hannah remains interested in criminal justice; she'll graduate from Kirkwood High School in 2017 with Truman University as her first choice and the University of London, as the alternate. She loves science and history. She's going to travel the world. She's going to live a life impacted by the BHGH mission.
Through BHGH partnerships with public and private school districts, scholars are matched with an academically appropriate school. Kirkwood Public Schools has been a longtime partner to the program, in addition to several private schools where scholars have enrolled: St. Joseph's Academy, Chaminade, DeSmet, Vianney, Nerinx, Ursaline, John F. Kennedy, Loyola Academy and Incarnate Word, among recently enrolled Scholars.
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Hannah is pictured in the upper left. The friends created their own costumes, including hair and makeup.
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She's a character, too! Hannah told me about a time when she and a friend were able to get discounted tickets to an Anime event by wearing "Cosplay". She says they've been hooked since. Home Visit weekends are especially fun, Hannah says, because she can visit with former classmates still living in her neighborhood. For Hannah, BHGH has provided an extended community. During Home Visits Hannah spends a lot of time with her mother. Hannah feels very much a part of her home life and is a model student and scholar in our Girls' House. "I found out that I'm competitive", she says with a smirk.
She credits BHGH with providing the environment most conducive to helping reach her educational goals.
