Hope for the Future: Alaskan Community Works to Revive Native Languages

Cities save money and help kids by connecting them with diploma programs. In Washington, iGrad is helping students do just this – and seeing results.

In Oakland, black males are almost as likely to be killed as they are to graduate high school. One school is giving them special classes with black mentors to better address their emotional needs and keep them in school.

Young black males in Oakland are suspended more frequently and graduate high school at a much lower rate than their peers. A charter school specifically designed for African American boys focuses on providing them with role models to create a supportive environment, combat the effects of trauma, and push them to succeed.

A group in New York called Friends of the Children identifies high risk kids in the city and mentors them for 12 years helping them become emotionally stable and capable adults.

Child-mentoring programs around the United States have helped at-risk youth during crucial years of development. However, New York City's Friends of the Children has improved the model by placing at-risk youth with adult mentors for 12 years. The forged relationships between mentor and developing child have greatly reduced the probability of teenage pregnancy, incarceration, and school drop-outs, and is cost saving.

When immigrant children come to America, they are faced with culture shock, language barriers, and a system of education different from where their original country. Houston’s Las Americas Newcomer School is designed to ease the adjustment of immigrant and refugee children as they enter the American educational system. Las Americas offers competitive wages for teachers, teaching in several different languages, and preparation for the SAT as the school has the highest rate of minority participation.

Vacant positions exist in many employment sectors, including in education and in hospitals. ReServe is a program that joins retired professionals to part-time paid positions in non-profits to perform duties. A controversy has emerged that suggests these positions should be paid at a professional-rate salary.

Alleys in Seattle were once places of illicit, illegal, and unsanitary activity. The International Sustainability Institute in Seattle began organizing music and art events to bring in people, which, in turn, cleaned-up the crime and garbage. As an urban development strategy, adjacent vacant storefronts re-opened for business and beautification could be seen in new gardens.

When students misbehave in school, teachers struggle to decide the right kind of intervention, with school suspension a common outcome. However, research has shown that school suspensions can increase the likelihood of dropouts and incarcerations so that there is pressure to decrease the rate of suspensions. Restorative justice has become a favorable alternative because misbehaving students can participate in a number of supportive activities such as peer meditation or collaborative negotiation to build community, trust, and confidence.

AltSchools use a completely different education system - interconnecting technology and hands on experiments - to help students achieve a higher degree of learning. Students are grouped into small, personalized cohorts so they can be both mentors and mentees for their fellow peers, creating a collaborative learning space for all.