Achieving Their Dreams

by susan a. stibbe >> skyLoFt photography

Mary Jean Dehne believes in young people. She believes enough that she quit her job as a Fargo teacher to help at-risk students stay in school and achieve their dreams. Dehne is the founder and executive director of the Legacy Children’s Foundation, a non-profit developed to assist diverse teens in their quest to achieve a high school diploma. She is quick to point out that the foundation began with students and continues to be student-led. It started (around her kitchen table) with three of her former students saying, “we need to do something new to motivate kids.”

According to Dehne, approximately 100 students in Fargo drop out of school every year. She and the kids of the Legacy Children’s Foundation want to do everything they can to bring that number down. They have set up an expectation/reward system that keeps students motivated. The expectations are: maintaining a 2.00 GPA, committing an hour a week to service projects, being involved in a positive after-school activity, having a clear attendance record, and remaining drug free. If these expectations are met, rewards follow.

Each student who fulfills the expectations receives a paycheck every two weeks (1/2 goes into a custodial savings account awarded with their diploma) and the opportunity to travel on summer reward trips and develop career and leadership skills. Students also have access to a mentor—an area college student who will meet with them and help with their studies. Currently 33 students are enrolled in the program. Student eligibility is based on grade-point average, family income and personal difficulties that inhibit learning.

Regina Nyanfor, a Fargo North senior, first met Dehne as a sixth-grader at Ben Franklin Middle School. She now serves on the foundation’s board of directors. She was a project leader on the Madison School park improvement project that renovated the outdated and unsafe park in the neighborhood where many of the students live. This idea of giving back through community service is a vital component of the foundation’s mission. According to Nyanfor, each reward trip includes a service project. “We served dinner at the Southeast White House in Washington, D.C. to all the staff and interns,” said Nyanfor. Dehne added, “In the fifteen years they’ve been around, we are the first group that ever served them. The young people did everything from planning, shopping, cooking and hosting.”

These service projects are student-led with the young people setting up the meetings with community leaders and presenting the information. Nyanfor, a shy, soft-spoken young woman, has become a public speaker, something she never would have achieved without the opportunities the foundation has given her.

The Legacy Children’s Foundation board of directors consists of three high school students, one college student, one parent, and two community members. “The reason for the apostrophe in ‘children’s’ is because it is the kids’ foundation—they own it,” said Dehne. “We named it ‘Legacy’ in honor of my mother- and father-in-law, who were both educators, and my parents who cared deeply about educating young people. We want to imprint the values they taught us on to other children.”

The rewards trips always include a visit to a college or university. During Regina’s senior year, they toured the University of Minnesota. “Really big,” said Nyanfor, a former North Dakota state track winner, whose nickname is “Jamaica.” After graduation, she decided to stay a little closer to home. She will attend NDSU, where she will run track for the Bison.

She is the embodiment of the three tenants of the foundation; honesty, perseverance and faith. “When I say faith, I mean the first dictionary meaning,” explained Dehne. “A trust and confidence in yourself and others. That’s what we want to give to them—a strong sense of self-worth and confidence in their dreams. Every child needs to know that there is someone who cares about them, wants them to do well, believes in them and holds them responsible.”

Dehne, who receives no salary from the foundation, said, “I’ve been given abundant gifts; now it’s my turn to give back. We believe we pay our kindness forward.” Dehne and her husband, Jeff, have four children: Nathan, 26; Michelle, 23; Alyssa, 20; and Julia, 17.

The Legacy Children’s Foundation is hosting a progressive dinner and silent auction fundraiser on Monday, October 28 at First Lutheran Church in Fargo. The dinner includes ethnic food from Bosnia, Sudan, Haiti and Germany. The silent auction will feature a collection of handmade items created by the students and area artists. Tickets are $40.00 a person and available through the foundation. [AWM]

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