Catherine Duvall

ESSAY: CATHERINE DUVALL

TIME TO RISE

What exactly does it mean to be an at-risk youth? These are children who experience obstacles on their path to adulthood and may not be successful because of particular challenges in their lives (Smith). The success discussed here is not purely academic. It is the child’s ability to be victorious in the labor force as well as becoming financially independent, and most importantly, staying out of illegal activities. There are a multitude of factors that cause a child to be placed in the “at-risk” category. These factors can include: lack of parental guidance, academic disorders, drug availability, poverty, hunger, and child abuse. The most significant and most common determinant is poverty. According to the Children’s Defense Fund, more than 10 million kids were living in poverty in 2019, and that number has only continued to rise. The pressing statistic is that 71% of children in poverty are children of color. I am not one of 10 million, and I am not in the 71%. Growing up, I have rarely had to go without anything that I needed. At age three, I was placed in preschool and began kindergarten at six years old. For the past 13 years, I have attended a predominantly white private school. The privilege that I am exposed to each day is incredible. My school offers both breakfast and lunch to its students, and some kids even stay on campus past dinnertime. I could not be more grateful for the education that I have received, and I have recently realized how insanely lucky I am to be able to attend Ensworth. Bill Weaver and David Whitfield founded Time to Rise with the goal of giving at-risk children around Nashville access to the education that I receive year-round. During the critical years of ages nine through twelve, childhood education is vital to the development of at-risk youth because it can either set them on a path for success or lead them astray.

In 1992, Time to Rise was founded by a passionate man, Mr. Weaver, who dreamed of creating an educational nonprofit organization to assist at-risk youth. With a reputation of having civic excellence, Time to Rise gives students an opportunity to increase their chances of success. By stressing the importance of both character development and educational excellence, Time to Rise has helped thousands of underprivileged children avoid the risk factors that they’re exposed to at home. Each summer, Time to Rise hosts three consecutive summer camps that offer enrichment opportunities for the kids, including learning about school and character development. Every student who attends the camp comes highly recommended by their teachers. These kids are yearning to learn, motivated to better themselves, and are all around passionate about life itself. They come with an abundant amount of potential and the ultimate goal of Time to Rise is to help them reach it. As both a counselor and a teacher for Time to Rise, the one-on-one support given to the students is vital. With an approximate 1:4 staff-student ratio, the students have continuous exposure with teachers and counselors who are experts in their fields (Time to Rise). While academic excellence is a top priority of Time to Rise, it is also essential to teach the children

the value of being a good citizen. Placing value on being a good citizen surrounds their behavior with one another, their treatment of adults, and the their understanding of the importance of both respect and discipline. Sports, games, and activities are incorporated into the curriculum each day to reward the kids for doing well. By having high school students serve as counselors, the kids are able to connect with positive role models that they aren’t forced to view as adults. Each morning, students take four classes in the main academic categories: math, science, reading, and writing. They learn to master multiplication, independent thought, and reasoning as they are faced with projects lasting the duration of the camp. They engage in activities such as sports and field trips following each morning. Part of their character development must be learned outside of the classroom and with their peers. Their good behavior and strong effort are rewarded with a graduation ceremony at the conclusion of camp, where each child receives a token of appreciation for their hard work.

While Time to Rise is a local nonprofit organization, they address a global issue. Childhood education is a struggle all around the world. Children who are in poverty, especially, lack the education opportunities that I am blessed with for a surplus of reasons. Lots of kids aren’t even able to get to school. Many students often arrive without having eaten breakfast and wearing dirty clothes. While these seem like small obstacles, they significantly affect a child’s ability to focus and learn in a healthy environment. The benefits to early childhood development are critical to their later years. Unfortunately, unlike America, no country in the developing world can brag of comprehensive programs that are able to reach all children. “A recent study found that the World Bank made only $2.1 billion of investments in early childhood development in the last ten years, [which is] equivalent to just a little over 3 percent of the overall portfolio of the human development network…” (Atinc, Gustafsson-Wright). Even though this may seem like a large sum of money to the naked eye, it does not reach far with the surplus of children needing education. Thankfully, the amount of investments given to the World Bank has vastly increased since the study was conducted. Even so, America’s assets and other countries’ investments are still insufficient. Another issue regarding childhood education is making sure that the education they’re receiving is of good quality. Over the last few decades, there has been an expansion around the world of schooling at both the primary and secondary levels. The World Bank states that “As that happened, the quality [of education] deteriorated. A typical quantity-quality tradeoff…Expansion must be accompanied with quality.” To fix this problem, the World Bank is working to possibly implement early childhood education into women’s employment, empowerment, and skills development in order to build a more qualified workforce while still expanding access to both education and childcare (Devercelli, Saaverda). A major downfall to this program is that the children cannot be educated if they aren’t supported. With millions of children living in poverty and fragile settings, schools must include more than just learning. When school can be a haven for children, they are much more likely to attend regularly. For example, Whirlpool washers and dryers has launched a program that gives laundry services to public schools worldwide. “More than 1,000 school representatives - from all 50 states and as far away as Saudi Arabia, Ireland, and South Africa - have reached out [to join the program]” (Tate). Showing up to school with dirty clothes is mortifying for these at-risk students. These school

administrations discreetly clean the children’s clothes while they’re in class. This is just one factor that allows for many at-risk students without stable homes, or even those who are homeless, to continue their education path in a positive setting.

While the world is working hard to better childhood education and implement more resources into it, an unforeseen obstacle came to light in 2019 - Covid. The virus completely shut down public schools. Even though every student was affected by this, some schools were able to continue their curriculum through the pandemic. Ensworth, for example, provides their students with personal laptops, allowing us to Zoom together, view assignments, and still take assessments. We could still interact with our teachers, and, while learning hit a few bumps in the road, we were able to continue the year. August through May of 2020-2021 was online for public schools all over the nation. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to attend school with a regular schedule for the duration of the year, but millions of students did not have the same opportunities.

When starting Time to Rise in the summer of 2021, I was stunned to see how behind the students were in their learning. Many of the rising fourth graders I was counseling did not even know basic multiplication. They struggled with reading, writing, and most importantly, peer communication. These kids had great hearts, but they lacked discipline and respect. They fought, argued, and yelled at each other incessantly. This camp was one of the first times they were out of the house in an authentic learning environment in over a year. They had forgotten how to communicate with each other positively, and it was clear that they had been at home for much too long. This summer proved to me that childhood education for at-risk youth is absolutely critical for these kids’ development as a person, both academically and in their character. To be able to focus, they needed one-on-one attention. They were so used to not having to do work that it took the counselors standing over their shoulders for them to write numbers down on the page. However, after the first two weeks, we started to see improvement. It took me counting on my fingers while Fatima practiced multiplication for it to click with her finally. When I pushed Danielle to tell me about her day, she was finally able to write down more thoughts in her personal journal. When I sat next to Brandon, he felt more confident and was able to read out loud with little to no problems. When I stood on the field with D’Marcus, Marcus, and Jaxon, they played football with better sportsmanship, and no tears were shed. With a little bit of tough love, the kids were able to dig deeper into their thoughts. Their personal writing improved, and they became more confident in reading aloud and raising their hands to ask questions. This proves how vital quality attention and love are to the kids and how well they can improve with a bit of push.

My experience with Time to Rise was one I will never forget. At-risk youth deserve the best education, and they need people in their lives who are willing to help them set out on the right path. I believe that the world sees this issue as a priority and is working hard to not only build schools in developing countries, but to place quality and loving teachers in them. Poverty is tremendous in America, and it’s hard to see and imagine how much these kids struggle when they go home each day. It is impossible to know whether or not their school lunch will be their only meal of the day or if their teacher is the person who cares most about them. I can’t fathom the fact

that some of the kids I counseled could be leaving camp to go back to broken homes. During the critical development years, children who are motivated and present strong potential need to be treated like they are the next generation of leaders. Time to Rise is just one of many national nonprofit organizations that see the extreme need to assist these young children in staying on the right path and reaching their full potential, even when they feel lost. I look forward to continuing on my own path to help with this global issue and hope that by helping a few kids during the summer, I can change their lives for the better.

Work cited

Atinc, Tamar Manuelyan, and Emily Gustafsson-Wright. “Early Childhood Development: The Promise, the Problem, and the Path Forward.” Brookings, Brookings Institution, 23 Nov. 2013, www. brookings.edu/articles/early-childhood-development-the-promise-the-problem-and-the-pathforward/. Devercelli, Amanda, and Jaime Saaverda. “The World Bank’s Unwavering Commitment to Early

Childhood Education.” World Bank Blogs, World Bank Group, 10 Apr. 2019, blogs.worldbank.org/ education/world-bank-s-unwavering-commitment-early-childhood-education. Tate, Allison Slater. Schools Find One Simple Answer to Attendance Problem: Washing Machines. Today, 31 Aug. 2018. Today, www.today.com/parents/schools-find-one-simple-answer-attendanceproblem-washing-machines-t101318. Accessed 23 Feb. 2022. Time to Rise. time2rise.org/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2022. “What Is At-Risk Youth? - Definition & Statistics.” Study.com, 15 July 2016, study.com/academy/lesson/ what-is-at-risk-youth-definition-statistics.html

TIME TO RISE

This past summer, I was selected to serve as a counselor for an organization called Time to Rise, founded by David Whitfield and Bill Weaver in 1992. The program is a Nashville-based nonprofit and allows at-risk youth to spend time during the summer achieving their potential and bettering themselves. The camp is for rising fourth through sixth graders from low-income families around Nashville. During the school year, teachers find children in their classroom who would benefit from extra attention and who would fit well in the camp’s environment. These children are kind-hearted and extremely motivated to learn. I was shocked that many of these eight and nine-year-olds did not know basic multiplication and had trouble reading. COVID-19 was at fault for many of these problems because their schools did not have the resources to provide students with online accessibility during the year. Not only were these children struggling academically, but socially as well. Being away from school for an entire year severely damaged their discipline and respect for others. These children have huge hearts, and it was hard to see them having so much trouble.

I want to continue contributing to this program and possibly see it occur more than once a year. Over the course of June, I got to know each kid in my group extremely well. They ran to me each morning after departing from the bus and would tell me how excited they were to see me. I felt loved and appreciated. One of the most important things about service to me is the feeling that I get when I help others. Knowing that these children looked forward to seeing my face, playing, and learning with me every day made me feel like I was really impacting their lives.

Towards the end of camp, in writing class with the beloved Jim Miller, the kids were asked to write a thank-you note to someone in their lives that deserved gratitude. It could be to their mom, grandmother, friend, or dog. Four children in my designated group, Fatima, Ayanna, Zarahia, and Dorian, all wrote their letters to me. They thanked me for helping them learn six times eight, showing them the rules of four square, and for being their friend. It was at that point that I knew that I was a positive role model in their lives and that they would never forget their time with me at Time to Rise. Even though it was a hard and frustrating few weeks, I wouldn’t have traded my experiences for the world. Kids need kindness, patience, and love. They didn’t need someone to hold their hand, but just to tell them that they were doing a good job.

Growing up with such privilege, I never understood how serious of an issue childhood education truly was. After seeing how the kids struggled after their year off of school, I knew that their lack of education was detrimental to both their character and their path in life. Time to Rise is an incredibly special organization, and I hope to, one day, start a similar organization of my own.