Monday, June 05, 2000
Students realize man's dream
College next for graduates
By
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE — Eight years ago, a wealthy Louisville entrepreneur struck a risky and expensive deal with a group of Jefferson County's neediest fourth-graders.
On Sunday, R. Gene Smith got some return on his investment.
In March 1992, Mr. Smith told 58 fourth-graders at Engelhard Elementary School, in one of the city's most impoverished neighborhoods, that he would pay every cent of their college expenses as long as they graduated from high school and were accepted into a college or technical school.
This weekend, many of those students celebrated their high-school graduations at a Louisville restaurant and toasted the luck and labor that won them full scholarships to the colleges of their choice.
And as usual, Mr. Smith picked up the tab. He gladly added it to the more than $2 million he has already spent on his young benefactors. Their diplomas will cost him $2 million more.
But Mr. Smith, who made his money through coal mining, videotape rentals and fast-food restaurants, has no regrets.
“Life's a hard place, man,” Mr. Smith said. “Some people can't overcome it.”
Mr. Smith had donated large sums to charity for years, but by 1992 he was eager to become more per sonally involved in his philanthropy. At lunch one day, a friend told Mr. Smith about Eugene Lang, the New York millionaire who made headlines in 1981 by pledging to send to college a class of needy students from his downtrodden alma mater.
Looking for fulfillment
Disturbed by the school's 75 percent dropout rate and inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King's most famous speech, Mr. Lang established the first “I Have A Dream Foundation” at Public School 121, an elementa ry school in East Harlem.
The concept inspired Mr. Smith and he flew east to meet Mr. Lang.
“I was looking for fulfillment, frankly,” Mr. Smith said, “and I saw that I could run this kind of program and be personally satisfied, which sounds selfish, I know. But I also saw it as a way to really make a difference.”
In 1992, Mr. Smith created his own foundation, called “"I Have A Dream' of Louisville.” With Mr. Smith shelling out an average of $280,000 a year, the Dreamers have enjoyed advantages unimaginable to their peers. He spent about $300,000 to turn an auto-parts store into a bright after-school center, bought first-rate computers and other educational equipment and hired tutors, chaperones and a pair of experienced teachers to run the show.
Graduation day
Eight years later, 34 of the original 58 fourth-graders have finished high school or earned a General Educa tional Development certificate. That's a graduation rate of 59 percent, which is 23 points higher than the class that preceded them.
Of the 34, 29 are set to pursue post-secondary degrees, a matriculation rate of 50 percent, which is three times higher than that of the preceding class.
The program did not reach all of the children. The other 24 children have yet to graduate from high school. Some dropped out, others flunked out. Some moved away. More than a few joined gangs.
“It breaks my heart,” said Marilyn Foulke, the program's executive director. “They could have really succeeded.”
But Sunday's banquet at Jack Fry's Restaurant was an occasion for those who did succeed, and for those who at least built a foundation for future success.
“It's an extraordinary achievement,” said Engelhard principal Theresa Jensen. “These children have beaten tremendous odds.”
The students realize the gift they've been given.
“Mr. Smith gave us an unbe lievable opportunity,” said LeRon Simpson, who graduated early from Waggener Traditional High School and already attends Jefferson Community College. “Everybody dreams of becoming somebody, and everybody knows the best way to become somebody is to go to college.”
The toughest streets
Engelhard students came from some of the toughest streets in Louisville.
In 1992, 80 percent of the Dreamers lived in census tracts where the average household income was about $16,000 a year, less than half of the county median.
And as with any low-income urban area, poverty led to crime.
Adrian Smith, Engelhard's most outstanding student of 1992, was shot dead when he was a high school senior in 1998. In September 1992, shortly after the Dreamers started the fifth grade, an Engelhard teacher was stabbed to death in her classroom.
After his visit with Mr. Lang, Mr. Smith hired Ms. Foulke and told her to identify the poorest group of fourth-graders in Jeffer son County. Ms. Foulke found the perfect class at Engelhard, where Mr. Smith launched his mission.
The events of March 26, 1992, are burned into the Dreamers' collective memory. Their recollections are virtually identical.
“All I remember is that they made us get dressed up,” Latasha Bowling said, “and the teachers were all crying. We didn't know what was going on. I mean, we were in the fourth grade.”
Naturally, the Dreamers grew more appreciative with age.
“When I got into high school,” Jerome Trowell said, “it started to dawn on me that, hey, this sort of opportunity is very hard to come by.”
How they did it
Mr. Smith gave Ms. Foulke free rein from the start. She was assisted by two other full-time employees: Shirley Hall-Snyder, a former teacher who served as the foundation's liaison to the public schools; and Hugh Bowling, a jack-of-all-trades who gave the boys a vital male role model.
But Ms. Foulke knew the program would fail if it was merely an extension of the academic grind. Her staff strove to enlighten, entertain and, if necessary, intervene.
They took the Dreamers camping and taught them to swim and ride horses. They took them to fancy restaurants and plays. They took them on trips to towns and colleges all over the region.
More than teachers
Some issues were more pressing than education. When necessary, Ms. Foulke's staff took the Dreamers to see doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists and psychologists. They accompanied the Dreamers to court when the youngsters were involved in cases of abuse, neglect and truancy.
“We've been real advocates for them in many different ways,” Ms. Foulke said. “We've done some things that the parents couldn't do or didn't do.”
But the extra work has been worth it, she said.
“It is truly a miracle,” said Ms. Foulke, who left her job as head of the math department at the private Louisville Collegiate School because she, too, yearned to make a difference. “I can't tell you what a high-risk group this was.”
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