Dec. 15, 2009

Tayaunee Dewberry, executive director of Right Moves for Youth, explained her organization's mentoring efforts with about 2,000 youth in CMS schools. "I like to believe... that dropping out is indeed a process. Nobody wakes up in high school and says, 'I don't think I'm going back today.' They get up, in the third grade, and for some reason there is a circumstance or an issue that makes them kinda disengage, whether it's at home... or they're having a tough time with a teacher because of communication issues, which is really one of the things we see a lot. But kids tend to start disengaging early. And by the time they get to high school they're so out of wack that it's so easy to get up and say, 'Why am I doing this? It's not going to matter. Nothing's going to happen for me.' And they lose hope, so they just walk away from it." More information is at www.rightmovesforyouth.org.