Operation Graduate Aims to Close Achievement Gap

It all started with Da Hood Gone Wild.

The video series depicted life in North Greenwood from the point of view of young black males who lived there.

Guns. Violence. Degradation of women.

It shocked many in the community.

So, church and city leaders got together and through the course of monthly meetings developed a plan to give options and opportunity to a seemingly hopeless youth.

That is how Mayor Frank Hibbard said Operation Graduate came to be.

“By seeing some of the activity (in the Hood Gone Wild video),” Hibbard said. “There was not enough hope.”

The program targets at-risk high school juniors in good academic standing and juveniles between the ages of 15 to 18 who are on probation.

There are 40 students participating in the pilot program this summer.

A kick-off ceremony for Operation Graduate featured some of the students and the groups partnering to make the program at the North Greenwood Police Substation Thursday.

Janessa Dennis is one of the students in this pilot program. She lives just down the road from the substation on Madison Street.

“It’s a great opportunity to get involved in college early,” she said. She takes honors classes at Palm Harbor University. Dennis said she is interested in studying theology and computer science.

When she completes the summer course that focuses on writing resumes, creating career portfolios and fine-tuning life and work skills including how to go into a job interview, she will have three college credits.

Students also will have the chance to get a part-time job for the summer. They get a summer bus pass to make sure they have a way to and from class, as well as to city recreation facilities.

Police Chief Anthony Holloway called it a great day in North Greenwood.

“The program is not about being soft on crime,” he said. "It’s about getting kids off the streets."

But the violence did not stop with the Hood Gone Wild videos. Just this year, several gun battles have taken lives in North Greenwood, just blocks away from where speakers stood.

Holloway in the community after two April shooting incidents within five days left two men dead.

Police said Bryan Caldwell is the suspect involved in shooting William John Hamilton and Derrick Kelly Harris at La Salle Street and North Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue on April 3.

Caldwell, 22, is wanted for two counts of second degree murder and for being a felon in possession of a handgun. He is considered armed and dangerous and still not caught, according to police.

More gun violence left another man seriously wounded days later.

Studies and statistics indicate a direct correlation to graduation rates and crime rates. Hibbard also talked about unemployment numbers for high school, college and other higher education degree holders. The less education the higher the unemployment rate.

“You cannot argue that having an education is valuable,” Hibbard said.

Part of Operation Graduate is not just about getting college credit, but completing high school. A group of 20 students will attend online classes at the North Greenwood Police Substation as part of probation.

This lets them make up high school credits online and close to home — so there is no excuse for not making it to class, officials said.

Bill Lawrence, associate superintendent for Pinellas County Schools, sees the program as an opportunity to close the achievement gap.

“The goal is to increase graduation rates especially in young black males and females,” Lawrence said. “This is a great opportunity to bring the classroom to the students.”

The classroom is a giant briefcase filled with eight laptops, headphones and a printer. The four units cost about $20,000 said Diana Lenox, director of the dropout prevention program for Pinellas County Schools.The course credit recovery program started earlier this year.

It is available at Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Largo, Union Academy Family Center in Tarpon Springs.

The program started in January with 32 students and is wrapping up with 42 at the various locations.

The summer pilot program is a partnership with the police, United Way of Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg College and Pinellas County Schools.

Dennis is excited to start her college experience.

"It's a chance to expand possibilities and to be greater."