Kimberly Mitchell didn鈥檛 fit the typical high school dropout profile.
A good student, she was in class every day, earning good grades and making the honor roll at Orr Academy, a Chicago high school on the city鈥檚 West Side.
But between the chaotic environment she said was prevalent at Orr鈥攁 long-struggling school that has been subjected to several turnaround efforts over the years鈥攁nd a spate of violence in her neighborhood that killed some of her friends, Mitchell slowly drifted away from school.
鈥淚t was just too negative for me,鈥� says Mitchell. 鈥淭wo of my friends were shot and killed in my last couple of months at Orr. I was depressed.鈥�
By the time Mitchell made up her mind to return to school in January 2012, she had lost a year.
Through a friend, she鈥檇 heard about CCA Academy, a small, alternative school for dropouts in the nearby North Lawndale community. But she was reluctant to enroll, assuming it must be a place where violent and disruptive students land when they get expelled or drop out.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a perception we have to fight all the time,鈥� says Myra Sampson, the principal and founder of the school. 鈥淪tudents like Kimberly are surprised when they walk in here and find a place that鈥檚 conducive to learning.鈥�
No longer skeptical, Mitchell says she had never had meaningful connections with teachers until she came to CCA Academy. 鈥淭hey know me here,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey ask me all the time what I need, what they can do to help.鈥�
Three students who dropped out of Chicago high schools found a path to graduation at a Youth Connection Charter School鈥攁 network of schools that specialize in serving recovered dropouts or students at high risk of not earning a diploma.
She caught up quickly on lost credits through CCA鈥檚 online credit-recovery program and has discovered a deep interest in environmental science.
鈥淚鈥檝e never learned in such a hands-on way before,鈥� she says of the school鈥檚 urban-ecology and aquaponics programs. In the past two years, the aquaponics program鈥攚hich involves raising fish and food in a symbiotic system鈥攈as become its most promising engagement tool.
鈥淚t鈥檚 totally opened my eyes to nature, to fish, and to plants, and to the whole idea of understanding and reducing my carbon footprint,鈥� Mitchell says.
Rosemarie Markopoulas, CCA鈥檚 science teacher, says students who show up with little interest in science quickly turn into some of the most devoted keepers of the fish tanks and the gardens.
鈥淭hey get so excited when the fish get pregnant,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are in here, every day, measuring the nutrients in the water, researching what they want to grow. It鈥檚 amazing to watch the transformation.鈥�
Nancy Zook, who teaches art at CCA Academy, has been intimately involved with the aquaponics program. She works with students to harvest the plants, extract essential oils from them to make soap, and design homemade stationery.
Read more about the Youth Connection Charter Schools that specialize in giving students second chances: Chicago Charter Network Specializes in Dropouts.
鈥淭o create something and nourish it really excites them,鈥� Zook says. 鈥淚t also gives them a much bigger idea of what鈥檚 possible for their lives. Too many of them can鈥檛 see beyond the neighborhoods they live in.鈥�
That鈥檚 what happened with Mitchell, who is set to graduate this month from CCA and now has her hopes set on becoming a lawyer. She has applied to two colleges: Northern Illinois University in Dekalb and DePaul University in Chicago.
