Cherry Creek project luring students away from danger — with attention

AURORA | As concerns rose across the metro last year about a spike in youth violence, officials in the Cherry Creek School District brainstormed ways they could help students who were at-risk.

In partnership with a number of local organizations, the district organized a six-week summer program for youth who could be drawn to trouble with attendance, studying or even violence, dubbed the Summer Leadership Academy.

This summer, 41 new and returning students convened for the second year of the program, which ran for four weeks in June. Jasper Armstrong, a partner in Cherry Creek’s department of Equity, Culture and Community Engagement and the manager of the academy said that he believes the program has been successful in keeping students in school and out of trouble.

“I think we’re getting some receipts that the medicine is working in their lives,” he told the Sentinel.

Of the 25 participants from the first year, one was expelled and two were withdrawn for attendance issues, he said. Several others moved away from the district, but about 20 returned to participate in this year’s academy along with a new cohort of students.

The students who participated last year seemed extra engaged this year, he said, and worked to hold each other accountable.

“This summer was special because I think it went a little deeper,” he said.

The program worked to teach students life skills, and brought in different community groups including the Aurora NAACP, the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance and Make a Chess Move. As with last year, Compound of Compassion created a “safe zone” for students on Fridays that included games and a DJ. Students also worked on a collaborative art project that they presented at the end of the program.

Students who might benefit from the program were referred to Armstrong’s team from principals from across the district, and then invited to participate. Those who completed the program received a .5 credit in Social Studies and a .5 credit in English.

At the end of each academy, the students presented a capstone project where they discussed ways that the community could help support young people. They delivered the presentation to members of the Cherry Creek school board, local law enforcement leaders and other prominent community members.

“They issued a mighty challenge to us as an adult community,” Armstrong said of the presentation.

Some of the things students brought up this year included the need for more mental health resources, a desire for more activities and athletics that are affordable for students and the importance of being listened to by adults, he said.

After last year’s academy, Armstrong said students voiced a desire for more support during the school year to continue the work they began during the summer. The district worked to create a class at Overland and Smoky Hill High School for the students that ran for the second semester of the past school year.

The class gave students the opportunity to focus on credit recovery and communicate with teachers about their academic trajectory and attendance, and to focus on skills such as time management, communication, organization and goal-setting.

The class will continue again this school year, Armstrong said, though the district is still in process of determining what exactly it will look like.

He said he was grateful for how many people across the district came together to make the class and the academy work, including Superintendent Chris Smith and former Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Culture and Community Engagement Michael Giles, who left the district this month to become superintendent of Aurora Public Schools.

“I have an incredible amount of gratitude for the opportunity to hold space for (the students) in this way at what is really a critical time for youth in our city,” he said.

Armstrong was honored for his work in creating the academy earlier this year by the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors. He was nominated by Cherry Creek school board director Janice McDonald.

State Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, was one of the invitees to the capstone presentation, and spoke highly of the program.

Fields and her daughter, Maisha Fields, have both been heavily involved in local anti-violence initiatives.

“I think it’s a great approach and strategy to keep kids on a pathway that protects their well-being and keeps them out of situations that could be prone to violence,” she said.

It was clear that Armstrong and the rest of his team had been able to uplift the participants so they could see “their own potential and their promise,” she said.

She echoed statements from Armstrong and Smith about the importance of making sure the students knew that there were adults in their community who were invested in their success.

“When you’re dealing with kids at risk, you have to have people who care about them,” Fields said.