Lauren Gardner
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Durham Police officers working off-duty at the Center provide not only security but also serve as role models and mentors to our kids.  Officer Salmon has worked at the Emily K Center since we opened in 2006 and like all of our officers he has become an important part of our success.  He took a few minutes recently to talk about why his role at the Center is an important one.

Group 7

GIRIJA MAHAJAN, Educational Programming Specialist

While all our students make great strides at Emily K during the academic year, we also want to highlight the small victories that encourage us to keep working hard. Group 7 has lots of things to be proud of this week:

Yemni, “I had kinda a low grade in English last quarter. So this quarter I spent more time asking the teacher questions about stuff I didn’t understand, and practicing my vocabulary. I just got my progress report and I have an A in English!”

Rafael, “In my Social Studies class we were studying the history of Africa and on Monday we took the unit test. I got 19 out of 20 right!”

Angel, “I got my progress report a few days ago and it was really good. I am improving in my classes. I did much better in English because I pay attention in class more and am taking better notes.”

Claudia, “In my Social Studies class I have to blog. This week I caught up on all my blogging and wrote five posts. I got all of the points for the assignment.”

DeSean Wilson, Class of 2013

GIRIJA MAHAJAN, Educational Programming Specialist

A few weeks ago the NY Times featured an article on the short-term and long-term benefits for students enrolled in Early College High Schools (ECHS). According to the Early College High School Initiative, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, early college high schools are smaller schools designed so that students can earn both a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor’s degree. The article reported “that students who attend early college high schools have higher high school graduation rates, and are better prepared for high-skill careers because of their college preparatory curriculum.” A majority of the programs recruit students from low-income backgrounds as a means to bridging the gap between high school and college.

DeSean Wilson, Scholars to College participant, is a freshman at Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School (partnered with North Carolina Central University), which is one of 70 early college high school programs in the state. From a young age, Wilson has set high academic and careers goals for himself, and isn’t afraid of a challenge. It was this sentiment that motivated him as an 8th grader to apply to Josephine Dobbs Clement High School in Durham, North Carolina. He explained, “The academic coursework is not only advanced but rigorous. The first month we had to turn in a 1,000 word essay in English class and we were all really worried, but now that is pretty easy for me to do.”

Most early college programs are smaller than traditional public high schools, allowing for more student-faculty interaction and relationship-building. Last fall, Wilson was selected by the principal to represent their school at a leadership and ethics conference at the North Carolina School of Math and Science. He attended workshops on religion and current events, and networked with local high school students.

After graduating high school Wilson wants to pursue a career in either law or biomedical engineering. “I have always wanted to go to college. Being at JDC High School and participating in the Scholars to College program has encouraged me to do well in school and offered me the tools to achieve my goal of getting as many degrees as I can. I will be the first grandson in my family to graduate from college.” Wilson shared with a proud smile.