In order to witness a prime example of the inevitable culture clash between the students and academics, Johns Hopkins University and the general populace of the city of Baltimore -- something that makes Hopkins truly one of a kind -- one need not look any farther than North Charles Street.
An incontrovertibly prestigious university, Hopkins is situated in the midst of low-income housing, families surviving on minimum wage, and other examples of abjection and indigence.
While many approaches can and have been taken to address this undesirable area of the city, one student organization has taken initiative at the root of the problem.
The Partnership for Student Achievement (PSA), founded in 1995, is a program designed to mentor inner-city children from the ages of 11 to 13 -- sadly enough, these students are all potential high school dropouts. The PSA asserts that the general rate for high-school dropouts in the Baltimore area reaches approximately 80 percent on average.
This is, of course, an outrageously high number and is responsible for the proliferation of a workforce that, for the most part, lacks a high-school education. The PSA has looked to combat the problem here -- working with students from nearby Hamilton Middle School -- at the point in a child's life where he or she still has an opportunity to choose another path.
"You cultivate a very strong relationship with the student you mentor," said Jennifer Fitch, a senior at Johns Hopkins and a member of the PSA program. "The girl I mentored is now a sophomore in high school and we still talk all the time."
Through the development of a close, one-on-one, student-to-mentor relationship in a series of several 90-minute meetings, mentors act as a truly integral big brother or sister. They listen to any problems or questions the children may have, talk with them about any issue they choose, and most importantly, provide children with the friendly guidance that they need.
It may be easy to reject the validity of this type of interaction with children of this age -- after all, how easy is it to get an adolescent child to open up to a stranger?
Not hard at all, said Fitch. She asserted that, over a period of time, the children slowly become very closely attached to their mentor, opening up to them and asking all types of important and pertinent questions, whether they concern college life or sexual education. She said that many of these children don't have a viable source of such information at home, often due to the unavoidable conditions of a single-parent home.
While the PSA has effectively provided this information to children in need, the organization isn't all about serious talks and mentoring. When the mentors are not speaking with their children, the remainder of the time together is spent on fun activities for the kids, making the process more enjoyable for all involved.
Such activities have included anything from pizza-making in the AMR kitchens to pumpkin painting on Halloween. Whether it's a serious talk or a fun activity, the PSA program has been quite effective in its goal "to inspire in others the desire to continue their own education."
While the PSA has done much to advance many of the problems with inner-city education, there is still much to be done. Many local public schools simply cannot and do not provide the required school personnel and facultative organization the PSA requires to conduct its work. It seems that, to some degree, students of the Baltimore public school system cannot be helped until the school system itself is given aid.
This is why the PSA always appreciates new volunteers looking to continue the work they began in 1995. Although the organization only recruits twice a year due to the continuity required of the mentor/child relationship, new members are always more than welcome. Students interested in participating can sign up this spring to mentor a Baltimore public school student and, just maybe, make a better future for a child in need.
