Sue Sehgal hopes that, with each step she takes on Saturday, she will be moving closer to keeping at-risk students in school.
Her message is simple: If you stay in school, you have a better chance to be successful in life.
“We hope they will believe in themselves and have confidence,” said Sehgal, founder and president of the campus Community Partnership Foundation in Roswell, which is organizing the second annual Carolyn Young Mentor Walk. The walk will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Agnes Scott College.
The money will be used for the program, including meals, activities and T-shirts.
The event brings together college students and Atlanta Public School students.
Georgia schools are struggling with the high school dropout rate and their graduation rate is one of the lowest in the nation.
According to a recent analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia’s graduation rate for the Class of 2011 was 67.4 percent, one of the nation’s lowest.
That comes as no surprise to Carolyn McClain Young, for whom the walk is named. Young taught in the Atlanta Public School system for three decades.
“We thought we would introduce young people to college life,” said Young, the wife of former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young. ” (The walk) encourages college students to be service oriented and to think about projects they would like to do.
It also makes high school students come to see college as a wonderful place,” she said.
Young said the payoff will be long term.
One former mentor now wants to be a teacher. And an unknown number of younger students have stayed in school.
“A lot of times we lose them in the 9th and 10th grades,” she said. “If they make it to their junior year, often they graduate.”
Agnes Scott President Elizabeth Kiss said participation in the program is a way for students to “take what they’re learning and apply it to help solve community problems. It really fits with who we are as a college.”
Mentors will come from Agnes Scott, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University and Spelman College.
Particpants are asked to arrive early for check-in, warm-up exercises and breakfast.
If you go:
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cost: $30 for adults. All elementary, middle and high schools students are free. Free for Agnes Scott students; all other college students are $15.
Agnes Scott College
141 East College Ave.
Decatur, Ga.
www.mentorwalk.org
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