Former Jonesboro High School student Joshua Penny changed his major at Yale University and will spend the summer teaching inner-city students.
His classmate, Genetta Reeves, tutors middle school students in Washington, D.C.
Both are still on their paths to law and medical school since leaving the Clayton County school system two years ago, but are considering working with teens, too. The one reason they cite: the accreditation loss at their high school alma mater.
“Education in big cities is a major problem. Accreditation made me open my eyes to how school systems work and the politics behind this,” Penny said. “The things we learn in class make me think of the accreditation stuff, and I don’t want anyone to ever have to go through that.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution followed Reeves, Penny and Penny’s twin brother, Kaleb, through their junior and senior years in Clayton as they struggled with the accreditation loss. The college sophomores now worry about their siblings who are still in school in Clayton facing the same challenge.
Reeves talked about the accreditation loss in her speech as Jonesboro High’s valedictorian of the Class of 2009. She was awarded a full scholarship to Howard University, where she studies math. She plans to be an ophthalmologist and start a nonprofit for kids. Her twin siblings are sophomores at Jonesboro High.
“Day after day, it’s something I worry about, with still having two still there,” said her mother, Vernetta Reeves. “But ultimately, I think it really made Genetta a stronger person because it taught her to fight for what she wants and believes in.”
While Genetta Reeves graduated from Jonesboro, her friends Joshua and Kaleb Penny transferred to a private school that allowed them to join a dual-enrollment program at Clayton State University.
The twins call home from Yale and Clayton State and always ask about their brother, Kyle, who remained in Clayton schools and is now a freshman at Jonesboro High.
“We do keep the situation on our mind, but we just keep moving forward. To worry would be a disruption and a burden on Kyle and we don’t want that for him,” Monika Penny, their mother, said. “There definitely wouldn’t be the same panic as with the twins because we have been through it once, and we learned that there are options.”
Joshua Penny said he doesn’t want his brother to ever have to fight for his education like he did.
“It’s sad because it’s negligence on the part of administrators, because it just hurts the students,” he said.
About the Author
