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'Magical' program ignored by schools

By Nafari Vanaski, GATEWAY NEWSPAPERS
Thursday, December 22, 2011

It's rare when a life-changing moment comes your way, with fanfare akin to red flags waving and horns blaring.

That's hard to ignore, but Pittsburgh Public Schools is doing so, somehow. (More on that momentarily.)

Usually, such moments sneak up and you miss them. That's how it was with Bill Strickland.

His moment was so benign that you couldn't have blamed him for bypassing it. Yet, if he had simply walked past Frank Ross' classroom, the lives of hundreds of teenagers would not have been the same.

Back when he was a student at Oliver High School on the North Side in the 1960s, Strickland spotted a teacher working at a potter's wheel.

"It was magical," he said. "I said, 'After class, I want you to teach me how to do it.' He said, 'Cool.' "

Ross encouraged Strickland to apply for college, despite his flagging grades. The University of Pittsburgh admitted him on probationary status, and he began working with public school students while there.

"I started hearing back that these kids were starting to show up to school more regularly," he said.

In 1968, Strickland started Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in a North Side rowhouse. Today, it calls a larger facility in Manchester home. The building also houses a vocational program, Bidwell Training Center. About 300 students attend the afterschool program offering arts classes.

Strickland touts a 90 percent graduation rate among students he took in -- some of whom went on to earn doctorate degrees, attend Harvard University and snag executive jobs at corporations such as PNC.

His work earned him a spot on a White House education panel and a grant from the MacArthur Foundation alongside physicist Stephen Hawking. So, maybe he knows what he's talking about?

Other cities -- San Francisco, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Grand Rapids, Mich. -- are following his model. Among cities considering it are Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, and Buffalo.

Notably absent from that list is Pittsburgh. Strickland works independently in the backyard of the school district that "boasts" a 70 percent graduation rate. The district's schools have a huge achievement gap between black and white students. On top of that, it struggles with an underfunded budget. The city's Creative and Performing Arts School, for example, might have to absorb a $550,000 cut in its budget, and seven schools are slated to close.

Strickland estimates that joining with the district would cost $250,000.

"That's it," he said. "I match the money."

He said he sat down with Superintendent Linda Lane to discuss working together, and he wants to make the partnership happen.

"I owe my life to the Pittsburgh Public Schools. And I'm prepared to do it, because I'm not going anywhere," he said.

The district is looking into the possibility, spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said.

"We don't know how or what, at this time, what that (partnership) would look like," she said.

To be fair, no one can see the future, but maybe joining with the program would give the district a better outlook than it now has.

In this case, opportunity is not just knocking -- it's blaring a horn, it's jumping up and down. Kids are falling through the gap, the public schools are ignoring a potential game-changer.

Nafari Vanaski is the editor of the Norwin Star and Advance Leader and can be reached at 412-856-7400 x8669 or via e-mail.

Read more: 'Magical' program ignored by schools - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/columns/vanaski/s_773155.html#ixzz1hNDFo32p

Read more: 'Magical' program ignored by schools - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/columns/vanaski/s_773155.html#ixzz1hND8RC5J

Read more: 'Magical' program ignored by schools - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/columns/vanaski/s_773155.html#ixzz1hND2RQ2p