Antriel Palmer is a fresh-faced senior high school student who says he almost gave up on school.

“I can’t say I was on the dropout track, but I have slacked off a couple of times,” he said.

And every time he did, job specialist Sonya Allen or one of his teachers was on top of him, making sure he did his work, saying, “I believe in you. Why are you limiting yourself?”

“They’d give me that push I needed,” he said.

An honors student at Lake Marion High School on the advanced placement track, Palmer wants to earn an ROTC scholarship to attend Howard University or Morehouse College so he can major in biology or pharmacy.

With a desire to diversify his educational experience and try “different things,” Palmer enrolled in the Jobs for America’s Graduates-South Carolina, or JAG, program.

He has worked at Shoney’s in Santee since January as part of a work-study program and has become an award-winning public speaker who has blossomed into a charming leader among his peers.

Educators say programs like JAG are keeping students around the state in school and motivated.

Allen proudly describes Palmer as a shining star.

“We’re supposed to be there for the students, but the students are really here for us. It’s a joy to see them come from where they’ve been to where they are now. They just need that extra motivation,” said Allen, who will follow up on Palmer’s progress for a year following his graduation.

Palmer is now looking forward to coming back after graduation and serving as a motivational speaker for the program.

“I really do like this program. Some of the students didn’t have an A/B average and were on the verge of failing, but we all worked together. We all worked together so we could get on out the door and that’s what I want to continue to happen,” Palmer said.

n ‘A seamless transition’

“The JAG program started five years ago in South Carolina and focuses on both academic success and career readiness skills. During all four years of high school, students actually master 81 competencies that businesses put together to ensure that they’re ready to enter employment or post-secondary education. Each school has a full-time job specialist whose responsibility is to get kids beginning with the ninth grade to graduate,” said Dr. Peggy Torry, deputy secretary for workforce development at the state Department of Commerce.

Lake Marion High School and Calhoun County High School are among the 20 schools with a JAG program in the state.

“Throughout the program we’ve had a school retention rate of over 96 percent,” Torry said. There has also been a 46 percent reduction in absenteeism, a 25 percent reduction in suspensions and a 45 percent improvement in grade-point average scoring, she said.

The JAG-SC program was recently honored at a national conference in Atlanta, with Lake Marion High School job specialist Sonya Allen being recognized for having one of the JAG network’s highest retention rates of 100 percent. Calhoun County job specialist Geraldine Sackel was also recognized for a 100 percent graduate rate for the program.

Calhoun County senior Jessica Gillard said the school work was tough when she first started high school, but she is now firmly set on becoming a nurse.

As part of a dual enrollment program, she is taking core classes through Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College to help her on the route to earning an associate degree in nursing.

“Through JAG, it’s motivated me to go for what I like in a career. I wanted to be a nurse. It’s motivated me to do that. I believe if you put your mind to something, you can succeed at any cost. There are different opportunities for those that do go to school and get a good education, including opportunities they’ll have in the future, job-wise,” Gillard said.

Diarel Riley is an 18-year-old Benedict College freshman who also took advantage of the JAG program while at Lake Marion High School. He wants to become a teacher.

“It made me a better person. It taught me it was important to have goals, get a job and have a good career,” Riley said. “Dropping out of school never crossed my mind, but I didn’t give it my all either. JAG motivated me to do my best.”

Gloria Caldwell, director of the Tech Prep program at OCtech, said test preparation, credit and content recovery and college readiness intervention are among the keys to keeping students in school.

She said the college has a Lower Savannah Education and Business Alliance partnership on campus that provides coursework to help at-risk youth. The partnership is comprised of 10 school districts, four postsecondary institutions and businesses, industries and service organizations.

“We customize various courses that will meet the needs of those students who need additional time or skill engagement to master a concept. The second component of what we do includes providing courses for credit or content recovery,” Caldwell said. Students are able to earn units they may have missed during the regular school year, but are required for them to graduate.

“We also have what we call a College Readiness Intervention Plan for districts who are interested. We assist schools in what they are already doing to identify students not on track to being college-ready and prescribe appropriate interventions,” she said.

“Sometimes students drop out not because they just can’t seem to grasp concepts, but they don’t have an interest in some of the school subjects or the way the instruction is being delivered. What are the student’s needs before they get to college? How can we remediate or have intervention strategies to keep students in school? That’s the most important thing,” said Caldwell.

Caldwell said, “We’re trying to create a seamless transition, but we can’t do anything unless we first get students to graduate from high school.”

n ‘Not just offering one track’

Denmark-Olar High School Principal David Yates said his school is implementing a program to help students earn credits they might have missed and identify students at risk of dropping out.

“We’re going to be locating and identifying students and parents and doing everything we can to get those students back in school and understand their strengths, needs and the demographics of their community,” Yates said. But he said parental involvement is also important.

Dr. Cynthia Cash-Greene, newly appointed superintendent of Orangeburg Consolidated School District 3, said while she is still assessing what to do about the district’s dropout rate, attacking literacy issues will be top on her agenda.

“Most kids drop out of school because there’s a gap in terms of their performance ... and so they find school difficult. They then find the next step is just to find work,” Cash-Greene said.

Calhoun County High School Principal Charlene Johnson said remediation is key to keeping students engaged and motivated. She said several programs are in place to help reduce dropouts.

“One very major thing is dedicated teachers. We have teachers that arrive early to work with students before school starts and those that work late and stay after school has let out. The after-hours school program has been a big help,” Johnson said.

Calhoun County School District Superintendent Ken Westbury said, “We’re not just offering one track anymore. Years ago, if you weren’t a college prep student or a general student, we didn’t have much for you.

“There are tons of vocational positions now and we offer things useful to students. Sometimes students will be able to get a job and may financially need to drop out. Some go on to adult education and get a diploma later on, or some go an additional year in high school.”

Bamberg County School District 1 Superintendent Phyllis Schwarting said her district is trying out several programs to address the dropout problem.

“There still needs to be a clearer definition of what a true dropout is, and we do have those kids. I’m not trying to sugarcoat and say we don’t have them, but there should be a more accurate way to reflect the true picture. I’m not sure how other states reflect this information,” Schwarting said.

“That is one of the issues that is before Congress and the new administration: changing the dropout calculation,” said state Rep. Jerry Govan, Orangeburg County’s attendance supervisor.

“We need to be consistent in terms of how we calculate dropouts. However, I think that there should be more consideration and credit for students who receive their high school credentials through a GED program. The bottom line is some students leave school for different reasons and that’s not necessarily because they’re a poor student,” Govan said.

Along with a parenting program and credit recovery programs, Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 is home to a Truancy Advocacy Program which is funded by a $125,000 grant Govan secured for the district. The program seeks to address how effective targeting three risk factors will be in reducing dropout rates.

“There are three things we want to look at closely: discipline referrals, attendance and, of course, grades in terms of academic performance,” he said. “We are beginning to see and are trying to document and verify that discipline, grades and attendance are key risk factors for truancy, dropouts and academic failure.

“We’re working with the Nelson C. Nix Center of Excellence, which also has a program that is somewhat related. It’s dealing with middle school students who are one to two grade levels behind and trying to prepare them to succeed as they transition to high school.”

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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