by Mike Keeler
His house caught fire on New Year’s Eve. But he and his family got out OK. Then the fool ran back into the smoky blaze to retrieve his laptop. Why? Because it contained all his college applications that had to be mailed on January 1. He saved the computer, mailed in his applications, and got accepted into college. No big deal, really.
Compare his story to that of his classmate Alfonso Henderson. His house didn’t burn down, and he also got accepted into college. But not just one college, twenty-one colleges! And many of them offered Alfonso full-ride academic scholarships. (He’s still waiting to hear from the slacker admissions staffs at Harvard and Yale.)
But still, neither of these guys is exceptional. If you take a look at Cedric and Alfonso’s classmates, you’ll find that not just many, not just most, but ALL of them got accepted into 4-year colleges. The entire senior class, headed to the best schools in the country! And THERE is the exceptional part: all 104 members of the class are young African American men from some of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago. They all attend Urban Prep Academy, the nation’s first all-black, all-male public charter school. And this year, for the second year in a row, Urban Prep has sent 100% of its boys to 4-year colleges. Compare that to the Chicago average of only 54% of all public school students going on to college, and only 41% of black males graduating high school at all. And it becomes pretty clear this isn’t just exceptional, it’s miraculous.
This week the school held a celebration in which the seniors exchanged their all-red school ties for red-and-gold ties that they will wear until graduation. The ties were presented to them by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
But there was a more noteworthy attendee in the audience, a young man named Israel Wilson. He graduated from Urban Prep last year. He’s now a freshman at Morehouse. Dean’s List. 3.3 GPA. On his way to a great life.
He’s no big deal either. Just another everyday, ordinary, unexceptional miracle.
Also!!!1 I agree with my brother Cedric Hakeem. Growing up in Englewood with all the drama and animosity going on, that is a miracle and a very exceptional deed Urban Prep as a whole, including us, the students, have done. What Mr. Hakeem did, I bet no body else would have done it, so I applaud him for that. That was an exceptional act in itself. My thing is, just don’t try to justify exceptionality when you have no clue what it is!!!
Well sir, you obviously did not do much research on this topic. Cedric Hakeem (Me) is accepted into fourteen colleges before the assembly and that number has increased by three. Also, I applied to about twenty-five colleges; six of them being Harvard, Princeton, Wash U, Duke, Dartmouth, and Grinnell. I applied to many more prestigious institutions, but I don’t want to get in a debate on what college is better. I ran into my house to retrieve my laptop because I knew that my future is worth my life. If I did not get my laptop all of my college essays, and things I have pertaining to college would have burned. So you tell me if you grew up in an horrible neighborhood (Like me), had the world look down on your race while stereotyping you (Like me) and felt that this laptop with all of this imperative work on it is the key to your to success for your future is about to be burned with all the rest of your belongings; you would not have ran into the that house and retrieved that laptop. My school’s story was phenomenal! And I really appreciate you acknowledging that, but the next time you try to redefine exceptionality. (What it means to be truly exceptional) Get your facts straight.
p.s: My story is just one of many horrific ones at Urban Prep that results in a student persevering and going to college.