Futures Academy

Futures Academy's vision was to:

Empower each other to realize our potential, pursue our passions and positively impact our communities.

In 2009, Aurora Public Schools (APS) realized it needed a program for young people, who were overage and under credit, who had left high school a way to complete their education. APS knew that the only chance they had to reengage these young people was to offer them something more than credit recovery at their home high school or on-line school. APS contracted CYC to create an alternative option for these young people.

Futures Academy developed out of CYC's Re-engagement program. CYC staff members in the city of Aurora area realized they were dealing with such a large enough number of young people they could start a new school. Futures Academy was born.

Futures Academy was developed to serve young adults ages 17 to 21 who had too few credits to receive a traditional high school diploma but still were interested in furthering their education. The founding team knew that Futures Academy needed to be more than another alternative school similar to the traditional school environment just housed in a smaller location.

Some things had to change such as the same old attendance requirements, long hour of computer based credit recovery work, lack of adequate support, student's feelings of incompetence and failure, for example, “ I can't do this” or “ It's not for me.”

The founding team understood these young people were required to try and fit themselves into school structures not designed for them. They are often non-linear and inconsistent in their process due to a myriad of factors including economic, marginalization, mental health, trauma issues, and attachment issues.

To bring about our vision we employed restorative practices.

It was not just a set of things we did as an alternative to punishment.

It was part of the DNA of the Futures Academy. It was about

recognizing our shared humanity. It was about both our individual

and collective well-being as a community. It was also about proactively

building relationships so that we could respond to others in a way that

strengthens and empowers rather than tearing down, marginalizing or

isolating. The aggregate is kindness, respect and accountability.

Futures Academy combined a competency-based approach to teaching and learning with targeted case management to help students overcome barriers to academic and personal success in a safe and supportive learning community that respects and values the strengths and experiences of each student.

Futures Academy was a school dedicated to not only helping young people obtain a GED certificate but also encouraging and assisting them in entering post-secondary educational activities. Through a partnership with CYC and APS, students were provided the resources, guidance, and targeted academic instruction that would allow them to leave Futures Academy with an associate degree from Aurora Community College, technical certificate(s) from Pickens Technical College, a GED certificate, or a combination of the three. Futures had also begun work developing an intern/apprenticeship program with business in which the student were to receives a wage while working part-time to be trained in the industry and continue their educational process.

The encouragement was, until the person turned 21 years-old and as long as they remained enrolled at Futures Academy, there was no cost to them and assistance would be given until they succeeded.

Over the eleven years, we had worked to create a truly alternative program. Understanding the students we worked with was at the heart of the philosophy at Futures. Our students had been at the center of what we had created. We worked from the point of view “what is best for our students.”

We kept a keen eye on understanding the needs and characteristics of the population of young people who we served. We evolved and refined our programs and environment as we better understood their needs and characteristics.

We believed that if our programs and surroundings aligned with their needs and characteristics growth could be optimal. We had created what our students never had, a place designed for them. We believed we were going in the right direction because many of our students express that they had a sense of community and belonging at Futures. They seem to understand Futures was made for them.

It was a place where all the structures work for them instead of against them.

We began by describing these young people with the familiar terms like “drop-outs” or “discouraged learners.” The list of negative traits and characteristics we observed and sought to over come was sizable. Our first list included items such as low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, helplessness, distrust of adults, lack of self-trust, short term gratification, unstable home life, feelings of incompetency, worthlessness, powerlessness, mistrust of institutions, not belonging and fear.

It became more and more obvious to us that if we were to be able to successfully educate these young people we needed to better understand the social and mental health issues that inhibited their progress. This again became a substantial list including poverty, marginalization, parenting, abuse, suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, distorted beliefs, self-actualization, developing personality and attachment.

Over time, it became clear to us providing an educational process was only one part of the issue.

The other part of the process was helping these young people overcome their negative beliefs and develop a sense of safety and self confidence so they could have a better chance at being successful.

It was our conscious decision as Futures Academy staff to attempt to identify, analyze, understand and confront the issues (traits, maladaptive beliefs, manipulative developing schema and rigid personality characteristics) with which these young people were coping.

Part of this presentation is an effort to describe, as we understood them, the negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that have hampered or prevented these young people from succeeding. We believed by identifying and describing the negative issues so they had a texture, we could better understand what needed to be done and how to effectively confront them.

Understanding what we were up against helped give our attempted solutions a context. We had described the negative traits, beliefs and characteristics we were presented and the positive ideas to create conflict.

We did not believe our efforts would turn an “insecurely attached student” into a “securely attached student.” Our effort was to help them see something different and help them move in a more positive direction. The program was not intended as a solution but more of a process to enhance the possibilities of a positive outcome.

Parents are usually a child's caregivers for better or worse by extension schools and teachers are also a child's caregivers for better or worse. A child learns mostly by example. The child learns from attitudes and behaviors of the caregivers. Humanistic qualities such as

caring,

love,

worthiness,

vulnerability,

compassion,

empathy

are learned from caring and competent caregivers who are available and in-tune with the child.

The structure and function of the mind and how we mentally construct reality is directly influenced by interpersonal experiences.1 The Futures Academy and it's members by providing a secure base for it's wounded or traumatized students was directly influencing the interpersonal experience in positive ways.

We agreed that the student was displaying vulnerability by walking though the door. We listened and were compassionate and displayed empathy and we offered them a path to travel. Perhaps, it is We who must continue to develop the abilities of caring and competent caregivers who are present and available who can effect change by our examples.

I often asked students I was working with why they continued coming to Futures Academy. The overwhelming majority responded "Because they care."

The following is an excerpt from a poem written by Ilam, a

student, for an annual May graduating celebration.

“.... Eye don't even like to call it Futures Academy because yes it's academic but it's more of a futures family.

You know that feeling, it's irreplaceable.

Those people you may have seen as just students, friends or even enemies turn into brothers or sisters ….

Those people we label as teachers or staff turn into aunties and uncles ….

Yea! You can call it a coincidence or whatever but I am calling it like it is.

We have a principal by the name of Joy and it's far more than her name it's what she represents day in and out. A coincidence No it's the eye seeing and being a bigger part of your future than you can fathom....”

Postscript:

After 11 years of Futures Academy developing hundreds of so called “drops outs” into incited educated participants of society, March of 2020 Futures Academy was canceled not by the pandemic but by one person in the Aurora Public School system. A replacement person who moved into a position of power over school programs, who without a visiting Futures or reviewing the program, refused to renew the annual contract. It was not clear why the Futures program was terminated other than the standby explanation “to save money.” Gone was a powerful trans-formative program developed over the years. This ended the concurrent education with trade and academic colleges for this type of student. Fifteen dedicated people became unemployed and many of the nearly 300 student fell by the wayside. Most likely lost and forgotten.

Reference

1. Van der Kolk, B. (2005) The Body Keeps the Score. New York: Viking Penguin.

*The next presentation is "Children Don’t Outgrow Attachment Troubles"

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