by Sharon Cohen

CHICAGO (AP)—For each boy, the new school offered an escape and a chance at a life that seemed beyond reach.

Krishaun Branch was getting Ds, smoking reefer a lot, skipping school twice a week. His mother was too busy working to know what he was doing. He liked to hang out in the streets; having relatives in gangs was his armor.

OVERCOME WITH EMOTION—Urban Prep High School senior Marlon Marshall, left, has his tears of joy wiped away by his mother, Vernita Lockett, after his graduation as a member of the first class of 107 male students in Chicago, June 12.

When a young man in suit and tie came to tell his eighth-grade class about a new high school on Chicago's South Side, Krishaun wanted no part of it — until he heard something tempting: Students would have laptops. Suddenly, he was on board.

Marlon Marshall was nonchalant about everything, school included. He did just enough to get by. His mother pushed him to go to college. Sometimes she'd yell at him and his brothers for their bad grades. Once she was so upset when she saw their report cards, she just sobbed.

In New York City, the Harlem Children’s Zone, a nonprofit organization, has been working to break the cycle of poverty one family at a time. With parenting workshops, a pre-school program, three public charter schools and child-oriented health programs, the organization has helped approximately 17,000 children.

Recently, President Barack Obama’s administration announced it would launch the 20 Promise Neighborhoods program, which hopes to replicate the success of the HCZ in poverty-stricken areas of other U.S. cities.

HOMEWOOD CHILDREN’S VILLAGE—John Wallace gives a presentation during the conference session “Refocus and Reform: Changing Direction in Urban Schools.”

However, for the past two years, John Wallace, Ph.D., a University of Pittsburgh professor, has led an effort to bring HCZ to Pittsburgh. On June 23, the plan moved one step closer to reality when the Pittsburgh Public School District Board voted to add support services to Westinghouse High School, a key component of the Homewood Children’s Village proposal.

In December when he agreed to serve as acting head of the Hill House Association, Victor Roque said he would follow up on initiatives outgoing president Evan Frazier had in place, while a replacement search was conducted.

The search ended June 10 when Roque was named new president and CEO.

SERVING THE COMMUNITY—That’s what new Hill House Association President and CEO Victor Roque says the agency will focus on. He was promoted by the board June 10.

“It comes at a good time for me” he said. “I’ve been retired a while, been on boards, and I found I like getting my hands on issues. And there are many issues and opportunities here in the Hill District.”

As for putting his stamp on the Hill House, Roque said his vision for the association isn’t that different from Frazier’s. The only real difference, he said, is now that he’s officially in charge he has to follow through on the initiatives they’ve been looking at.

Rich Carrington jokes that he must have angered someone to have been re-nominated to Pittsburgh’s Citizen Police Review Board when five of his fellow members were not.

“My job is to make sure citizens are represented when it comes to these issues, not the council, not the mayor, but the citizens who can’t speak for themselves,” he said. “My responsibility is to deal with cases as they come before me and be fair to the citizens and the police.”

OUTRAGE—Black Political Empowerment Project Director Tim Stevens questions the motives of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s replacing members of the Citizen Police Review Board at a June 22 meeting.

Carrington said criticizing the board because it has no disciplinary power is shortsighted.

“Have we accomplished much as a board? No, but we have fought every day,” he said. “We have subpoena power. We’ve made unprecedented strides. Sure the police don’t speak when we haul them in, and council tells us to shut up. But more authority isn’t gained three years from now without the work we’ve already done.”