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Dist. 204 program helps 'black and brown girls' reach full potential

Last year at Still Middle School in Aurora, the at-risk list of kids with grade-point averages at 1.5 or below included "a lot" of African American and Latina girls, Assistant Principal VaLarie Humphrey said.

On this year's at-risk list, there are none.

Humphrey doesn't attribute the change completely to a mentoring program she created last year called The Skin I'm In, but she said it likely helped improve the academic performance of a group of students she describes as "black and brown girls."

And that's exactly its goal.

The Skin I'm In teaches girls to love themselves, prepare for their futures and realize that their skin has nothing to do with their potential for success, Humphrey said.

"When you say, 'It's the skin I'm in,' you're adjusting to that. You're understanding that, yes it's the skin you're in, but that shouldn't affect you in the classroom," she said.

The group was created after members of the Indian Prairie Unit District 204 parent diversity advisory council, such as Aurora parent Raquel Wilson, looked for ways to close the achievement gap between minority and white students.

At Still Middle School, for example, there is a 32 percentage-point difference between black and white students' performance on standardized reading tests, according to the Illinois state report card, and a 38 percentage-point difference in math performance. Forty-three percent of black students at the school met or exceeded standards in both reading and math, while 75 percent of white students met or exceeded in reading and 81 percent met or exceeded in math.

For Hispanic students at Still, the gaps between their performance and that of white students are 22 percentage points in reading and 20 percentage points in math.

"This group is a very courageous step to say 'What can we start with to close the achievement gap?'" Wilson said about The Skin I'm In.

The program has 135 participants from four middle schools in Indian Prairie Unit District 204, and the girls recently participated in a graduation of sorts.

Since fall, they've attended workshops about self-esteem, positive relationships and college-readiness.

They've heard from black women and Latinas who have shared stories of career success and inspiration.

"We want them to see someone who looks like them," Humphrey said.

Now the girls are ready to be held accountable for the knowledge they've gained by family, friends and the proverbial "village" that Humphrey says it takes to raise a child.

The Rite of Passage ceremony came earlier this month after The Skin I'm In participants formed bonds with each other and gained confidence, Wilson said, speaking from the experience of her daughter, Imani, an eighth-grader who has participated in The Skin I'm In both years.

"She likes being around the other young ladies and it's given that particular group of girls a voice," Wilson said. "It's really helped my daughter really showcase her leadership skills and be able to take some of those safe risks."

A risk can be as small as raising a hand to answer a question, but Humphrey said every little bit helps.

"If they learn to love themselves they'll perform better in the classroom and they'll care when they take the tests," Humphrey said. "The one thing you do see is when kids are in monitoring programs and they start liking the school, they perform better."

Humphrey is modeling The Skin I'm In after a mentoring nonprofit she started for young women called the True Eagle Beauty Foundation and also after Boys II Men, a fraternal organization for school-aged boys in Aurora.

Speakers and mentors give permission for the girls to "fit in," Humphrey said, telling the students they don't have to be friends only with others of their skin tone, but they can spend time with anyone.

"It gave them the stamp of approval that it's OK," Humphrey said.

Remaining activities include a college visit to the University of Illinois at Chicago, parent-child seminars called Daddies and Doughnuts and Mommies and Muffins and a "Family Feud" game to cap it off.

The result, Wilson said, is a program that puts participants on a positive path.

"It's really about helping to navigate the girls through a journey in which they realize the power that they have from within," Wilson said. "That power, that insight, that self-confidence really then begins to help manifest what their true destiny is going to be."

  Valarie Humphrey, assistant principal at Still Middle School, is the leader of The Skin I'm In, a mentoring program for black and brown girls at four middle schools in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 that aims to help them perform better in school, prepare for their future and close the achievement gap. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
The Skin I'm In, a mentoring program for black and brown girls at four middle schools in Indian Prairie Unit District 204, has 135 members this year and is planning activities such as a college visit to the University of Illinois at Chicago. Courtesy of Valarie Humphrey
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