The commitment of Kepner’s staff is integral to the school’s educational program. Every day these dedicated educators work to inspire students to see what lies beyond next week or next month – to embrace a broader and more hopeful view of their future. The educational travel program is a vital tool in that quest.

Students are required to prepare diligently prior to the trips by participating in an elective class that steeps them in an understanding and appreciation for what they will see and do. Students are in the Europe elective class for the full school year and in the Washington, D.C. elective for a semester. This allows Ms. Olson to act as an advocate to help ensure academic success and to encourage parents to become more involved in their child’s education.

These elective classes are dynamic learning environments where students research the places they will visit, learning more about government, history and the different cultures they will experience.

Special “travel skills Friday” classes teach all the necessary steps to traveling both at home and abroad. These sessions increase the students’ self-confidence and help to decrease anxiety both in students and protective parents.

Throughout the school year, the relationship between parents and educators at Kepner grows stronger. They are able to share in the experience of seeing students begin to develop both a national and global vision not only because they are able to travel to the sites they study, but because their classroom work has thoroughly prepared them to understand and appreciate what they see.

The classes last a few months and the trips just a few days, but the long-term effects of bringing these students the opportunity to explore the world are incalculable.

Reaching Academic Goals

To qualify to make a trip all students must meet or exceed individually tailored academic goals. In doing so, they also have the opportunity to earn some of the money needed to pay for their trip.

Students’ situations vary widely so guidelines are tailored to meet each student’s needs. The goal is not academic perfection. Rather it is to encourage already good students to strive for the next level and to help those who are struggling to achieve, maybe for the first time, a measure of success in the classroom. All gain more of an appreciation for the importance of their studies.

For instance, one girl who was already an honor student decided she needed to read an extra 30-50 minutes a night and help other students. A boy who was failing the majority of his classes, had difficulty staying in his seat and often shouted during class, set a goal of passing his classes, staying seated and remaining quiet. He managed a report card with C’s and D’s and improved his classroom behavior. He not only raised some of his funds through his academic improvement, he won a personal victory as well.

A Life Defining Journey

The middle school years are pivotal for many students. This is especially significant for children living in a neighborhood such as Westwood. Those that don’t feel a connection to school often cannot envision a life outside of poverty. Without intervention in these critical years, they are more likely to dropout, continuing the cycle of poverty.

Families caught in generational poverty often believe it is their fate to experience failure in school. They don’t realize they have a choice and don’t know how to achieve academic success. Even more difficult, parents who feel trapped in poverty and have never experienced success in school, often feel they have nothing to offer and are very reluctant to come to school to talk about how they can help their students.

For these families, education is valued and revered but seen as an unobtainable ideal, not as a realistic, tangible goal. We mentor our students, working with both students and parents to help them feel connected to the school and to help them recognize that a good education is a realistic, achievable goal.

KEEP draws inspiration from successful schools such as Porfirio Diaz School in Texas where today 85 – 90% of students enroll at some type of institution of higher education.

We are working to emulate such schools – providing not only the support necessary for academic success and development of social skills, but also the one-on-one relationships with teachers essential to helping students believe in themselves and the educational future they can claim as their own.

At Kepner, planning and participating in educational travel has provided a key unlike any other.