| Beat the Odds®, a project initiated by
the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) in 1990, celebrates the positive
potential of young people. Too often we hear about teenagers getting
into trouble, dropping out of school, becoming involved with drugs
or crime or gangs, or becoming parents too soon. Rarely recognized,
however, are the many young people who do well despite facing
such problems as poverty, violence, homelessness, family breakup,
or substance abuse that stand in the way of even the smallest
achievements.
CDF works with local education advocates to select and honor
students who demonstrate academic excellence and have the strength
and determination to Beat the Odds. They are honored locally
for their personal achievements in their struggles to improve
their own lives and the lives of others. At a special awards
ceremony, CDF celebrates the remarkable lives of these young
people, and the families, friends, teachers, and counselors who
helped them succeed. Each student is presented with cash awards
and other prizes in recognition of his or her accomplishments.
Those Beat the Odds celebrations strike a chord with community
leaders and citizens who want to help children struggling to
succeed. Beat the Odds has also fostered further success by serving
as a catalyst for additional community efforts on behalf of children.
These celebrations send several important messages. First,
the community becomes more aware of the obstacles children are
facing, and overcoming, in their day-to-day lives. These obstacles
are the reality for too many of our children. Beat the Odds puts
a human face on these obstacles and can spur community-wide action.
Second, Beat the Odds demonstrates that behind each successful
child is at least one caring adult. A parent or other relative,
a coach or a teacher, a school counselor or neighbor – someone
took the time to believe in that child and help him or her along
the way. By recognizing the student's accomplishments, and noting
the assistance of these helping hands, a very clear and powerful
message is delivered – that every adult can do something
to help more children Beat the Odds.
Finally, publicly honoring young people who Beat the Odds provides
positive role models for youths in similar circumstances. They
feel, sometimes appropriately, that no one appreciates their
pain or recognizes what they have had to overcome to reach even
the most modest of goals. Beat the Odds sends a clear signal
that someone does care, and that someone does understand what
it took to stay in school and do well.
More | http://www.childrensdefense.org/beattheodds/default.asp |
