Minority Scholars Program Continues to Build

Dessy- Liza Epie, Staff Writer

 

According to the The Minority Scholars Program (MSP) website, the program is “a student led, student based, and student driven program, aimed at closing the achievement gap.” The site also notes that the program has four “key initiatives” that it looks to utilize at all member school programs: “community outreach, peer to peer tutoring/mentoring programs, college visits, and a speaker series.”

While the program came to Paint Branch in only 2016, it began in Montgomery County in 2005 at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. The program’s goal centers around “positively changing the various school cultures such that success and achievement are no longer predictable by race, class, ethnicity and/or gender.” Since 2005, the program has expanded to include 23 high schools and 10 middle schools.

Social Studies teacher Mrs. Walker, was part of MSP at Kennedy High School and decided to become involved with it at PB when she came here. Coming into Paint Branch, she found MSP in a rebuilding process, the mission was not truly clear and the students not truly motivated.

While MSP’s goal on the county level is to bridge the achievement gap, Paint Branch provides a more complex task. Regarding the challenges that PB faces, Mrs.Walker believes that one of the biggest issues is discerning what Paint Branch needs in comparison to what other schools need. Mrs. Walker points out that, “when you are predominately a minority majority school, there are other challenges that come about, so some of the things that are being talked about on the county level don’t necessarily affect Paint Branch.”

PB English teacher and Staff Development teacher Ms.Stridiron got involved in MSP two years ago, but really became active this year. She believes that, “It [MSP] has changed because there is a focus. The student involvement has increased and the school has also created options for students to take higher level courses by having honors for all students and opening up AP classes earlier.”

Both Ms.Stridiron and Mrs.Walker see their goal as helping students focus solely on the Paint Branch chapter and see MSP as more than a means of padding a resume. They want students to see MSP as a means of changing the school they attend now and later on into the future.
Mrs. Walker understands that many students at Paint Branch are already taking difficult courses but what she wants to teach students is that it takes more than that. The next step as she puts it is, “to be more focused on how are you being successful in those courses and transferring the skills into the real world.”

Students join the program through recommendations by teachers, hearing about it on the morning announcements, and other ways, but it is mostly through word of mouth. Senior Aaminah Matthews was advised by one of her English teachers to check out MSP during her sophomore year and spoke to Ms. Hardin, who was the head of the Paint Branch chapter at that time. After going to the retreat and immersing herself in the program, Matthews eventually joined. She saw MSP as a commitment and a place where she could push herself and reach success. Now she sees MSP as even more. She believes it is, “meant to be somewhere that students can pull strength from each other and go if they need help regarding their future or school. It’s more than closing the achievement gap it’s about being a voice for change for students in a community that doesn’t have one.”

In a community like Paint Branch that is filled with students of various backgrounds, MSP provides them with a boost of confidence. Laura Telemarque came to the U.S from Haiti when she was six years old. She was put in ESOL and continued there until 8th grade. She felt that she stayed in ESOL too long and that ESOL placed her at an unfair disadvantage because she felt dumber than her peers and less prepared. Those insecurities followed her all the way to when she wanted to sign up for AP classes. Her counselor told her it was a big jump from on-level to AP, but Telemarque felt that she was prepared to make that jump. Her previous fears of being less prepared than her peers showed up again. At that time she believed that coming to America from a foreign country and having to take ESOL was once again putting her behind her peers. However, MSP helped her overcome that fear and replaced it with the confidence she needed to move forward.

At Paint Branch, the minority is the majority and because of this the Paint Branch MSP faces challenges that other schools do not. Paint Branch’s MSP program uses the school’s diverse population to show each member how the Minority Scholars Program can help them realize their potential and push them to achieve what they may not believe they can.