Edward Waters College program preps young male students for high ed rigors

As 14-year-old cousins Day'von Pinkney and Omari Jackson sat beside their mothers in a bare dorm room, Darryle Ball, 25, laid out the ground rules. He was friendly but firm.

No horseplay in the hallways. Business casual attire on Wednesdays and Fridays. Lights out at 10:45 p.m. The day begins promptly at 6 a.m.

"Buy an alarm clock," he said, eyeing the two boys. "We wake up at 6 o'clock. Real men wake up at 6."

For the next five weeks, the two teens along with 45 other young men will spend their days facing the work, responsibilities and expectations of real college men as part of the Black Male College Explorers program at Edward Waters College.

At a time when the plight of young black males - who remain overrepresented in prison cells while underrepresented in post-secondary education - has become a talking point of everyone from local law enforcement to the president of the United States, the Explorers program marks its 25th year.

Since 1990, the state-funded program has been working to steer at-risk Florida black youth in grades 7 through 12 off a pathway to crime and on the road to success.

"A lot of people are talking about doing the work, and we're doing the work," said EWC Explorers Director Darren Gardner. "Before anyone had 'Hands up, don't shoot' and 'black male this, black male that,' we had this program."

For 10 years, it has boasted a 100 percent high school graduation rate among its high school seniors, although not all attend college. In 2011-12, for instance, eight of the 11 graduating students in the program went to college.

In 2012-13 and 2013-14, all seniors in the program graduated and continued to college, EWC data shows. That seems impressive compared to recent Duval County Public School graduation numbers for black teens - 66 percent compared with 77 percent of white students. However, it should be noted that the program only had one senior in 2012-13 and three seniors in 2013-14.

The idea began with a research project at Florida A&M University initiated by the university's former president Frederick Humphries and former state Sen. Tony Hill and expanded to include Florida's three other historically black colleges and universities - Edward Waters College, Florida Memorial University and Bethune-Cookman University. Gardner took over the program at EWC in 2012.

For five weeks, the boys stay in dorms with Gardner and seven other Edward Waters College mentors, including Ball.

Mornings are spent science, technology, engineering and math classes and afternoon are spent at a paid campus job or doing a recreational activity. Fridays are spent in professional development workshops or field trips. The program continues throughout the school year on a smaller scale, offering monthly workshops, supplemental classes and tutoring.

"We look for kids who come from disadvantaged homes - like you may do OK in school, but you'll never go to college without someone helping you and showing you the way," Gardner said. Each spring, he screens online applications and meets with the students and their parents in person before selecting new Explorers.

For most of the students - roughly 85 percent - the $300 registration fee the program charges is waived, Gardner said.

In addition to being poor, the EWC website lists other criteria for becoming an Explorer: low grades, discipline issues, interest in the program and a willingness to consider education after high school. While some students accepted into the program may fare well academically, they may struggle with extreme behavior problems. Others might be all-around good students who are growing up in bad environments.

Day'von's mother Dana Collins described Day'von, who is the eldest of four, as a conscientious student. Her concern is with the negative influences that plague their Northside community. "Drugs, gangs, I want to do whatever I can to keep him away from that, and if that's staying here for the summer and not in the neighborhood than that's what it is," she said.

Day'von, a rising high school freshman, wants to Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. If he does, he'll be the first in his family to attend college.

"I want to be an anesthesiologist," he said, flashing a smile. Omari wants to go into law enforcement. Both are new to the program.

"I feel good ... You know, you're around your age group for five weeks," Omari said.

"And it's all boys, so you all can bond," Day'von said.

A BROTHERHOOD

Bonding is a big part of the appeal and motivation to change, said rising junior Kevron Smith. "We share, play together … We are in the same rooms. You might as well call us family," he said.

The 16-year-old returned for his second year in the program, and he said he's come a long way from the old Kevron.

"He was a little more smart-mouth," he said. "He didn't care how to dress sometimes. He was rude, got mad for simple stuff."

The teen heads to First Coast High School this fall and eventually plans to study law enforcement at either Edward Waters College or Keiser University.

Earlier in the day, he sat intently in math class with about seven other boys in white button-ups and polos, as instructor Eric Jackson Jr. went over a lesson in probability.

On the other side of the room near the back, a less-interested 17-year-old scrolled through Youtube clips on the desktop in front of him, before being admonished by an administrator to pay attention. The teen, William Edwards, a rising senior, leaned back in his seat to stretch before perking up at a question from the instructor.

"Let me ask you this," Jackson said, surveying the students. "How many of y'all play spades? ... What about dominoes?"

Several hands, including William's hand, shot up. For the next few minutes, he eagerly offered input on how to play the game.

Jackson, son of EWC Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Eric Jackson and a product of the Explorers program himself, said he tries to find ways to make the lessons relatable to the young men. He said he attended the Explorer program during junior high in the early 2000s.

"The reality is, these kids have seen a lot...that a lot of other kids haven't ... and so I try to relate stuff in math to what they've seen so that way it doesn't feel like class. It just feels like they're learning," he said.

William, new to the program, said his grades aren't bad - he generally makes A's, B's and a few C's - but when it comes to behavior, he acknowledged he has some issues.

Up until this year, he hadn't gone a year in school without a fight, he said. But he's a good person, he said, and he'd like more people to see that. The Ribault rising senior said he plans to enlist in the U.S. Marines after graduation.

NOT A STATISTIC

JaQuon Baker can remember being in a similar position when he began in the Explorers program five years ago. He was failing in school, getting in trouble and not showing up half of the time, he said. "It was the influence ... Me, wanting to be like everybody else. Me, being a follower," he said.

JaQuon, a jovial, animated rising junior, is now student president of the EWC Explorers program and plans to attend Florida A&M University for political science.

"My name is JaQuon Baker," he announced, as he stood up during a classroom ice-breaker. "I joined this program because I don't want to become a statistic."

He said hearing Gardner's story of going from being an expelled student and teen father to receiving his master's degree and heading the organization played a big part in the change.

"His story helped me realize that there is success no matter where you come up in life," JaQuon said. "It's not about how you start. It's about how you finish."

There is quite a bit of tough love that comes with each day.

If one person breaks a rule, it can result in a series of military-style "personal training" tasks for the whole group, such as several dozen laps or push-ups.

"That makes them more liable to each other, so throughout the weeks they get stronger and bond," Ball said.

Also, those who don't actively participate in class risk not participating in recreational activities later in the day, such as football and basketball. Not successfully completing the program's coursework or the 120 hours of work at their part-time jobs - all students in the program over 14 are required to take a job on-campus, which generally pays minimum wage - can result in not completing the summer program.

Since the Explorers program first expanded to Florida's four historically black colleges, the state money paying for it dropped from more than $6 million to $314,000 for all four college programs in 2014-15. This year, Florida lawmakers voted to slash another $100,000 from the budget, leaving a total of $214,000 for all four programs -less than $60,000 each - for 2015-16.

That's resulted in substantially fewer class projects, fewer slots for applicants and lower pay for instructors as well as a reduction in the number of year-round instructors, Gardner said.

While the programs future may be on the minds of administrators and legislators, new students like Day'von focus on developing over the next few weeks.

"I would like people to view me as anyone else, a young black male who's trying to make something of himself," he said.

Rhema Thompson: (904) 359-4693