5/3/07

CAPES program bridges gap between parents, children, schools
By Brian Jarvis

BRIAN JARVIS/Manning Times

CAPES director Alfreda Pearson can’t contain her enthusiasm at a recent board meeting of Clarendon School District One.

In response to the growing number of struggling single parents, a local entrepreneur is helping disadvantaged children by providing them with volunteer advocates – or as the title of the program states, Creating A Positive Environment to Succeed (CAPES).

Director Alfreda Pearson, who also owns Le’Als Creations in Davis Station, said that CAPES enables volunteers to act as go-betweens for parents and their children’s schools.

“Parents and guardians need to know the community is there to help, and that we can assist them in getting more involved in their children’s lives,” Pearson said. “We’re not here to criticize or tell you how to raise your kids, but parents are not involved enough in their children’s education. After a while, they just turn them loose. Now kids are having kids, grandparents are raising kids. If you have these babies, it’s your responsibility. Teachers can’t do it all. They’re not miracle workers.”

Staffed with six volunteers, CAPES works with 30 families from Clarendon School District One (CSD1). In addition to twice-weekly home visits that inform parents of their children’s latest school activities, Pearson hopes eventually to open a county-wide “Saturday Academy” featuring tutoring and computer-learning programs.

“Parents are very appreciative that someone cares,” Pearson said. “But your approach is vital. You have to let them know you’re here as a concerned community person.”

For Pearson, CAPES represents the continuation of a legacy begun in part by her grandfather, Levi Pearson, who helped fight the historic battle against the Clarendon School Board that led in 1954 to the landmark court case Brown v. Board of Education.

More than fifty years later, however, poor black students are still more than twice as likely as their white classmates to fail standardized tests like the PACT (Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test).
“We aren’t even close,” Pearson notes in a CAPES brochure. “But if Briggs, De Laine and Pearson had given up 50 years ago, we wouldn’t be here today.”

CSD1 Superintendent Rose Wilder, who helped facilitate CAPES, gave Pearson high marks for dedication.

“Pearson is a hard worker who’s very committed to young people,” Wilder said. “I’m honored that she sees the need and has the desire to work with struggling students and their families.”

Wilder also said she plans to ask the CSD1 board of trustees to implement a new policy emphasizing parental accountability, such as through family counseling services.

“When students fail yearly progress reports, the school is branded (as sub-standard) and the district is slighted while parents can just move their children to another district,” Wilder said. “We hope this will help parents realize the vital role they play in their children’s educational process.”

To volunteer or make a donation please call Alfreda Pearson at 478-2158 or 446-4701.