HOPE Students Prepare for College and Beyond
President Obama Sends Powerful Message on Draconian Drug Sentencing
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By Heather O’Mara
aking the transition from high school to college or to the workforce is an important milestone for young adults. However, it can be a difficult period to navigate. For that reason, HOPE Online Learning Academy CoOp puts a strong focus on college- and career-readiness to ensure that students’ successes in the classroom continue post-graduation. In part with its efforts to help students develop Individual Career Academic Plans (ICAP) from 6th grade onward, HOPE provides activities throughout the year to help students from middle to high school make crucial connections and plan for life after graduation. “Opening the world of post-secondary planning for HOPE students has been monumental,” said HOPE school counselor Kristie Richardson. “Our students are eager to go to col-
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By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
President
Director Joe Rice
lege; however they have been discouraged by the process.” Richardson helped coordinate HOPE’s annual college fair, which took place on December 12 at the Tivoli Student Union on Auraria Campus in Denver. Two hundred and fifty high school students from 11 of HOPE’s 40+ Learning Centers participated in the event. Representatives from nine local two- and four-year schools – including University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and more – were available to provide information and answer questions. Students received a tour of the downtown campus and heard from a panel of school representatives who shared advice on college and career choices. The event allowed students to “experience the culture of college life first-hand, make connections through networking, discover that other classmates have the same questions and fears and, ultimately, leave confident to approach graduation with a firm post-secondary plan in motion,” Richardson said. Meanwhile, an ambitious group of HOPE juniors and seniors recently attended the Colorado Space Roundup, an event organized by the Colorado Space Business Roundtable and the Colorado Space Coalition, which was held at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on December 4. Students met and interacted with aerospace professionals and industry leaders to learn more about careers in the field. Lockheed Martin’s business development manager was one of the many professionals who spoke with the students and offered helpful career advice to those interested in working for an aerospace organization. “Study what you enjoy,” he said. “There are so many job possibilities at Lockheed Martin. Nobody has the ‘perfect degree’ to work here.“ Recognizing that students’ exposure to college and career paths can never start too early, HOPE also
Bryn and Dajiel, 8th graders at Cherry Creek Online
actively seeks out opportunities for middle school students to help them get a head start on the planning process. In November, 8th graders from 15 Learning Centers attended the Douglas County School District’s 2013 Career Connect 8th Grade Expo in Castle Rock. The event, which drew in more than 5,200 attendees, gave HOPE students the opportunity to meet with business and higher education representatives and learn more about their career paths of interest. Bryn, a student at HOPE’s Cherry Creek Online, said she was most intent on learning about jobs in veterinary science, but planned on exploring a variety of career paths at the event. “I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian since I was about 7 years old,” she said. “I’m excited to talk to people about what I need to do to achieve my goals and have the opportunity to see if there are any other careers I’m interested in.” Dajiel, also an 8th grader at Cherry Creek Online, said she didn’t have a specific career in mind, and looked forward to finding potential occupations that would allow her to work with people and be more social. Affirming the importance of college and career preparation events, she said, “It’s helpful because I can explore what I want to do for a career and get more information on how to achieve that through school.” Editor’s note: For more information on HOPE Online Learning Academy Co-Op, call Heather O’Mara, founder and CEO of HOPE Online Learning Academy Co-Op, at 720-402-3000 or email info@HOPEonline.org.
Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – January 2014
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Obama sent the strongest message on the insane waste of the nation’s draconian sentencing laws when he granted clemency to 8 mostly low level drug offenders. Obama’s clemencies for their drug crimes follow hard on the heels of Attorney General Eric Holder’s virtual demand that U.S. Attorneys rethink how and who they prosecute for drug crimes. That followed even closer on the heels of Congress’s passage of the Fair Sentencing Act. Before that the Supreme Court issued a ruling that modified the draconian sentence for a convicted cocaine peddler. Their actions wiped out much of the horrid disparity in the blatantly racially tinged sentences slapped on crack cocaine users. The drug sentencing disparities certainly have become a national embarrassment. But they are still on the books. The U.S. Sentencing Commission and Congress now should go much further and put an end to the embarrassment by totally scrapping all sentencing disparities. They have wreaked dire havoc in mostly poor black communities, as well as cast an ugly glare on the failed and flawed war on drugs. Countless studies have shown that blacks make up the overwhelming majority of those sentenced in federal court for crack cocaine use and sale. Contrary to popular myth and drug warrior propaganda, more than half of crack users are white, and presumably a good portion of them are crack dealers as well. But it’s the heart wrenching tales of the legions of poor young men and women that have received sentences totaling decades behind bars for the possession or sale of a pittance of cocaine or marijuana. In many cases, they are young mothers and fathers who out of poverty and desperation resorted to the use and sale of drugs. What has ignited even more outrage is that often their sentences have stood in stark contrast to the sentences of murderers, rapists and bank