On To The Next One: Urban Prep’s Class By Avery Barnes
Staff Reporter, Bronzeville Campus At Urban Prep, we are well known for our seniors being accepted into college. This article will focus on how Urban Prep’s Class of 2022 will soon don a new blazer, the blazer of adulthood. As a freshman, I imagine it feels good to go into college knowing that you received an Urban Prep education and mindset. Sadly, our seniors can’t stay at Urban Prep forever. This is the year that they must prepare to leave their pride family and start a new journey as a college student. I interviewed three seniors about preparing for college and will discuss Urban Prep’s On To The Next One ritual. This is an important ritual where we recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate our seniors by exchanging their red tie for a red and gold striped tie for being officially accepted into a four-year college or university. To give background to the ritual, according to the ritual description provided by Mr. Dennis Lacewell, Englewood’s founding Principal, who currently serves as Chief Academic Officer, “it was created in Fall of 2009 to intentionally recognize and celebrate the Class of 2010 (Urban Prep’s first graduating class) for their dedication, commitment, and focus to work exceptionally hard during their time at Urban Prep to earn their official acceptance into a four-year college or university. If you are accepted into a four-year college or university, you will exchange your red tie for a red and gold tie in the OTTNO ritual”.First I interviewed Mr. Brandon Black from the Bronzeville campus. I asked him about the college preparation process and how it feels to be leaving Urban Prep. When asked if he sees his peers taking the college preparation process seriously, he spoke the words of a well-gathered young man. “I do; I feel like all of us have one goal at this point.is to get into college, which means finding a good college that fits us. It is to find somewhere we can call home for 4 years or so. Some people may be taking it more seriously than others now, but eventually, everyone’s going to get on the same page and realize that they need to buckle down and realize this is it”. When asked if he was sad to be leaving Urban Prep, Black said yes and that he’d miss all of his teachers and brothers, the fist bumps in the hallways and how his motivation through6
Bronzeville Seniors after receiving their red and gold stripe ties during community out his years at UP wasn’t just college but the people surrounding him. He wants to study political science and said as a little kid, “One day I’m going to be the president.”, and stays optimistic about it to this day. He has been working with Ms. Conway, the College Counselor here at Bronzeville campus, to get into a good college. He is interested in Duke University, Northwestern University(Chicago Campus), and Southern Illinois University. I asked Ms. Conway for a quote on how rewarding it is to see a young man, a young black man be accepted into a college and put on his red and gold tie. She said, “In her third year now, experiencing the OTTNO ritual, I feel like it’s a really good ritual to do, multiple times throughout the year. It’s really exciting to see the Urban Prep students get really excited and one of my favorite parts is when you the amount of money they’ve gotten, we’ve seen students rack up almost 4 million dollars in scholarship money as an individual and that’s really really amazing and it feels to great to see underrepresented students find success”. I also spoke with Mr. Jamari Robinson , a senior from the Englewood Campus and asked how he felt about transitioning to college and adulthood. Robinson said “I am excited because as a child, I was always in the “man of the house role” so I feel going to college will give a new perspective of the world. Also, it’ll give me a change to meet to new people and continue to have extended family like Urban Prep. I really didn’t have a family growing up as an
ophan so going to be a great experience for me”. The next two seniors I interviewed were Mr. Amari Austin and Mr. Zachary Cummings of Bronzeville campus, who have been accepted into college and have received their red and gold striped ties. My first question for the two young men was “what was your initial reaction when you saw that you were accepted into college?” Mr. Austin replied “My initial reaction was the excitement I got into two of my dream schools, Langston University, which is an HBCU located in Oklahoma. I also got into Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a full ride for both”. He wishes to keep his options open and to stay committed, finish the school year off strong, and graduate, of course. My next question for them was, do you feel ready for college? Mr. Cummings replied, “I want to see how it feels to be on my own for the first time and I know I’m young,
Englewood College Counselor, Brianna Bailey-Nolan helping Senior, Mr. Stanley Alston during his College Readiness Class.
LION’S ROAR
