Coaxing College Dreams East of the River

Fair Is Effort to Reach Students, Parents in Underserved Area

The fair was held at the academy. Darrion Willis, 17, is an academy junior who is "serious about my education and what I want to do in life." (Photos By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)

Darrion Willis, 17, a junior at Thurgood Marshall Academy, has been thinking about college since seventh grade, and took the PSAT two weeks ago.

After finishing a special session of classes yesterday, Willis stopped by the first East of the River College Fair, held at the charter high school in Anacostia. Willis roamed the halls talking to college representatives seated at tables. He left clutching bagfuls of glossy brochures and information booklets.

"I came here to see what my options are for college," said Willis, who wants to become a lawyer or marketing director, or maybe enlist in the U.S. Navy. "I'm real serious about my education and what I want to do in life."

About 75 students and their families attended the college fair yesterday. More than 20 colleges sent representatives, including Harvard University, the U.S. Naval Academy, Howard University, Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma and Norfolk State University.

Lydia's House, a nonprofit group based in Southwest Washington, sponsored the fair in an effort to bring information about higher education directly to students and families. Thurgood Marshall Academy was chosen for its easily accessible location across from the Anacostia Metro.

Kenneth McClenton, coordinator of the group's after-school program, called the turnout moderate, and said he had hoped more students and their families would attend.

"Our goal is to have every student east of the river go to college," McClenton said. "We wanted to bring the colleges here so that students have access to information and will be able to use it to make choices."

Statistics show that many District students who attend college face obstacles to success. According to a study released this month, "Double the Numbers for College Success: A Call to Action for the District of Columbia," 9 percent of the ninth-graders in D.C. public schools can expect to complete college within five years of their high school graduation. That number is less than half the national average of 23 percent.

Many students living east of the Anacostia River fare even worse, according to the report, which was commissioned by city and school officials and financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The report said that 1 in 20 receives a college degree.

Students attended yesterday's fair from high schools across the city. Among them were McKinley, Ballou, Friendship and Margaret Murray Washington senior high schools. Students were accompanied by parents and mentors, including a group of Georgetown University students who work with juveniles on probation as part of a mentoring program called ASK.

"We're here today to get them started early," said Lynsey Stewart, a Georgetown junior who brought three teenagers to talk to college representatives.

Erika James, 17, a senior at Thurgood Marshall who lives in Anacostia, said she wants to go to college and become a social worker because her heart breaks when she sees children in the community who come from troubled families. She went from table to table yesterday, asking whether the schools offered a major in sociology.

She filled out two applications on the spot, one for Norfolk State University and one for Fort Valley State University in Georgia. Robert White, a Class of 1957 graduate of Fort Valley State who was passing out information about his alma mater, offered to pay the $20 application fee for James.

"If $20 is going to keep her out of school, I'll pay the fee," he said.