Charter School's Lessons Extend to Another Continent

S. Africans Visit in Effort To Aid Struggling Youths

Mike Williams, 17, far right, guides South African officials visits Seitisho Ramutia, left, William Jiyana and Busani Ngcaweni. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)

On any given morning, half the students enrolled at YouthBuild Public Charter School in Northwest Washington are not in class. They are out on a construction site, renovating an old home.

The school, founded 11 years ago by the Latin American Youth Center, targets young people, up to age 24, who have dropped out of traditional programs. Yesterday, some of the students explained to a delegation of South African government officials why the school works for them and why a similar approach would help South African youths struggling with self-esteem and direction.

"It's a good environment for me," said Lamont Williams, 21, one of 65 students at the Columbia Heights school. "The thing that motivates me is the money."

Williams, like other students at YouthBuild, earns while he learns at the construction site: $7 an hour. He also is studying toward his General Educational Development diploma. It was this combination of studying and on-the-job training that most interested the visiting officials from South African President Thabo Mbeki's office and the country's youth and housing agencies. As South Africa launches a major National Youth Service program, the Washington visit was part of research into ways of saving those who have failed to complete their education.

"Our jails are full of young people," said William Jiyana of South Africa's National Department of Housing, who estimates that more than 4 million youths in that country are vulnerable because of lack of education and skills. "We need to find a way of stemming that tide. We have to give them some hope."

The YouthBuild Public Charter School is one of more than 200 YouthBuild schools and programs nationwide, and was selected by the national office as a showcase for the visitors, said Lori Kaplan, executive director of the Latin American Youth Center. Launched in 1995, it became a public charter school in the fall of 2005, using D.C. charter school funds and a federal grant. It occupies a small building at 3014 14th St. NW.

Last year, students transformed 10 dilapidated apartments in Northeast into affordable condominiums, the school's executive director, Patricia Bravo, told the guests. They also renovated three rowhouses into housing for homeless youths.

"When you walk away at the end of the year, there's a house you've built," Bravo said, adding that the program also teaches goal-setting and other real-life lessons. Two case managers guide the students through emotional problems.

Kaplan said the program comes down to "rebuilding a physical building while you're rebuilding your personal life."

"I hear the students say things like, 'Someone believes in me,' 'I'd be home doing nothing if not for this,' " she said. "These are not kids; they are young adults, and many other systems had let them down before they got here."