TeenSHARP: An Interview with Co-Founder Tatiana Poladko Alleyne:

Posted by on October 19, 2011

TeenSHARP is a youth leadership and college preparatory program founded in 2009 by Atnre Alleyne and Tatiana Poladko Alleyne.  Tatiana is currently a PhD student in Sociology at Temple University studying education and parental involvement. Atnre is a PhD candidate in political science and international relations at University of Delaware. Both are experienced researchers, advocates and direct practitioners in urban education. I interviewed Tatiana Poladko Alleyne to learn more about the origins of TeenSHARP and to learn about TeenSHARP’s approach to addressing persistent disparities in college access and college success. TeenSHARP is a growing grassroots organization that serves students in the Greater Philadelphia region. The mission TeenSHARP is to provide underrepresented students with the quality preparation, advising, resources, and leadership development to attain higher education and leadership opportunities. TeenSHARP’s current portfolio of services includes:

• 10-month leadership program for children ages 10-16
• Parent workshops focusing on effective strategies for preparing children for high-achievement
• Online workshops for high school students and parents of high school students on college preparation, application and admission process
• Customized workshops on college readiness for schools and community groups

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TeenSHARP’s 10-month college preparatory program seeks to develop youth that are SHARP (Successful in High Achieving and Reaching Potential) and ready to exercise thoughtful leadership in a globalized world. The program equips youth with the skills, knowledge, and high standards necessary for leadership and academic success. The program takes place from September to June each year where participants –organized into two groups-10-12 year olds and 13-16yr olds– meet two or three times a month for TeenSHARP sessions. In addition to the interactive sessions, participants complete take-home assignments, engage in experiential learning (college tours, community service, and research projects), and are given individualized academic advising.

“Putting its core message of ‘high achievement and ambition’ into practice, TeenSHARP prepares youth for and promotes the highest levels of educational attainment (i.e. terminal and professional degrees) and achievement. To accomplish this, youth are trained in critical thinking and reading, problem-solving, effective verbal and written communication, applied research, youth organizing, action planning, and project implementation. TeenSHARP also works closely with families to help them be effective in preparing their children for dealing with 21st century challenges and excelling in a rapidly changing society.” (http://teensharp.org/staff/)

Q: What experiences led to the formation of TeenSHARP?

A: Our origins started from our personal experience with our family. My husband Atnre has a niece that lives in Brooklyn and several years ago we committed to actively mentoring her and helping her excel in her academic and non-academic endeavors. Since then she has been visiting us throughout the year and spending her summer vacations at our place. During her summer stays we would connect her to enrichment experiences in the area. For example, last year she participated in the Drexel music industry program where she got to explore science and physics through the lens of music production. She also attended Spark the Wave camp at Villanova University which encourages students to become leaders in their respective communities and “spark the wave” of service and volunteerism among young people. We also wanted to take our niece to visit difference college campuses and we thought: “If we’re going to take our niece and we have some more spots in our car…why don’t we bring even more kids with us?”

In addition to these activities we also noticed that our niece needed help developing essential skills to allow her to achieve academically and ultimately, become accepted into a college. Development of effective study skills, critical reading and thinking, and written and verbal communication are not emphasized as strongly in many schools, yet, these skills are crucial for students’ academic and professional success. These same gaps in knowledge applied to many other young people who we know. So we decided to create a platform for us to work with students and share a wealth of knowledge and experience that we were able to obtain throughout our educational careers.

Additionally, we also wanted to bridge the information gap that exists with regard to affordable enrichment activities and college access programs for youth, especially those between the ages of 10 and 16.

Q: How do you recruit participants into the Program and what are the criteria for acceptance?

A: During the first year we mainly recruited participants from within our network. Then for the next two years we advertised broadly among schools, churches and other community organizations. Parents of our students have been most instrumental, however, in recruiting new participants. At this time, we do not set any GPA requirements for our students so we have participants with a broad range of academic backgrounds. Our belief is that students and parents who commit to participation in the 10-month program will also commit to our organizational and program goals. With parental support, we are confident that we can help every child dramatically improve their academic performance and eventually become successful college applicants.

As part of our program we help students define their academic and professional goals, understand college admission requirements and assess themselves against these requirements. We also take students to visit about 10 colleges every year where they not only attend information session and a college tour organized by Admissions office, but also meet with ambitious college students who share their experience and words of wisdom. These program components are designed to inspire young people to achieve highly and allow them to build a network of successful peers.

Q: How did you get youth from your community involved?

A: In TeenSHARP we emphasize that youth have an obligation to their peers, their community and themselves to lead and not follow. We challenge young people to plan and implement at least one large service project per year. That means that they need to identify a problem statement they hope to address, think of a range of approaches to address this problem and select one that they find most appropriate given the specific context. Students need to recruit other volunteers, fundraise to cover the project expenses and implement the project. Prior to their own projects, we invite students to participate in such events as the Philadelphia Cares Day, MLK Day of Service and others. We also ask parents to secure a place for students to be conducting weekly community service in order for them to accumulate a required amount of hours to qualify to the Presidential Community Service Award.

Q: How does the program fund itself and its college tours?

A: All accepted students are asked to pay a nominal registration fee that covers basic program expenses, such as supplies and refreshments. We also organize large fundraising campaigns in order to secure funding for college tours as well as college-prep gift drives. We think that fundraising is an essential skill of any leader and it is a crucial skill that a lot of students need to learn, especially students from underserved communities. We provide students with a safe space to practice fundraising; from drafting letters to potential sponsors, to conducting mock interviews with prospective donors. We also introduce our students to examples of other young people who are successful in fundraising and therefore are well positioned to implement their project ideas.

There is a great deal of stigma around fundraising as some see it as a form of begging. Our message to students is that they are an investment and it is an honor for anyone to be able to contribute towards their success.  I always use an example of one of my former students who wanted to take an SAT prep Princeton review course which, I believe, cost about $1,200. His goal was to get a high SAT score and he knew he needed a lot more support to be able to do that. He asked 12 people to give him 100.00 towards this goal and he accomplished it.

Similarly, when I was a student in Ukraine I wanted to travel to various conferences all over Europe and was only able to do so due to my ability to raise funds. Fundraising in Ukraine is much more challenging that fundraising in the US, where there is much greater readiness to donate to various causes.

If young people from underserved communities are really going to achieve the highest levels of education they need to learn how to “get a no” and keep going until they find a yes. And if we can get students to believe they can do this then we can really help young people to succeed.

Q: What opportunities are there for college students to work with TeenSHARP?

A: Masters and PhD students are currently working with us on strategic planning. These students make up an advisory committee and work with our board of directors to help shape the work that we do.

We are also recruiting college students to do tutoring, provide support with TeenSHARP sessions and offer editing services to high school students. We are in the process of setting up a system that will allow high school students to submit papers and other written assignments and receive feedback in reasonable time. We also need students to coordinate various projects, which would be a great opportunity for business students.  There is so much work that college students could help with and because we are a new non-profit students would really be able to make important contributions, build their professional skills and improve their resumes.

Q: What do you see as the ultimate goal of TeenSHARP?

A: We don’t want students to just go to college. We want them to succeed in college and pursue even higher levels of academic achievement in masters and PhD programs. There are so few minority students in masters and especially PhD programs. My husband, for example, is the only African American student in his doctoral program. We hope to create a strong support system for students throughout their entire academic career. This year we have launched a new program for rising juniors and seniors called TeenSHARP Early Action Network, which is a 7-week online course designed to help students prepare all the essential components of their college applications. To date about 30 high school students participated in this program and our goal is to serve 70 more students through that program this year. We are also working to launch school-based college prep clubs to facilitate a peer-led college readiness movement. All of these initiatives will hopefully spread across the region as well as other parts of the nation.