However, his second semester at Flint, Michigan’s Central High School was “a lot more challenging.” Worried about falling behind, Donald drew on the support of friends he’d met the previous summer at GAPS, a “transition intervention” program created by the staff of Flint's Mott Middle College High School to ease middle school students into the more demanding circumstances of high school.
In the 2004-2005 academic year, less than half of the ninth-grade students who enrolled in the Flint Community Schools completed their high school education in the district. Programs such as GAP, which achieved retention rates of 95 percent during its pilot phase, are critical to combating school dropout and retaining students. In 2003, the Mott Foundation provided a three-year grant totaling $146,920 to expand the pilot program for up to 100 middle school students each summer.
Now a sophomore at Central High School in Flint, Michigan and anxious to join the varsity basketball team, Donald still relies on his GAP connections to keep his grades at a “B” average or better.
The friendships developed by GAPS graduates --- a circle of support for the first, nerve-wracking days of high school --- are but one of the reasons why high numbers of GAPS students remain in high school and earn a degree, says Chery Wagonlander, principal of Mott Middle College High School.
“Research has indicated the most vulnerable point for dropout to occur is the year between middle school and high school,” she said.
Unlike high school “orientation” programs, GAPS gives students time to apply what they learn.
“It’s much more interactive,” said Jeff Bean, who has supervised GAPS during the past two summers. “Students leave feeling like they’ve been a high school student.”
Designed to deliver high school experiences in a non-threatening atmosphere, many of the “myths” about high school also are dispelled by participation in GAPS. Daily activities take place on the campus of the middle college high school at Mott Community College. Weekly field trips introduce students to other high school campuses as well as area resources, including the Flint Public Library and local colleges and universities.
Students rotate through six activities each week while attending GAPS. Beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m., GAPS offers 45-minute sessions on high school academic preparation; communication skills; computer technology; and drama, art and human behavior. Each session is led by a teacher who is assisted by a college intern.
Alex Lenear, a teacher at Flint Central High School, taught English to Donald during the 2003 GAPS program and has maintained a relationship with him through subsequent years.
“Mr. Lenear was there the first day I walked into high school,” Donald said. “Mr. Bean was right next door. They’re great teachers. If all teachers were like them, you could come into high school from kindergarten and still learn.”
Students walk into the GAPS as “self-involved” middle school students and leave GAPS with a better perspective about themselves and their ability to fit in at high school, Bean said.
“GAPS gives them practical skills and helps them feel better about themselves by helping them identify specific talents and interests they can develop,” he said.
“They learn they don’t have to lose themselves while becoming part of something larger. GAPS gives them something to hang onto when they leave us.”
While there are many reasons why students leave high school, GAPS focuses on school-related factors that contribute to dropout -– factors over which educators have control.
“We learned from our students what they wished they had known before coming to high school,” Wagonlander said, noting that Mott Middle College High School students had a hand in designing the GAPS curriculum.
Donald’s mother Tracy Atkinson credits her son’s continuing relationships with the teachers and students he met through GAPS as a major factor in his smooth transition from middle to high school. Anticipating that the independence of high school might prove challenging, she was the motivating force behind Donald’s enrollment in the program.
“You could be the smartest kid in middle school but if you don’t learn responsibility, you won’t make it in high school,” Donald said. “The most important thing I learned in GAPS was time management --- I’ve learned I have to finish whatever it is I have to do.
“Attending GAPS is like being on 'American Idol',” he said, referring to a popular television show. “You might think you’re ready to go, but four weeks of training never hurts.”
GAPS Facts
What is it?
GAPS Success Connection is a high school “transition intervention” program created by the staff of Mott Middle College High School in Flint, Michigan. It was piloted during the summers of 1999 through 2002 with Mott Foundation funding. The program has continued through a three-year Foundation grant totaling $146,920.
Who can attend?
100 students who have completed 8th grade.
How does it work?
The four-week GAPS curriculum is divided into six daily units that address students’ need to learn how to communicate effectively, handle confrontations and negative peer pressure, recognize and utilize hidden talents, study for classes and prepare for tests. It is designed to help dispel “myths” about high school.
Is it successful?
95 percent of the eighth graders attending GAPS in its pilot phase not only continued past 9th grade but graduated, according to longitudinal data collected by Mott Middle College High School and the Flint Community Schools.