By SHEILA BEACHUM BILBY
Of the first 30 young people to participate in Metro Flint YouthBuild, half earned their General Educational Development (GED) certificates with the help of the program and another 10 are completing their exams.
The remaining five will continue working toward their GEDs, and everyone advanced at least three grade levels.
The YouthBuild model provides participants with workforce training in the construction trades. Supporters note that those entry-level jobs help students develop the confidence to pursue studies and careers in a wide variety of fields.
Such is the case in Flint, where most of the Metro participants are enrolling in college this fall. Roughly half a dozen expect to pursue long-term jobs in construction while others are choosing to study business and accounting, criminal justice, nursing, dental hygiene and the visual arts. Some already have full-time jobs.
All were honored in August in a special ceremony at the University of Michigan-Flint. What follows is a closer look at three participants. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calvin Ewell. Photo: Gerry Leslie, Metro Community Development |
Calvin Ewell had hoped that his speed on the track would allow him to chase his dreams. The four-time all-state runner in the 800-meter individual and relay events was hoping to win a college athletic scholarship.
In a flash, those dreams were crushed his senior year at Flint Schools of Choice. During a random locker search, a set of master keys to the school was found in his locker. He was expelled on the spot.
“Once it was taken away from me, I thought the world was over,” said Ewell, 18, of Flint.
But a second chance came for him when his youth pastor told him about Metro Flint YouthBuild, which appealed to Ewell because he could earn his GED while learning construction skills.
The community service he performed as part of the program left a deeper impression. Through that experience, he learned to truly appreciate the value of an education, especially after helping count the homeless, including children, one frigid winter day.
“Luckily, Metro Flint YouthBuild gave me a second chance and an opportunity to fulfill my goals,” Ewell said.
His peers chose him to deliver student remarks at their recognition ceremony in August.
The second opportunity to fulfill his goals comes as he starts classes this fall at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, majoring in accounting and business. Ewell, who continues to train daily, talks regularly with the EMU track coach and hopes to earn a walk-on spot on the team.
He is still running after his dreams.
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Daniel Liddell and his children. Photo: Sheila Beachum Bilby |
Twelve years ago, Daniel Liddell dropped out of school.
He was 13 years old and living with his father when hard times struck. Suddenly homeless and drifting between different relatives in Flint, he had no permanent address for enrolling in school.
Soon enough, the streets called, and Liddell answered.
“It took me a long time, but I finally opened my eyes and realized that there was nothing good coming from the streets,” said Liddell, now 26. “So I had to do something positive for a change.”
A year ago, he was sitting in jail on drug charges when a friend gave him an application for Metro Flint YouthBuild. It offered Liddell the opportunity to get his GED, use construction skills he’d learned working with his father and earn some money.
“I actually sat in that jail cell and I made a choice,” he said. “I said, ‘Is this going to be my life or do I want something better for my kids and me?’”
He chose his children -- son, Daniel, 6, and daughter, Chace, 4 -- who live in Detroit with their mother.
“I have to show initiative so I can be that positive role model in their life,” Liddell said.
Although he left school after the eighth grade, he was among the first Metro Flint YouthBuild participants to earn a GED. He recently started a job weatherizing homes and is enrolled in a general studies program at Mott Community College in Flint.
Liddell has been a role model for his YouthBuild peers, who voted him chairman of the Student Council.
He did not miss a single day of school.
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Michael Jolliff. Photo: Gerry Leslie |
When his girlfriend got pregnant, Michael Jolliff dropped out of his senior year at Mt. Morris High School near Flint and got a job. For two years, he commuted to an Auburn Hills factory to build sunroofs for vehicles.
Then the national economy, along with Michigan’s automobile industry, started its long skid into recession. Jolliff, at the time the father of one son with a second on the way, lost his job.
Without a high school diploma or GED, he couldn’t find steady work and relied on unemployment and picking up odd jobs in auto mechanics or construction.
Last October, he heard a radio ad for the Metro Flint YouthBuild program. It piqued his interest when he heard he could get a GED while being paid to learn construction skills.
“I always wanted my GED,” said Jolliff, who earned it this past spring. “I have two kids, and I want to be the one they come to when they need help with homework.”
Jolliff and his wife, now separated, have sons: Landyn, 3, and Hayden, 2.
The most eye-opening experience in YouthBuild came when he wore a suit and tie daily for a career counseling segment and he noticed strangers treating him with more respect.
Jolliff recently started a job weatherizing homes and is taking classes this fall at MCC, with plans to pursue a criminal justice degree.
His goal: To become a police detective.
“I’ve got high hopes for myself,” he said. “I’ve just got to think about my kids. It’s for their future.”
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View a related article, YouthBuild forges opportunities for young adults in Flint