Local Big Brothers Big Sisters program gets national recognition

Big Brothers Big Sisters will take nationwide a partnership model created in Cape Girardeau.

The ABC Education Initiative partnership began locally in 2006 with students in the Cape Girardeau School District served by the organization. The program collects data on those students in the areas of attendance, tardiness, discipline referrals and grades in reading and math. The data is collected four times per year and shows the organization and the schools which students need attention in which areas, said Ashley Beggs, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Cape Girardeau.

"We know schools have a big job and we want to walk hand-in-hand with them," Beggs said.

Big Brothers Big Sisters connects students with mentors. One hundred and eighty students in kindergarten through 12th grade were connected with mentors and tracked through the initiative in the 2010-2011 school year.

Franklin Elementary principal Dr. Rhonda Dunham said she sees her students' involvement in Big Brothers Big Sisters as a way to improve academic achievement, self-esteem and self-worth.

In the 2010-2011 school year, 65.7 percent of students participating in the initiative had fewer than 10 absences, 77.5 percent had fewer than 10 tardies, 90.4 percent had fewer than five discipline referrals, 79.7 percent had a reading grade of C or above and 80.4 percent had a math grade of C or above, according to data collected by the organization.

Beggs has been named to a senior leadership strategy team within the organization for her work creating and managing the initiative.

St. Louis public schools and Normandy, Mo., public schools are also partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters and modeled those partnerships after Cape Girardeau's.

During the upcoming Grad Nation Summit in Washington, D.C., which marks the end of a decade-long campaign by America's Promise Alliance designed to end a high school dropout crisis and prepare students for college and the workforce, the work done with Big Brothers Big Sisters in Cape Girardeau will be a centerpiece, said Becky James Hatter, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. According to a November report on the use of early warning indicators and intervention systems, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri and the Cape Girardeau School District created a unique, replicable and outcomes-oriented partnership that leveraged an early warning system.

James Hatter visited Cape Girardeau Tuesday along with Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals and board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. Both attended a reception at Celebrations Downtown with community agency leaders, university representatives, public school employees and community members.

Cape Girardeau has been a community which has tried to figure out with the organization how to improve student outcomes, James Hatter said. Big Brothers Big Sisters Cape Girardeau office has 80 percent repeat mentors for students, while the national average is 63 percent, James Hatter said.

The organization will attempt to increase its effectiveness in Southeast Missouri with the creation of a Southern Regional Development Board consisting of community members that will plan and accomplish growth in the region. The board will look at issues related to that growth and develop solutions, Beggs said. Board members will include Pat Allen, Brock Alspaugh, Charlie Herbst, Mary Beth Kapp, Jeff Maurer and Scott Rhodes.

eragan@semissourian.com

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