CROP Harvests Successful Students
By Donna Vavala, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.
Aug. 4–PANAMA CITY — Since 1985, the College Reach-Out Program, or CROP, has been helping low-income, low-achieving middle and high school students succeed in school and in life.
The objective of the state-funded program is to motivate students to graduate from high school and go to college. In fact, CROP meets at Gulf Coast Community College, where students can get a taste of college life. But CROP’s activities range far beyond academics
“Every month, we try to do something different,” said Karen Parham, CROP coordinator, adding that school counselors identify students eligible to participate in the program. “We keep it interesting because it’s hard to keep the attention of middle school students.”
There are field trips to local attractions, a career day, job interview skills and resume-writing lessons, even etiquette tips, from table and telephone manners to just plain behaving.
“Some of the other topics we want to do are bullying and peer pressure, gang awareness and self-defense,” Parham said.
There are 150 students from schools in Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties participating in the program that meets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every third Saturday. Lunch is served, and out-of-county students are bused to GCCC.
Recently, students were asked to write an essay on the topic of “The College Reach-Out Program is important to me because …”
Marquis Faison, a 14-yearold eighth-grader from Jinks Middle School, won first place in the middle school category and $50 for his essay.
“CROP helps me make new friends and get out in front of people,” Faison wrote. “The first time I went to the program, I was shy and didn’t talk to anyone. Now, I am outgoing and ready to do anything they put me through. CROP will help me out in the future, and I’ll never forget it. Every little thing they teach us kids in this program will be with us our whole life.”
Second-prize winner Joey Cancilla, who will be in eighth grade at Bozeman School this fall, said he earned all A’s and B’s prior to coming to Bozeman. Then, his math average slipped to 57.
“Trying to bring that up was not easy, but with the help of this program and my parents, I received a 79 average,” Cancilla wrote. “I think all the schools should have this program, because not everyone comes out of the box on top of their game and needs a boost to get there. Some kids just don’t care, but for those who do care and need help, this is a great program.”
Like almost every statefunded program, CROP took a big hit this year.
“We had a 16.6-percent budget cut, or $19,075, this year,” Parham said. “Now, we’re operating on $95,833.”
CROP is required to report to the state on the success of the program each year.
“Last year, we had eight seniors go on to college,” Parham said.
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