Students from poor backgrounds can succeed, Springfield educators said.
From left, Edward Brown, a student at the Renaissance School gives a presentation while author Paul Tough looks on during a community discussion group at the Sheraton Hotel in Springfield on Wednesday. Tough is the keynote speaker at Wednesday's Springfield Public Forum at Symphony Hall.
Dave Roback
SPRINGFIELD — For children from poor backgrounds to succeed, teachers should raise the expectations, Kirk Smith, president of the YMCA of Greater Springfield, said Wednesday during a panel discussion with author Paul Tough.
Smith and Tough, the author of “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character" and "Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America,” participated in a panel discussion at the Sheraton Hotel. Tough was a guest of the Springfield Public Forum and a participant in a community forum.
Smith said that one of the things that was good for him about his upbringing was that he did not know he was poor until he joined the military and left home.
“There are a lot of smart kids from poor neighborhoods,” Smith said. “They just need somebody to tell them they can succeed.”
Tough, an editor and contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, said it is the thesis of his book that for the last 20 years educators have said that intelligence, endlessly measured by test scores, is the sole indicator of success.
In his book Tough argues that character and skills such as grit, curiosity, optimism, perseverance and self-control are better indicators of a student’s future success.
Edward Brown, a senior at Springfield Renaissance School, said one of the things that helps students succeed at the school is student-led family conferences in which students explain their progress in their academic programs.
Steven Mahoney, the principal of Renaissance, said the school has 100 percent college acceptance rates in a city where the student poverty rate is 90 percent.
Tough said the reason the school has a 100 percent college acceptance rate is because it is teaching character.
Timothy Allen, the principal at South End Middle School, said one of Principal Thaddeus Tokarz’s goals at Central High School is to get every student to belong to something such as a sports team or a theater group.
Springfield School Superintendent Daniel Warwick said that students who participate in sports, band, ROTC or other school activities have higher high school completion rates than other students.
Allen said more extracurricular activities and sports are needed to keep students involved in school at the Middle School level.
“Students need a reason to belong to school,” Allen said.