Student’s academic and life perspective alters with help of Communities In Schools of Atlanta

ATLANTA - May 27, 2014 - PRLog -- As a middle school student, Kissi Jefferson was constantly involved in physical altercations with her peers, missed classes on the regular, and dealt with challenging family obligations while growing up with a mother who stayed under the influence.

“When I came to high school, it all carried over,” she said. “I really hated school and I never wanted to come.”

Jefferson entered the ninth grade last year at Towers High School in DeKalb County as a caseload student of Communities In Schools (CIS) of Atlanta.

“At first I rejected CIS because at home, nobody focuses on school. My mom is an alcoholic and my sisters got pregnant in high school; most people in my family never even considered college,” she said. “I went to DFCS for a couple of months and came back and thought I might as well stay in school because that’s what’s going to get me out of this situation.”

Jefferson began working with CIS of Atlanta Site Coordinator Derec Oby (Mr. O) who pushed the young teen to strive to do better academically.

“Before, I was [focused on] nothing except running the streets. Mr. O inspired me to go to college and now I’m [focused on] going to college, getting a scholarship and becoming a better person,” Jefferson said. “I don’t want to be the person I was before because that person was bad and had nothing going for her.”

The now 17 year-old is ready to enter the 11th grade and has her mind set on pursuing a career as a neurologist and eventually become a drug addiction counselor.

“I’ve been coming to school almost every day. I’m starting to love school now that I know I have a better future in going to college; I’m excited,” she said. “CIS is very inspirational. You can’t just come to CIS and think you’re going to change; you have to work for it because change is not easy.”

Jefferson is one of the more than 16,000 students CIS of Atlanta touches at 15 partner schools within Atlanta Public Schools, Fulton County and DeKalb County.  More importantly, she is one of the 1,100 students who benefit from CIS of Atlanta’s intensive case management services.

CIS of Atlanta is part of the national Communities In Schools network, connecting students and their families to basic and critical educational and community-based resources, tailored to each student’s specific needs.

About Communities In Schools of Atlanta

CIS of Atlanta is an award-winning dropout prevention organization that was established in Atlanta, Ga. in 1972. CIS is the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization. CIS site coordinators work within local schools to address barriers to students succeeding in school including poor attendance and behavior, low levels of parental involvement, limited exposure to academic and career enrichment opportunities and a lack of access to basic necessities including shelter, clothing and school supplies. During the current academic year, CIS of Atlanta has fulltime site coordinators working within 15 schools within the City of Atlanta, Fulton County and DeKalb County public school systems.