JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - It’s pegged as a dropout prevention program, but Communities In Schools of Jacksonville goes far beyond keeping kids in school.
The organization first launched in Jacksonville in 1990, with the after-school program beginning in 1998. Currently, Communities In Schools of Jacksonville serves about 7,000 Duval County students annually, with 3,500 participating in after-school programs at 22 district schools.
Through the program, students get academic help, explore possible careers and receive mentors to guide them along the way.
“Because we all know that kids who are not busy after school can get into all kinds of trouble,” Leon Baxton, Chief Operating Officer at CIS, said.
For that reason, the program is also helping prevent Jacksonville’s youth from becoming victims and perpetrators of violent crime.
“When you keep kids away from getting in trouble, you’re preventing them from getting arrested and doing something that they may regret later on in their life,” Baxton said.
DeJuan Green, who currently is CIS’ project manager at Matthew Gilbert Middle School, is one of the program’s success stories.
Green first met Baxton when he was an 11-year-old at Northwestern Middle School. Green was a star athlete but struggled academically; he was held back in third grade and admittedly didn’t always listen to his teachers.
Green still remembers the advice Baxton gave to him 27 years ago.
“The same energy and the same confidence that you use on the football field, you should be able to use in the classroom,” Green said. Green went on to play college football before a three-year career in the NFL. Afterward, he returned to Jacksonville and became a teacher at Matthew Gilbert Middle School before joining CIS as the project manager for that school.
Green credited CIS for giving him academic confidence, learning how to communicate with others and setting him on the right path to keep him away from crime. He grew emotional remembering one of his best friends, who died from gun violence.
“That was kind of like, almost like the norm growing up,” Green said of his childhood on Jacksonville’s Northside. “People dying here, people dying there. But being a part of Communities In Schools, they gave me a different group of friends. Really, somewhat, totally helped me out.”
To learn more about Communities In Schools of Jacksonville and how to get your children involved, click here.