Two southern Prince George’s middle schools have been tapped for a $100,000 pilot program throughout the next year to stop youth gang violence, with the community-based effort possibly spreading elsewhere in the county and state if it’s successful.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and United Way of the National Capital Area announced the initiative Tuesday morning at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School in Temple Hills, where the 12-month program will be started along with Thurgood G. Marshall Middle, also in Temple Hills.
Officials said the Way to P.E.A.C.E. initiative — prevention, education, awareness, connection and empowerment — funded by a $50,000 grant from the state and $50,000 from United Way NCA and run by United Way, will target students before they can be caught up in gangs and provide them with tools to avoid and combat gang activity when they come across it.
The two schools were chosen because of their status as “turnaround,” low-performing schools, and their location in Temple Hills, a crime-plagued area, said Euniesha Davis, director of community impact and child wellness for United Way NCA.
Neither middle school, nor any other middle schools in Prince George’s County, met Adequate Yearly Progress, a federal benchmark for success on state testing, in 2011.
The program relies heavily on collaboration with local community organizations. In addition to in-class training about how students can prevent and avoid bullying and gang violence, the Rev. Tony Lee, pastor of the Community of Hope A.M.E. Church in Temple Hills, said his church is holding after-school programs for Stoddert Middle students, along with support groups for parents to encourage involvement in their children’s education.
Hillary Garner, principal of Stoddert Middle, said Community of Hope’s after-school mentoring and leadership program at the school has already been successful, with parents requesting their children be able to participate in the program and former students coming back to speak about its benefits.
“It’s wonderful now that they’re able to have the funding for some of the initiatives that they’ve already been doing in the community,” Garner said.
Daniel Brinkley, co-founder and CEO of Dreams Work Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that works to empower students against bullying using the arts, said the collaborative nature of the initiative not only allows the various community groups to pool their resources, but also their expertise and develop best practices.
“We’re able already through our monthly meetings to share our strengths and struggles,” Brinkley said. “We’re able to use the strengths of other organizations as a real source of support.”
Brown said that if the pilot program proves to be successful, it could be implemented elsewhere in the county and across the state.
“It’s a small investment that could turn into a big return for us,” Brown said. “... We want to introduce it on a small scale and measure its effectiveness.”
Bill Hanbury, CEO of United Way NCA, said that while there are other anti-gang and anti-bullying programs across the country, this initiative “really breaks new ground.”
“We’ve got interfaith organizations working with the government and nonprofits and even academicians,” Hanbury said. “This can be a model and replicated across the state and the country.”
ewagner@gazette.net
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