What does it take to make children hopeful? If you ask Barbara Jentleson, it takes many Duke students and a program called Project HOPE.
Project HOPE is an afterschool program for Durham Public School students that works closely with Duke's Office of Community Affairs and the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership.
As the director of Project HOPE, Jentleson, an assistant professor of the practice of education, said she is pleased about the project giving assistance to at-risk children, but added that she is even more impressed with how the Duke students form close relationships with the DPS students.
"The best example I can give is Patrick Messac," Jentleson said.
Messac, a sophomore, started participating in Project HOPE as a freshman in order to fulfill a service-learning component in one of his courses. After his course ended, however, he could not walk away from the students he helped for a semester, he said.
"Project HOPE has been one of the most rewarding experiences here at Duke because it has given me a whole new perspective on education," Messac said.
For the student he tutors, Messac added that he has not only become a tutor who provides academic help but also a friend and a positive role model.
Messac is one of many Duke students who assist DPS students under Project HOPE.
Approximately 70 Duke students interact with 120 public school students for about two hours a week to be a tutor, a mentor and just a friend.
There are Duke tutors who give academic help and Duke athletes who run outdoor activities such as tennis and skating. In addition to providing activities for children, they, too, bond with the public school students.
"The students get attached to Duke students in a productive manner that builds respect in each other," said Gail Taylor, the principal of Carter Community School. The school is one of the partners that actively works with Project HOPE.
"I see a brotherly, sisterly relationship forming," Taylor said. "The children really look up to Duke students as brothers and sisters."
She added that Project HOPE provides enrichment not only in academics, but also in social and physical aspects. It is an experience outside of school that helps the development of children as people and students, Taylor said.
Project HOPE has been a success so far for establishing itself as a program for helping at-risk Durham students at six locations, Jentleson said, adding that the goal for the project now is to expand its operations and give assistance to the students that need help.
Messac said the major need for the program at this point is more tutors.
"That is what we have accomplished, that is what we are hoping to accomplish," Jentleson said. She has led the project through the past few years and said now she is willing to lead the project to fulfill the needs of more DPS students.
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