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From Wilkes County to Mecklenburg County to Moore County to Orange County… from Guilford County to New Hanover County to Stokes County to Robeson County… from Lee County to Brunswick County to Clay County… what a year it’s been capturing the faces of CIS! Take a moment and see again the familiar faces of our CIS Family. These are the children, young people, mentors and adults whose lives are changed by being part of Communities In Schools. We hope you enjoy this year-end medley featuring familiar and never-before-seen footage from all of our “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories” videos. Your support of CIS helps kids all across the state overcome all kinds of obstacles and realize their dreams. Their success means a better future for all of us. We thank you.

For the past year I have been the man behind the camera who has brought this series to life. I have asked a lot of questions this year. Who are you? What are your fears? What gives you joy? What do you want for these kids? What could have made your childhood better? All these were meant to address the larger question: What is CIS? Or better, who is CIS?

This year I have discovered that CIS is the young African-American male who decided that he was tired of seeing his young people swallowed up by the block.

CIS is the young woman who was brought up in plenty, but was heartbroken when she discovered that so many deserving young people may never have the opportunities she enjoyed. She decided to act.

CIS is the country-strong folk who do what they can with what they have. CIS is all of these people and more.

CIS is the answer to the prayers of a young man, who doesn’t have a city bus ticket to get home from school because he stays late at school enriching himself with extracurriculars.

CIS is the bread to the girl who sneaks cafeteria food home in her backpack at school so that her family might eat that night.

CIS is the five minutes of counsel for a child that can make their world stop spinning and get them back into orbit.

CIS is that one chance, or opportunity that connects a promising young mind to the right resources or mentor.

CIS is the extra boost of confidence to the young adult who is searching for his or her self-worth.

CIS is all the great ideals that came together and founded this country, working together to overcome the inequality that exists on the road to the America Dream. CIS is different people, with different experiences: neighbors, lovers-of-humanity and fighters working together outside of politics to make a difference through small acts of kindness.

You do it not for glory, or self congratulation. You do it for graduation. Graduation marks a passage for students on their journey to becoming responsible adults, who can make informed decisions. We hope they can fulfill their civic duties and give back to the communities they came from. The hope is that one day there will be no need for CIS.

You are not by any means navel gazers. You are the doers and dreamers and the dream come true for so many.

To a child adrift in poverty or puberty, you make all the difference in the world.

Thanks for giving me the chance to know you. It is a humbling privilege.

Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com.

As this calendar year comes to a close, we at Communities In Schools of North Carolina (CISNC) are extremely grateful for your faithful support of our work to keep students of all ages in school, prepared to graduate and to excel in college, career and life. We anticipate a busy and exciting year ahead and invite you to renew your partnership with us as we continue to serve as the leading dropout prevention organization in North Carolina.

We want to show our appreciation of you by selecting a winner of our special edition “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories” 2012 Wall Calendar giveaway!  In order to pick a winner at random, we want to know why you love CIS!

Click “Read More” below for more details!

Travel with us this month to Clay County, on the far western edges of North Carolina.  “The terrain is rugged and beautiful, the people are salt-of-the-earth and kind,” describes multimedia producer Justin Cook in his blog post below.  A well kept secret, Clay County boasts an Appalachian way of living tied to “old ways” of farming, logging and building things from scratch.  To the people of Clay County, the shop class at Hayesville High School, a project of CIS of Clay County, is critically important in preserving their heritage and in teaching vocational skills to young people.  In light of recent U.S. Census data that nearly 1-in-5 western North Carolinians live in poverty in more than half of the region’s 17 counties, this month’s “Overcoming Obstacles” video shows the value of CIS of Clay County’s efforts to tackle poverty head-on with opportunities for young people to develop a marketable skill upon graduation.  Hear what Hayesville High teacher Danny Jones, CIS of Clay County Executive Director Theresa Waldroup and Principal Keith Nuckolls each have to say about Communities In Schools and the “old ways” of doing, where communities work together to raise their children.

The people of Hayesville will tell you that Clay County is North Carolina’s best kept secret. I was convinced that North Carolina ended in Asheville but I was wrong.

The terrain is rugged and beautiful, the people are salt-of-the-earth and kind. They are proud of their Appalachian roots and have a natural storytelling ability. I discovered that many in Clay County were afraid of losing the “old ways” of farming, logging and building things with their hands. To them, the shop class at Hayesville High School is so important in preserving their heritage and in teaching marketable skills to young people.

CIS of Clay County Executive Director Theresa Waldroup glowed about how wonderful these young people are.

She told me a story about two students who, through a learn-and-serve grant, worked in Hayesville High’s Outdoor Classroom and were mentored by the U.S. Forest Service. Through their hard work they earned their first paychecks, and Theresa overheard one of them saying he was going to use his money to buy some hunting dogs, and the other an old pickup truck so he could rework the motor. He seemed confident that with the skills he learned in the Automotive Technology class at the high school, he could fix up the truck and sell it to buy a newer one.

Theresa’s brother, and Hayesville High School Construction Technology teacher, Danny Jones echoed her view of Clay’s young people. He told me that when his wife passed away almost three years ago, his students were not just sending him cards but calling to volunteer on his small farm. “These kids are great here, they have heart, they love, they care and I’d like to think America is still that way,” he told me.

Scott Penland has been the Clay County Schools Superintendent for 30 years and he told me a story about a family from Maine who called him recently. They had hired a consulting firm to scour the Southeast for the best possible school system for their child who has special needs.

“Clay met all their needs,” he said proudly.

Penland told me that Clay’s schools are typically in the top 20 schools in North Carolina with the highest graduation rates. In 2009-2010 they were 3rd, and in 2010-2011 they were 4th in rank.

He attributes much of that success to the quality teachers in Clay County, and also to the great help from Communities In Schools, which he describes as “a powerful tool in the school system.”

“There is hardly anything that they want for here that CIS hasn’t tried to make happen… and Theresa certainly makes it all happen. She is relentless. She goes out there and brings people together,” he contends.

Penland mentioned that Clay’s recent high graduation rates could be directly correlated to CIS of Clay County’s founding 14 years ago in in 1997.

He also said it could have a lot to do with the small town values, the “old ways” where communities work together to raise their children.

Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com.

Eighth grader Paige Lowery has come along way since the 6th grade, when she missed almost 40 days of school, was written up for “having a mouth,” was suspended for hitting a teacher with a ball of paper and stole a pair of jeans that almost sent her to jail. CIS Success Coach Brian Walker has helped Paige through CIS of Brunswick County’s Peer Court Program, an alternative juvenile justice program where young people who commit crimes at school are tried by a group of their peers and sentenced to community service instead of going to real court, perhaps landing themselves in jail and certainly having a record until they are 18. Watch our October “Overcoming Obstacles” video below and check out the wonderful story of how, with the help of CIS, the course of Paige Lowery’s life has been redirected. “We all make mistakes,” says Brian Walker, “but what you do when you make a mistake is what’s important.”

Obviously, Paige Lowery has an attitude, but not the kind that you think.

She wants people to stay out of her way if they bring her drama, she wants them to shut up if they are distracting her in class. Paige wants to be a lawyer or a teacher one day but not at the same time. She wants to get her master’s degree, have kids and provide them with all the things she doesn’t have.

She has an attitude for success, but first she will need to survive middle school.

Pressure

Paige is focused, determined, articulate, insightful and funny, but that isn’t always enough. Attitudes that gear a child for success don’t necessarily make them cool in school. The drama of middle school acts like a pressure cooker and sometimes she is ready to explode. She hates being picked on and when her peers sometimes “act stupid.”

“They are just immature… They don’t know what they want in life or anything,” she tells me. In science class Paige and her classmates learned about estuaries and why fish travel in schools. No one seemed to know the answer, so I answered that they did so because there is safety in numbers. Moments later, she passed me a note. I opened it, and it read “Don’t talk so much!” I guess I was distracting her…

But Paige wasn’t always so focused. Not in the 6th grade when she missed almost 40 days of school, not when she was written up for “having a mouth,” or when she was suspended for hitting a teacher with a ball of paper. She has come a long way since she stole a pair of jeans and almost went to jail.

Peer Court

Brian Walker was a cop for 20 years in Maryland near Washington, D.C. He retired in 2007 and he has seen it all. He worked patrol, narcotics and as a recruiter for a while, but the job that impacted him the most was his time working as a probation office in a juvenile dentition center because he got to interact with young people. He would wear plain clothes on Fridays at the schools when he took part in the D.A.R.E program in hopes that the children would realize he was just a person. “I think they thought I slept in my uniform,” he chuckled.

Brian hung up his badge and gun a few years back, but when he saw the job posting for his current job as a success coach for CIS of Brunswick County at Cedar Grove Middle School, he said he claimed it. “This is my job. I want this job because it is an opportunity to give back to the kids and the community,” he says.

He met Paige in the 6th grade after she was charged with misdemeanor theft and destruction of property after she took a pair of jeans from another student. Brian coached Paige through CIS of Brunswick County’s Peer Court program, an alternative juvenile justice program where young people who commit crimes at school are tried by a group of their peers and sentenced to community service instead of going to real court, landing themselves in jail and having a record until they are 18.

Choose To Be Positive

According to Brian, Paige was angry, defiant and argumentative. She would be quick to smart-mouth her teachers and other adults, he said. But with his help, and with the help of the staff at Cedar Grove, Brian says he has noticed a huge difference in Paige’s attitude. She hasn’t missed a day of school so far and made the cheerleading team where her popularity has risen.

Paige tells me that when she is around positive people she has a positive attitude, a fact that illustrates how much children are a litmus test of their environment. A toxic environment can make a child already struggling with puberty, identity and daily life have a toxic mind, a toxic tongue and a toxic outlook. She looks up to Brian as a second father, as someone who understands her, as a positive example. “He’s perfect,” she tells me. “Well, I’m not going to say perfect, he’s just not good at math,” she says with a smirk.

Brian is an example of what it takes to be a CIS mentor. While his background as a police officer no doubt informs how he helps young people, at his core he is a compassionate but firm person who once was in middle school himself. He knows how hard it can be. Brian tells me that he had a rough upbringing at times but he firmly believes that no child should be a victim circumstance.

“Just because where you came from isn’t the best, that doesn’t give you an excuse to not do well. You can do any thing you want… if you put your foot forward and strive and do the best you can. Good things will happen,” he says.

But Brian and the staff at Cedar Grove Middle School in Supply, NC, prove that a little help from your friends and the CIS family never hurts.

Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com.

Today’s blog post comes from CIS National Publications Director Maureen Salamat.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. The National Education Association estimates that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.

Most of us have a bully story from our school days. Why else would there be such universal appeal in watching Ralphie, in the movie “A Christmas Story,” finally crack and beat up Farkus, the neighborhood bully?

But bullying is no laughing matter. In my son’s first year of high school, he had his locker broken into and his backpack thrown down the aisle of the school bus. He also witnessed a fellow student’s altercation with a bully on the bus. Though unsettling, these are small incidents compared with some of the horrific headlines in recent years about young people being killed or driven to suicide at the hands of bullies.