CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A new effort to help students succeed is making history in Clayton County.
Clayton County Public Schools just became the first school district to put a group of teachers and staff through life coaching certification, in partnership with the Orange Duffel Bag Initiative (ODBI).
The nonprofit is named based on the story of co-founder Sam Bracken, who was a homeless teen when he received a full-ride football scholarship to Georgia Tech. He packed all his belongings in to an orange duffel bag.
Since 2010 the ODBI has provided life coaching, advocacy and support for students identified as homeless or in foster care. The goal is to go beyond just academics to address the students’ emotional and mental needs, helping set them up for success and graduation.
Ty'Reke Harris, who participated in the ODBI program last year, just graduated from Morrow High School.
“The emotion I felt on that day was just amazing," Harris beamed. “It was the best moment I’ve ever felt in my life so far.”
Desarae Grier, another ODBI and Morrow High grad, agreed.
“It was like, I’m done, I did it," she said.
For students like Harris and Grier, it was an accomplishment well-earned.
“Sophomore year we were moving and going hotel to hotel," Grier recalled of the time she and her family were temporarily homeless. "I tried to keep my mind off of it in school...I didn't want it to define me."
Harris says he, too, struggled with balancing school and home life.
"It was very hard," he said. "I wasn’t the kid everyone wanted to hang out with.”
“In that situation," Grier added, "you need a lot of support and uplifting people.”
Enter Sonia Davis, Coordinator of Homeless Education for Clayton County Public Schools.
"I serve as the district’s homeless liaison," Davis said. "We identify about 2-thousand homeless students a year...those are just the ones we've identified. Our job is to remove all barriers so they can get the same education any other student does.”
That’s why she got Grier, Harris, and several other students connected with ODBI.
"It helped me come out of my shell and be more open," Harris said.
“Having people to talk to," Grier added, "it helped.”
Davis says nearly all of the students who participated in the ODBI after school program saw significant improvement in their grades. Even though the program's focus isn't academics or tutoring, but rather themes like building self confidence, coping skills and goals.
"Their grades improved but we didn’t give them a tutor," Davis said. "We just gave them motivation tools. It really works. It really has made a difference.”
That led Clayton County Schools to become the first ever district to put a group of its own staff members through training to become certified ODBI coaches, to reach even more students.
"Within the school environment you don’t learn life skills," said Kanisha Smith, a social worker with CCPS one of the staff members in the group.
"You learn math and algebra, reading and writing which is important but you don’t learn how to do a budget, you don’t learn how to process your feelings and emotions, you don’t learn how to express yourself or make goals," she said. "That is what this program is all about."
After several full days of intensive and often emotional training, the group graduated with their coaching certifications in June, prepared to coach dozens of new students come august.
“This is honestly the best development training I’ve ever done," said Rodrick Holloman, who is a student engagement specialist for CCPS and one of the newly graduated ODBI coaches.
"I’m a Clayton County Public Schools product, I know exactly what this district is dealing with," he said. "I had some great coaches and mentors that I was able to become a first generation college student, so its important for me to help give the kids what was given to me."
Deputy superintendent Sandra Nunez hopes to expand the program in 2021, to eventually reach all of the districts 50,000-plus students. Of course, that will require more funding and district support. But having seen the impacts firsthand, Nunez believes it's a worthy investment.
“This will save lives of the students," she said. “It is the hope that this is just the beginning.”
New beginnings, built from big dreams.
"I want to finish college with a degree in animation," said Harris, who is currently looking into local colleges and production programs.
Grier is enrolled at Georgia State University, where she's thriving.
"I’m majoring in criminal justice," she smiled. "I want to help people who are in situations like I was."
Learn more about the Orange Duffel Bag Initiative here.