WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 /EMWNews/ -- At a time when only nine

percent of freshmen enrolled in the District of Columbia Public Schools

(DCPS) system complete college in four years, Raymond Barnett, a 2008

graduate of HD Woodson Senior High School, is on his way to defy that

statistic. The recently released report, Double the Numbers for College

Success: A Call to Action for the District of Columbia, further indicates

that many of the remaining freshman will leave the school system, never

start college or fail to finish their degree, leaving students to face a

future of diminished opportunities and low-wage jobs.



    Barnett has been admitted to the George Washington University (GWU)

class of 2012 as a Stephen Joel Trachtenberg scholar. He came to the

attention of GWU as a result of being a LifeSTARTS Learning Loop tutor for

younger Ward 7 students at Drew Elementary School, which neighbors Woodson

High. This and other achievements have earned Barnett a scholarship valued

at over $200,000, spanning the course of four years. Barnett will formally

be recognized for his accomplishment during a press conference on Tuesday,

August 12, at 10 a.m. at THEARC, located at 1901 Mississippi Ave., SE.



    "Raymond is what I consider a diamond in the rough. We regularly hear

negative stories associated with young people living in our 'East of the

River' community. Raymond is a powerful example that all young people

aren't thugs or getting into trouble," said Curtis Watkins, founder and

executive director of LifeSTARTS Youth & Family Services. "Our job at

LifeSTARTS is to identify and nurture more students like Raymond. With our

support and the help of committed partners, we can show the world that the

success of our young people has no limitations."



    LifeSTARTS Learning Loop teaches high school students strategies to

help teach elementary school children to read. In the process, the older

youth increase their literacy skills. This closes the "loop" and promotes

pride, positive identity development, and responsibility in the tutors, as

well as academic gains for both groups. The DC Children and Youth

Investment Trust has funded the program for the past three years.



    In April of this year, Barnett was chosen to testify before the

District's City Council on the efficacy of LifeSTARTS Learning Loop during

budget hearings on Effective Youth Development. He gave a compelling

testimony expressing that, "The program doesn't only help the students

being tutored but it also helps the tutors." He went on to say, "It gives

me a place to be after school instead of hanging out on the corner. Most

children learn better from someone closer to their age that they can relate

to. It also instills a great deal of pride in me to know that I am

personally helping the up and coming youth."



    This unique opportunity for Barnett is a major milestone of an ongoing

collaboration between LifeSTARTS Youth & Family Services and the Institute

for Education Studies at the George Washington University Graduate School

of Education and Human Development. GWU faculty have provided direct

assistance on LifeSTARTS curricular products, as well as an ongoing

analysis of the LifeSTARTS Learning Loop program to further enhance

activities, services and other outcomes for youth and their parents.



    LifeSTARTS Learning Loop produces an average gain per high school

student of 1.5 grade levels for every 6 months in the program. These gains

are most profound for the 50 percent of students that began four to eight

grades below grade level.



    LifeSTARTS Youth & Family Services is a nonprofit that serves youth and

families "East of the River." To improve social and academic outcomes for

youth, LifeSTARTS' core programming is to operate in-school programs that

serve students enrolled in DC Public Schools' Johnson Middle School and

Kelly Miller Middle School. Within these schools, about 10 percent of the

highest need children receive intensive 1:1 mentoring services from Youth

Advisors. LifeSTARTS serves in these schools as a "lead organization"

affiliate of the national Violence-Free Zone Initiative (the VFZ) of the

Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. LifeSTARTS began implementing the VFZ

2004. Since then, the initiative has produced excellent results in reducing

violence, suspensions, and truancy. In addition, LifeSTARTS offers after

school programming, targeting academic, social, and career development,

such as LifeSTARTS Learning Loop, to more than 4,000 "East of the River"

youth per year. The nonprofit also offers a variety of support and referral

assistance to parents of the children it serves.



    For more information about all of LifeSTARTS programs, call

202-610-9903 or visit http://www.lifestarts.org. To RSVP for the August 12 press

conference, contact Gabrielle Faulcon at 202-479-2777 or

[email protected]