Chicago Valedictorians Struggle to Stay Competitive

Chicago Reporter, The, May, 2001 by Sarah Karp

"It really is a perplexing situation," Jones remembers. "Not everyone makes it, but we are the ones who did."

Jones went on to Tuskegee University, an historically black college in Tuskegee, Ala., that a teacher had recommended. He said Calumet prepared him for Tuskegee, which was listed in Peterson's College Guide as "moderately difficult."

He was active in the drama club at Calumet, which kept him busy and gave him essential speaking skills. And he credits his pastor, mother and extended family for sheltering him from gangs and trouble.

"Everyone surrounded me and kept me focused," Jones said.

Like Jones, many of the 60 Valedictorians who responded to the Chicago Valedictorian Survey have confronted socioeconomic barriers. Two-thirds reported having at least one parent with no more than a high school diploma; 70 percent came from low-income families.

And these high-achievers are not immune to the problems that face many teenagers.

Charles Mingo, who served as principal of DuSable until 1999, said he felt bad when he learned Wendy Purham--who he recalls as a bright self-starter--got pregnant He saw other pregnant girls at the school, and he believes it prevented them from achieving their potential.

"That was not something we were proud of," said Mingo, who is now principal of Beckman Middle School in Gary, Ind. "The valedictorian and pregnancy thing don't mix."

Still, Lucia Podraza, who once taught journalism to Purham and now teaches commercial art at DuSable, said the teachers looked out for Purham.

Bright students like Purham would be swallowed up in super-competitive magnet schools like Whitney Young Magnet and Lane Technical, she said.

"Here, Wendy was a star," she said.

And while valedictorians like Purham, Jones and Gomez might struggle at times, the perseverance that pushed them to the top of the class will serve them well, said Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education, a Chicago-based parent advocacy group.

"These are kids who are on the ball," she said.

Now, Gomez spends three or four hours on homework every night, he said. He studies for tests early on, instead of cramming at the last minute. He seeks help from classmates and tutors. "I am doing better."

So is Purham. She wishes Chicago State was more challenging, but what it lacks in academics, it makes up for in convenience, she said. It's close to her job and to Roosevelt, who is now nearly 2 years old.

She hopes to become a doctor and see her son grow up and go to college. And now she is thankful that Mingo told her the baby would keep her from achieving her goals, she said.

"I used to say it was my son who made me continue on to become valedictorian. But now I say it was my principal, who told me I could not do it. My principal made me push myself forward."

Contributing: Maureen Kelleher, an associate editor for CATALYST: Voices of Chicago School Reform, and Edie Rubinowtiz, who produced an reported a related documentary for WBEZ 91.5 FM Chicago Public Radio, Reporter interns Anita Bryant, Danielle Duncan, Micah Holmquist, Eric Luchman, Elizabeth Raap and Eric Satre, and CATALYST resercher Irasema Salinas helped research this article.