Long days, long odds do little to discourage Oakland teen

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Apr 7, 2008 | by Sarah Terry-Cobo

OAKLAND -- Cooking dinner, doing laundry, cleaning house, getting the kids ready and taking them to school: This is not the normal routine for your average 18-year-old high school senior.

But for Aaron Jones, these mundane tasks could very well be the reason he's off to college, the first in his family to do so.

Jones said taking care of his siblings is stressful at times, but he has learned to deal with it over the years. "All my other friends are outside playing basketball, or at parties -- doing stuff teenagers do. I'm not the type to go out to the movies every weekend."

Life required him to grow up fast, but he still succumbs to the silliness associated with senioritis.

Jones, a senior at Excel, a small school inside McClymonds High School in West Oakland, is one of 20 students who won a partial college scholarship with the Students Rising Above program, which helps take students through the application process.

Former KPIX-CBS television anchor Wendy Tokuda founded the program in 1998, which hassince raised more than $4 million to help low-income students who would not otherwise have the means to attend college, according to the program's Web site. Tokuda is now at KRON- 4.

Applying for Students Rising Above was actually a requirement for the entire junior class at Excel. So Jones obliged, not giving his application a second thought.

In his essay to Tokuda, he spoke of his mother's fragile health and his desire to make her proud. Those elements helped him stand out from his peers.

When he was selected for the program he attended a summer workshop that unlocked the complicated world of college applications and financial aid.

"After the workshop, I was ahead of all the other seniors, so I was helping people with applications and SATs. It really gave me an edge," Jones said.

Jones has since applied to 13 colleges and been accepted by eight.

"Overall, the experience is going to be good, to be away from home but not far away," Jones said of going off to college.

"To be on my own as an adult, everything will be my decision and I'll have to make the choice to do the right things," he said in an interview last week from the immaculate apartment home he shares with his mother and four siblings.

While his top choices are Oregon University in Eugene, Ore., and St. Mary's in Moraga, Jones said he has also been accepted by Saint Augustine in Raleigh, N.C., San Jose State University, Sacramento State University, and Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

"St. Mary's has a good academic program and a good basketball team, so it's going to be a good education," Jones said last week. But Tuesday between classes, he said he was interested in Oregon because it was a little farther away from home and he likes the campus and the basketball team.

In school, Jones is often a diligent student, but also can be silly and funny. In his Advanced Placement Environmental Science class on Tuesday, teacher Eliza Lee reviewed a homework assignment on acid rain.

"How does acid rain affect plants?" Lee asked the class. Raising his hand, Jones said, "I thought the leaves turn color." Lee responded, "Well, the leaves turn color because the clorophyll dies."

Fidgeting at his desk, he takes time to explain part of the lesson to Theresa Tramble, 17, seated next to him but gets called out because he is talking while Lee is lecturing.

Even though he has a hard time focusing like most of his peers with senioritis, he is usually a pleasure to have in class, said Lee and several other teachers. "He gets all the material on tests and shows me he understands. When he focuses, he's a top student. When he buckles down, he's one of those students you wish you had 30 of," Lee said. His positive attitude is contagious to the other students, she said.

When he's not playing basketball or studying, he's at home, playing PlayStation or helping out around the house. Raised by a single parent, Jones often helps his mother, Chimeon Jones, with household chores.

"I can totally depend on him when I leave, so Aaron is here when my boyfriend is not here," she said. She has worked as a housekeeper for Kaiser for eight years and works from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Chimeon's sister, Rose, was the primary caretaker of the children when she was at work or school. In 2003, the children's aunt died of congestive heart failure after months of being in and out of the hospital. "She was like a second mom to them," she said.

But health complications continued to plague the Jones family. After the birth of her fifth child, Issac, in November 2006, Chimeon was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. She was off work for 11 months to recuperate.

"Some days I'll get up and feel OK, but the kids are aware that I'm sick and they know when enough is enough."

To help his mom out over the years, Jones has learned how to cook, clean, do laundry, get his siblings ready in the morning and take them to school, his mother said. "My biggest help is leaving because he's going to school," she said.

However, Jones' close-knit, family-oriented nature has contributed to his success and leadership skills, said teachers and staff at Excel. Principal Yetunde Reeves has known him since his freshman year.