Adrienne Diercks stood in a grocery store check-out line paying little attention to the young woman standing at a safe distance behind her. The unfamiliar face recognized the P.S. insignia on Diercks bracelet. ‘Project Success’, she said, surprising the founder and executive director of an almost 30-year academic enrichment initiative that has augmented the lives of 210,000 students and their families in the Minneapolis Public School District. “I loved ‘Project Success’, the young lady continued probably much to the chagrin of hurried other shoppers standing behind her. I graduated from South High two years ago. I loved the college tours and the theater. And my facilitator was right there with me.”
Diercks’ heart cried out, “Validation! We’ve been doing a good thing, and our purpose continues to be fulfilled.”
Diercks, founder of Project Success, was born in Minneapolis and raised by a single mom of four and attended Minneapolis Public Schools throughout. Her mom is still an actress today at almost 90. “I grew up in theater. I grew up with struggles like many of the children and families we serve. I grew up with great lights from my mom and grandparents. They told me they couldn’t put me through college but were confident I could do it on my own. They challenged me to figure out what I was going to do to make the world a better place by using my skills,” she said.
“At 11 years old, I was asking myself, ‘What if every young person starting at age 11 could explore useful workshops, talk with trusted others about their lived experiences, explore who they really were, and began to discover where they wanted to go in this big, wide, beautiful world?’”
“What if every young person who’s as unique as Laura Garcia, my trusted colleague, could explore not alone, not in just one group of friends, but with every single child in their school? It’s about building on relationships, not just for one hour or one year, but from sixth grade all the way to graduation. We don’t tell anyone what to do. The team simply facilitates with our community and with our families, presenting relevant and engaging and challenging academic material enriched by new world findings,” Diercks said.
Laura Garcia has been the Director of Schools and Curriculum at Project Success for the past 15 years. She grew up in Colorado and was influenced by a large educator family. At 10 or 11 years old, it wasn’t surprising that she became a youth leader helping young Mexican and Latino students be advocates for their own education. Moving to Minnesota 17 years ago in search of meaningful work in education and theater, she found Project Success. “I still have a passion for the arts, but here in this state I work specifically learning more about the difference between SEL, 21st century skills, the 40 developmental assets, and all these incredibly robust initiatives around social and emotional learning that change up far too frequently,” she said.
In a The Conversation with Al McFarlane interview last week both described the power of the hours needed to capture the innocent and hungry minds of curious youth. “For those who facilitate the programming in collaboration with students, teachers, and families, there has never been a doubt that our associates care deeply about our young people’s future. They encourage their charges to believe in possibilities. They have shown 210,000 MPS children that they are valued and no matter the circumstances, there is always hope. There is always tomorrow. And tomorrows are filled with ‘success’ and joy. Our students get information about what it is they might want to do in the future. They define their own success and connect to their purpose. They try things and decide what works and doesn’t,” Garcia said.
“Our mission is simply propelled by ‘love’. It’s about community and peace of mind for students and their teachers.”
“We started out with workshops in classrooms. All participated. There was no pulling students out of class or exclusion even for special needs. Some critics said not all students needed our resources,” Diercks said. “But the reality that we all needed each other.”
Al McFarlane said the conversation reminded him of sitting with his neighbors in the Willard-Homewood neighborhood back in the early 70s asking for support to launch his idea for a community newspaper. It was Willard-Homewood, the Jordan Area Community Council, Hawthorne Neighborhood Association, and Northside Residents Redevelopment Council all voting to use federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)funds to support advertising with Insight News that enabled the launch of the neighborhood based publishing business. “I know about having people in your corner who believe in your dreams,” McFarlane said.. With a gentle smile, Diercks added, “Dreams and community and doing it together. That’s what Project Success is all about. It is indeed an honor!”
Students are excited to explore with each other both in discussion and also through experiences like going to the theater or on college tours. Project Success partners with 54 Twin Cities theaters. So, every month outside of school, students and families are invited to a play at Theater Mu, the Guthrie, or at the Penumbra. Over 5,000 kids got a chance to see ‘Hamilton’, Diercks said.
As a retired educator of almost 40 years, Project Success is ideal for today’s students, especially those not privileged and taught in prestigious school environments. My concern is the statistic our esteemed colleague, Dr. Irma McClaurin, Insight News Education and Culture Editor often reminds us of: 87% of public school teachers are white and they are teaching 50% of students of color. How are high schools recruiting students who might want to enter the education profession, especially Black Americans? How are we making the profession just as important financially as medicine or becoming a pilot? There were teachers who taught those who have managed success and prosperity in their lives. How are colleges and universities infusing cultural relevancy lined in a knowledge beneficial for all students and for those who care to know the truth and will fight to keep history from repeating itself?
When I questioned Garcia about ‘culturally responsive teaching’, she offered the importance of a critical piece of Project Success training of
“Our objective is to facilitate rather teach someone about true success. We want them to ease into their own discovery using their cultural background, their lived experience, their family, and all they have learned growing up,” she said. “There’s no way we can present workshops or be immersed in important conversations without non-judgmentally addressing and witnessing what is happening in the neighboring communities, the school community, and in the students’ personal lives,” Garcia says. “We work with teachers who work well with our students. You can see the connection because students want to come to school, and they try really hard. Then the teachers tell them how proud they are of the students’ work. They tell them they have high expectations for them, and they teach responsibility by stating that a bad day doesn’t give them permission not to be productive.”
“So many things have changed in education due to the fragile mental health of our students, their teachers, and their families. Survival and the poverty level are real, Diercks said. “When we look at how many other things are needed on top of academic requirements and enrichment, it takes a lot more to get where we want them to be. The community consists of a much more diverse population, along with a number of new languages. There is more to share in the richness of cultural awareness and appreciation. I grew up on a street that required cultural understanding I didn’t have at the time. But sitting on the stoop listening to great educators like Cynthia Tyson and Ida Lorraine Wilkerson, my perception of the system of education relating to people of color was more poignant than I could ever imagine.”
Project Success relies heavily on volunteers to provide transportation and staff events as greeters. The organization accepts any financial contribution from donors. Addressing social media audiences and Insight News readers, Diercks said, “If any alumni are listening, we want to hear from you. We could use your help in expanding our work. This story must get out just like we’re doing today on ‘The Conversation’. We’re presenting new narratives and perhaps a new understanding as to what can be done successfully to improve the learning and inspiring experience for ‘all’ children, one that values their dignity and their history. We must walk in the work of our own reality and our existence treasuring it and expecting that the world honors who we are, what we know, and where we go ‘together’ as human beings.”
For additional information: Project Success, 1 Groveland Terrace, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55403. Call (612) 874-7710. On the web at www.projectsuccess.org
