What are the greatest challenges faced by African American students at the high school level?
JH: I think the greatest challenge is to buck the trends from society that show the correlation between African American students who drop out with those who end up in prison. They also need to realize and take advantage of opportunities—such as advanced placement courses, support labs, SAT [college entrance exam] prep sessions, and scholarships. Often low-income students choose not to be involved in co-curricular activities, such as a cheer program or a science fair, because of the costs, not realizing financial support is available. Sometimes these opportunities may be hard to access because there is not the adult advocacy that students need or possibly because of a social stigma [peer pressure] associated with the activity. They also need to know their culture and believe in themselves. Principal Ben Drati puts this so beautifully. He moved to the United States from Uganda when he was a child. He says when he was growing up he knew all the presidents in this country had been white,
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