This article was reported as part of the J253 Reporting and News Writing course at UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. This article is part of a series that explores the human dimensions of poverty, unemployment and economic distress across North Carolina. Continue to check reesestate for updates on the series.

DURHAM
One year ago, eighth-grader Ariany Ramos-Redondo became a part of the K to College Program at the Emily K Center in Durham.

“For me, it’s a second home,” Ariany said.  “I have friends here who are like my family. The tutors are like my family, too.”

Tutoring changes student goals in Durham. But it’s not a tutoring program or a baby-sitting service.

The program provides individualized learning plans to 110 academically focused kids who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program.  The center recruits a majority of its students through recommendations from teachers, principals and guidance counselors in the Durham school system.

Students like Ariany might not have access to private tutors and college prep courses, and the center provides a means to help students reach their academic goals.  While health care, food and housing are important concerns for families who are struggling to make ends meet, education is another valuable resource that can help turn lives around.

Michael Krzyzewski or “Coach K”, the well-known Duke University men’s basketball coach, built the center and christened it with his mother’s name, Emily.

As the son of two parents who emigrated from Poland, Krzyzewski grew up in the North Side of Chicago in a poor neighborhood.  As a student, he spent time at a North Side community center developing his talent for basketball.  Because the community center strongly influenced his life, Krzyzewski decided to give students in the Durham community a similar opportunity.

Executive director Adam Eigenrauch, who has worked at the center for five years, explained how access to out-of-school learning helps the Durham community.

“The best way to combat the cycle of poverty is to . . . help students create opportunities for themselves that no one in their family has had yet. And certainly when you’ve earned a college degree you’ve gained a tool, you’ve gained leverage that presumably has not existed in your family at that point.”

In order to help students achieve academic goals for the long term, the Center strives to keep students in the program during their entire academic career.  With six to 12 students per head tutor and almost one volunteer tutor per student, each student receives individual help.

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, “89 percent of children whose parents do not have a high school degree live in low-income families” in North Carolina. Of the students who attend public school in Durham, 45 percent of students are economically disadvantaged.

Ariany applied to an early college high school and a medical prep high school for the upcoming school year.  In the future, she dreams of medical school at Duke or at Harvard.  As a rising ninth grader, her work with the center will revolve around SAT prep, college planning, college visits and job skills development.

For students at the Emily K Center, the question is not whether college is possible. The question is which college is the best option. Numerous college banners boasting names like Harvard and Florida State University line the walls of the classrooms, and the state-of-the-art gym reflects Coach K’s passion for basketball.

“It’s a program that can meet the needs of a lot of kids from low-income families, but it’s not designed to meet the needs of every kid from low income families,” Eigenrauch said. “You just can’t make generalizations about and certainly on the basis of where they’re coming from economically.”

The learning isn’t limited to school subjects like math and reading.  A major part of the program involves developing character and leadership skills through the use of six pillars, which are heart, high expectations, hard work, integrity, honesty and respect.

Sixth grader Daveion Atwater has been a part of the program for five years and uses the pillars daily.  For Daveion, honesty means a lot to him in his daily life.

“If something happens in the neighborhood, because it’s my friend, I’m not going to lie. Because it’s my friend, I’m going to come out with the truth,” Daveion said.

When the students are asked what they would want other students to know about the Emily K Center, the group grew thoughtful.

“I would want them to know it would be a big difference in their life school-wise and life-wise because you can meet more people and do a lot of things,” Daveion said.

Ariany echoed a similar sentiment.

“It would benefit them for the future,” she said. “They don’t have to be on the streets doing bad stuff. Instead, they can be learning and preparing themselves for the future.”