1) And Still I Rise is a youth development program in Strawberry Mansion that aims to improve the education and lives of children ages 8 to 18. 2) The program was started by executive director Krisha Coppedge who was inspired to provide activities and support for local children after seeing them playing in the streets with nothing to do. 3) Students in the program have shown improvements in reading levels and have participated in community projects, with some expressing interests in careers that could help the neighborhood like being a veterinarian.

1. Strawberry Mansion: Students Rise with New
Youth Development Program
And Still I Rise, a youth development programfor children ages 8 to 18, opened in
May. Itreceived its name froma poem written by the late Maya Angelou.
“You may trod me in the very dirt/ butstill like dust I rise,” reads the last two lines
of the first stanza.
Executive director and co-founder Krisha Coppedge(below) explained that partof
her inspiration for this educational undertaking came when shewas parked in her
car outsideof her church. She had spotted three young boys – whomshewould
eventually mentor in the beginnings of the program – playing on a truck in the lot
across the street.

2. “They wererunning up and down the street with nothing to do,” she said. “It’s
almost like they have no hope, no dreams. They were searching for something to
do.”
Leasing out the former site of her church on 31stand Cumberland streets and
investing her own money, Coppedge was able to provide a spaceto give the
children something to do.
The majority of the students currently enrolled in ASIRare between the ages of 8
and 13. Coppedge hopes that she can bring up the community by adding to the
education of these children.
Students at the two neighborhood K-8 schools, J.G Blaine and Ethel Allen, scored
at the lowest performancetier on standardized tests, according to 2012-13
district-issued schoolprogress reports. J.G Blaineranked 51st out of 98
elementary schools in the city, while Ethel Allen ranked 83rd.
ASIRfundamentally focuses on providing children with the confidenceand
supportneeded to succeed in the realm of education. Parents mustpay a one-
time fee of $45 for their children to participate, and currently they serveabout 11

3. to 15 students per day, a small drop-off fromtheir original 20 to 30 students in
the summer months.
“Oncethey had someone to tell them that, regardless of what educational level
you are on, that it’s not too late to changeit, you could see their motivation
beginning to rise,” she said.
Michele Clark (above), a teacher at ASIRand parent to one of the students
enrolled, has had a front seat to the change. When her 10-year-old son firstbegan
in July, he was reading at a kindergarten level. He has now progressed to a fifth-
grade reading level.
“The secret is patience,” she said. “We take ‘can’t’ out of our vocabulary.”
The niche that this programfills is not only educational. It also fulfills a
longstanding requestfrom community members to keep the children off the
streets. In the 2004 Strawberry Mansion Community Action Plan, activities for
youth was rated as a top concern among residents.
Educational programs at ASIRhave now sprouted into community projects and an
overall senseof pride emanating fromthe students for the place where they live,
said Coppedge.

4. According to Coppedge, students haveparticipated in gardening days, the Mural
Arts Program, a bike-a-thon and walk-a-thon as well as various prayer vigils.
“Their visions for their lives and the life of the community has expanded,” she
said.
This new consideration for their home community of Strawberry Mansion is
reflected in somestudents’ future career aspirations.
“I wantto be a vet. I really like animals and I really want to be someone who can
help out the community,” said KarimAmaro, 10, who spent one afternoon at ASIR
busily scribbling away at a series of long-division problems.
Fellow student Briann Wilkerson (below), 10, added that she wants to grow up to
be a paleontologist.
“I am going to come back and give Dr. Coppedge a lot of money,” shesaid.
Coppedge let out a chuckle.
“Itgoes much further than justthemselves, their families, wherethey live in their
home and school,” Coppedgesaid. “Our kids, they look out past themselves.”

5. ASIRteacher Connie Folly describes the transformation that shehas seen in her
students as “amazing.”
“They know that we love them and we are in this together,” she said.
In the future, ASIRis hoping to launch an additional programcalled “It’s Not Too
Late,” geared toward an older demographic as a GED program. Coppedgeis also
hoping that if additional funding is received fromeither federal or private sources,
ASIRcan begin to hire community members and stimulate employment within the
community.
“Itall goes full-circle,” sheexplained.
When Coppedge examines the state of Strawberry Mansion – its poverty, high
youth crime rates and a neighborhood high schoolthat justrecently came off of
the persistently dangerous list – she said she begins to cry.
“If something was not done, whatwould happen to the neighborhood?” shesaid.
Even in the face of this blight, Coppedgebelieves that by beginning with these
youth, a difference can be made. Strawberry Mansion as a whole, too, will rise
like dust.

6. “And still we rise. No matter how bad [Strawberry Mansion] has been portrayed –
the schooland the community and those children, they are justkids,” Coppedge
said. “They justneed someone to give them a chance. [ASIR] was thebest name
that I could have come up with because, regardless of the circumstances, they can
still riseabove all of that.”
Text, images, and video by Cindy Stansbury