SWEET DREAMS

At his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate, earlier this year, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan noted that before becoming Superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools, he (along with his sister and other volunteers) ran an “I Have a Dream Program” for six years. They took 40 sixth graders and worked with them all the way through high school—“tutoring them, mentoring them every day, working with their families to give them the opportunity to be successful.” The astounding result? 87% of the Dreamers graduated on time and 65% went on to college.

You can imagine (or dream) how working with the same group of committed students every day for six formative years can make a difference. You probably do not have the time to do this, but here’s what you can do—make a donation, or sponsor a program in a local school, or volunteer in an existing “I Have a Dream” school. Here’s more about the program from the website: www.ihaveadreamfoundation.org/html/

We are working to ensure that all children in this nation have the opportunity to pursue higher education and to fully capitalize on their talents, aspirations, and leadership to have fulfilling careers and create a better world. Our approach is unique in that we sponsor entire grade levels of 50-100 students in under-resourced public schools or housing developments, and work with these "Dreamers" from early elementary school all the way through high school. Upon high school graduation, each Dreamer receives guaranteed tuition assistance for higher education.

While each "I Have A Dream" program is localized to meet the specific needs of its Dreamers, all of our programs share common elements and take two basic forms, school-based and housing-based. There are several factors that make "I Have A Dream" unique. We are in the process of developing a five-year plan to significantly increase our impact of both performance and scale. As part of this effort, we are updating our program model to dramatically strengthen our student outcomes, ensure greater consistency across affiliates, and ultimately, produce many more college graduates.

Currently 4,000 Dreamers are on the way to college in 17 states, Washington, D.C., and New Zealand, following some 11,000 Dreamers who came before them.