By Nancy Crabb
Philadelphia Region
Telisha Chase laughs when asked if she grew up thinking she'd go to college. "No," she says emphatically, shaking her head. "I didn't ever think I'd go to college. I didn't know what I would do."
But here she is today, a bright, confident, articulate 21-year-old from the Olney section of Philadelphia who looks you straight in the eye and talks of her love of Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou books while planning a future as a teacher, writer and Penn State graduate.
Chase was a middle-of-the-road ninth-grade student at Olney High School several years ago when she signed up for a new, four-week summer academic enrichment program called Project Power, her eye on the $360 that program participants would receive.
"When I started out in the program, it was basically all about the paycheck," she admits, adding that in those early days, she was far from a model participant. "I know I got on their (her Project Power teachers') nerves; I didn't want to pay attention and would goof off a lot with my friends."
But somewhere along the line, all that began to change. Chase's grades in school improved, she decided to run for senior class president and gave a speech at her graduation ceremony based on Frederick Douglass' writings. And today, as she finishes her junior year of college, Chase credits the intensive, little-known Project Power program as playing a crucial role.
Project Power, funded by the federal Job Training Partnership and the Philadelphia Private Industry Council, was created in 1993 by Penn State Abington physical education professors Wesley Olsen and Bob Barton, and Olney English teacher Myra Olshansky. The program targets average ninth graders -- not the best or the worst, and thus often overlooked -- at Philadelphia's Olney High School. It immerses the 30 or so participating students in academic and community work for a solid four weeks every summer, as well as in specialized workshops during the school year, until they graduate from high school. Most participants are minorities, and many have faced economic adversity all of their lives. Eighteen participants -- including Chase -- completed the first Project Power program. Thirty-one are now enrolled in Project Power Two.
"We start talking about college early," said Olsen. "Many of these kids would be first-generation college students, and we are trying to teach them to be productive citizens and to graduate from high school. Our hope is that 18 to 20 of our current group will go on to college. The others will likely go into the service or trades.
"We focus on academic enrichment, which means a lot of work on reading, writing and math skills, as well as lots of work on teamwork and communication, community service, college readiness activities and pre-employment skills like interview techniques and punctuality," said Olsen. "Students also take an overnight trip to University Park, where they stay in the residence halls and get a real sense of the larger college experience."
For Chase, the trip to University Park was a turning point.
"Project Power prepared us to go on to college, whereas public school really didn't. I remember when I came back from University Park, I really started thinking about going to college," she said.
Another breakthrough came during "give-back" Wednesdays, when she and other program participants would spend the day working with elementary school students at Philadelphia's Birney Elementary School. It was during these Wednesdays that Chase decided she wanted to become a teacher.
Olsen cites the program's long-term focus -- staying with the same group of students year after year until they graduate from high school -- as a major reason for its success. "Lots of programs are one-shot deals," he said. "We are the only program in the state that we know of that is continuous."
But Chase sees things a little differently.
"Dr. Olsen and Dr. Barton got to know us and helped us build our personalities," she said. "They believed in us and saw us graduating and moving on to college. Dr. Olsen would talk about this like it was a fact -- it was going to happen. He made us feel special."
Today, Chase works along side her former Project Power teachers as a "crew leader" for the program. And after two years as a student at Penn State Abington, She is temporarily enrolled at the Community College of Philadelphia, but ultimately plans to return to Abington.
"I will get my degree from Penn State," she said emphatically.
Olsen has no doubt that she will.
"She'll be the mayor of Philadelphia someday."