Traveling the Road to Academic Success

(CBS 5) It's late December and a very special reunion is underway in San Francisco. Jacqueline Rushing welcomes her kids home from college for the holidays. There's Salahuddin, home from Texas Southern, Alicia from Alabama State, Dupre from Morehouse, and at least a dozen more. Jacqueline calls them "her" kids, but really, these are students in her Young Scholars Program.

"It started in San Francisco. And now I have students from all over the Bay Area," Jacqueline explains.

As an honors teacher in a San Francisco high school, Jacqueline was discouraged to hear her bright students giving up on plans for college.

"I said, 'You guys have good grades, why aren't you going to college?' And they just said, 'Oh we can't get in there!' They didn't have any hope," she says.

So she gave them that hope by founding Young Scholars, a place where high school students get tutoring, mentors, help applying for college, and a solid plan for achieving their goals.

Jacqueline says, "I thought about taking all of those students who come to school and strive to do it right and give them the information, access to that information, and make it a reality."

Aida Best is a high school junior now enrolled in Young Scholars. Jacqueline already has her sorting through college information so she'll be ready to apply when the time comes.

"You learn how to fill out applications and get financial aid, learn about financial aid, scholarships," says Aida. "Get ready just to go to college."

But a lot of her lessons won't happen in a classroom. Jacqueline believes travel is critical for young people learning to understand the world and be comfortable succeeding anywhere. So she takes them on tours of colleges across the country, and of countries around the world.

"I think it helps in them getting along with people, being able to tolerate different people," explains Jacqueline. "So we've traveled to Japan, over ten years. We've been to Bolivia. We've been to practically every state in the United States. These kids will get around and travel and see most, more than most adults have."

"Before coming to the Young Scholars Program, my primary focus was to play basketball," says Dupre Peoples. "But just going on those trips made me reflect on my goals in life and not just playing basketball, but to go to school and get my degrees and then give back to the community."

Dupre took advantage of the college tours before settling on Morehouse college. He and his fellow Young Scholars say the opportunities and strict rules of Jacqueline's program are helping them succeed at a higher level.

"We have to be punctual, we have to look the part, we have to be professional, and we have to be prepared," says a confident Salahuddin Tulah.

Jacqueline acknowledges not every student is cut out to be a Young Scholar.

"A lot of kids that have good grades may not want to do all of this. They may think it's too rigid. But the students who stay with us, see the reality at the end. They know what that is at the end of the rainbow and that's graduation from high school and college."

So for giving students the tools they need to grasp bright futures, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Jacqueline Rushing.

For more information on The Young Scholars Program, call 415-920-5072.

By Kate Kelly

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