Success Stories
Succeeding in School: Tonya
Tonya attended one of Nashville’s lowest-performing middle schools. Her mother had raised her to work hard and respect others and she was a good student, but it was hard to do that in a school disrupted by daily violence. When Tonya (who had never been in trouble for anything at school) got suspended for fighting, the United Way-supported YMCA Bridge program stepped in to
help her apply for magnet and alternative schools. They offered support so that this promising student wouldn’t become another drop-out statistic. Tonya is now in the 9th grade at a magnet school and doing well — a very good sign, since more students fail 9th grade than any other grade.
