Gibbs: Let's talk about your foundation and agency. What is the James & Gigi Todd Foundation, and how does it relate to the Educational Resource Development Group? What is the ASCEND program?

Dr. Todd: The foundation is a California nonprofit, family foundation established to serve the educational needs of those in the inner cities and isolated areas. This foundation conducts its work through six direct service programs. 1.) Step To College/Ascend, 2.) Project ASCEND, 3.) Strategies For Success, 4.) Inner City Teachers Academy, 5.) Student Enterprise Incubator, 6.) Millennium III Regional Educational Enterprise Technology Center.

Gibbs: Talk to us about the ASCEND Project. What is it, and how does it work?

Dr. Todd: It was in 1985 that I realized that most African American students were dropping through the cracks. But I wasn't willing to accept the notion that our children couldn't learn or it was the kids' or families' fault. I thought I had left racism and all of the barriers when I left Oklahoma and other places, but this was the worst area I had ever seen. I was doing my doctoral research at that time, and as I looked into the problems, I realized that the Bay Area was so bad that it was the worst I had seen, in terms of schooling African American students--black students were stereotyped, set up for failure from the beginning, etc., and they didn't have basic educational skills. By the time they reached fourth and fifth grades, they could not read. The reason for that was the teachers wouldn't teach them. Teaching is more than information. It's socialization, identification with, and caring for the students. So I set out to raise hell. I decreed that I could fixed this, if you let me. Linda Davis was the Deputy Superintendent in San Francisco, we had gone to high school together in Los Angeles, so they gave us some money and said, OK, fix it. So we started the first class. That was at the Ida B. Wells and Mac Ateer High School. We had 14 students. I started an after school program to work with them; then we designed a new curriculum--a fast-track curriculum. Now I have said all this to say that it was a reinvention of the Southern educational program that blacks received in segregated schools. The major aspect of those schools was that the teachers cared about the students and those teachers became the models that the students emulated. That model is what the our program is about. Faced with all kinds of obstacles, historically, we have rallied around each other, supported each other, and created an incubator that ensured success. In the south, that system taught you why you needed to learn, how you could learn, why you needed to dress and speak well--why you needed to do all of that. And make sure that your skill level is higher than all others. Ms. Anda Lee Walker had written Reach Wisely: A Black Culture Educational Theme. She now lives in Oakland. Then there was Grant Venerable, a powerful intellectual and a chemist, a high school classmate of mine. These were two jewels for our program; they provided invaluable information and assistance. In short, the Step To College/ASCEND is a year long intensive academic program for high school juniors and seniors who are having academic and or social development problems and who have not been previously selected for college preparatory courses. To date, over 4,600 students have completed this program and 84% have gone one to four year colleges, universities, or technical schools throughout the United States. The Project ASCEND, (Accenting Science and Entrepreneurial Distinction), is a major component of the STC process. The program is designed to provide enrolled students with the tools to consider self-employment as a first option after graduation. This program is a partnership with business, government, community services agencies, and other programs with similar objectives. We have had excellent success--Ms. Tiffney Hall is one excellent example of our success. She is a graduate who is now a Water Quality Chemist with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission [see picture above].

Gibbs: I assume that parental involvement was important. How did you get the parents involved in this process?

Dr. Todd: We picked up the telephone and called them. You can't teach people if you don't know who they are and where they lived. So the teachers had to not only call, they had to also visit the homes. The perspectives of the teachers were changed as a result of those visits. We also required each teacher to call the parents at least four times a year, but when there was a problem, the teachers were not to call, they had to actually visit and talk about that problem. We had a Learning Contract--I actually started this contract process, now everyone uses it. We set up many techniques that went into this program....

Gibbs: We have to bring this interview to a conclusion, but before we do, tell us again the total number of students who have gone through this program, how many went on to college, and how can one get in contact with you?

Dr. Todd: Since 1988, a total of 4,600 students have gone through the program, and 84% have gone on to four-year colleges after graduation. Although we are moving our offices, our phone number will be the same for the next six months--(510) 286-8880.

Gibbs: Dr. James H. Todd, thank you for the interview, thank you for caring about our youths, thank you for developing a program that will address the needs of our youths and showing us that something can be done.[]