Primary tabs
Location
Orlando Sentinel: Urban League's Program Gives Dropouts a Taste of College
Cordaro Norwood made it to 12th grade before being expelled. Yolanda Martinez dropped out in the 11th grade. Norwood is 22 and has never held a steady job. Martinez, 21, works as a seasonal, part-time employee at an amusement park.
On this day, they are learning fractions in Mary Key's GED class and the value of a dollar saved in Charles Greene's financial-responsibility class at Everest University's South Orlando campus.
For the first time, Norwood and Martinez can envision themselves as college students instead of high-school dropouts.
"I see other people doing it, and I don't see any obstacles in my way," said Martinez. "I could do it."
Norwood and Martinez are part of a partnership between Everest University and the Central Florida Urban League in a pilot program for the National Urban League. If it works here, the program could become a model for Urban League affiliates across the country.
