What started as a mission to improve literacy rates and decrease behavioral problems in North Tampa elementary schools has evolved into a multifaceted effort to lift grades and reinvigorate school spirit at Chamberlain High.
Last year, Terry Sisco, who helms the United Methodist Men ministry at Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church in Carrollwood, met with then Forest Hills Elementary principal Elizabeth Giles to start a chapter of All Pro Dads at the school.
"I asked [Giles] what the biggest issues were at the school, and she said that many of the kids were behind on reading and acting up in the classroom," says Sisco, 66, who serves as the CEO of Tampa motivational and corporate training firm ExSellerate. "There were fifth-grade kids at Forest Hills reading at a first-grade level."
The first year saw Sisco and more than three dozen other men from his church group read to and motivate kids at Forest Hills. The reading program was a rousing success, and word about the good things happening at Forest Hills Elementary quickly spread to neighboring schools, including Cleveland Elementary in Sulphur Springs, where Sisco helped establish similar initiatives.
But why the emphasis on reading? Strong reading comprehension is the key to student success, especially as children move on to high school. And one high school is particularly near and dear to Sisco's heart: Chamberlain High School. It's where the New York native's daughter, Lacey, graduated in 1997.
Until the mid 1980s, Chamberlain was the only public high north of Busch Boulevard and west of Florida Avenue serving students in Forest Hills, Original Carrollwood, Lake Magdalene, Lutz, and other northern Hillsborough County suburbs. Once Gaither High opened in 1984, followed by other nearby high schools into the 1990s and beyond, Chamberlain's student body became less affluent as more upper-income families moved northward. In many cases, parents enrolled their teenagers in private high schools or other elected other academic options.
Sisco saw the major changes at Chamberlain happen in just the two decades since his daughter attended the school, which opened in 1956.
"Over the past 10 years or so, literacy levels significantly dropped at the school and there are other problems, too." Among those "other problems" were increasing student delinquency rates.
Hillsborough County school officials have already begun making radical changes at Chamberlain in the past year, most notably with the hiring of Jake Russell, who successfully served more than a decade as principal of Sickles High before taking the lead at Chamberlain. Since taking charge at Chamberlain last year, he has made sweeping staff changes and helped elevate the school's overall grade from a low "D" to a high "C."
But Chamberlain's path to a "B" or even an "A" also requires more work from the students, many of whom struggle with reading comprehension, a problem best remedied in earlier grades. This is where Sisco and his men's ministry believe they can make strides at Chamberlain by helping expand reading programs into more of the elementary and middle schools that eventually feed students into Chamberlain.
In addition to Forest Hills and Cleveland Elementary, these schools include Carrollwood, Lake Magdalene, Crestwood, Oak Grove, Twin Lakes, and Sulphur Springs elementary schools as well as Adams and Memorial middle schools.
Sisco has enlisted the help of several Chamberlain alums, including Heywood "Woody" Turner III and Anthony "Tony" Cappadoro, both from the Chamberlain class of 1978. Reinvigorating school spirit, along with improving grades, are two of the many goals Sisco, Cappadoro, Turner, and others seek to realize for Chamberlain and its students.
"With Terry [Sisco], they laid some great groundwork at Forest Hills," says Russell. "They know they are great kids but where are they going from there? Helping improve reading levels is critical.
"If [the kids] are reading two or three grade levels back, that makes it challenging. The goal is to give kids a vision of Chamberlain as they graduate from schools like Forest Hills into Adams."
Russell added poverty as yet another challenge at Chamberlain.
"We're educating our teachers on poverty, its effects on students, and how to deal with that."
District 3 School Board Member Cindy Stuart called the efforts to improve reading levels at North Tampa schools and raise grades at Chamberlain a "true collaboration" of many individuals working together for a common goal. She says the next big step for Chamberlain is rolling out the red carpet for future Chamberlain students at the upcoming Chamberlain Champions event on Oct. 6.
"We want to get kids more engaged with the school so that as they age through elementary and middle school they are excited to become a 'Chief' one day," Stuart said.
The event will include photo opportunities with Chamberlain Chiefs football players and cheerleaders, music, games, a parade, giveaways.
A special Chamberlain Champions Award and $500 scholarship will be presented to the school with the highest percentage of overall student participation.
"Ultimately, the goal isn't just raising the bar at Chamberlain but also morale," Stuart said. "I can't wait to receive more calls from parents who want to know how to get their kids into Chamberlain."
Contact Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez at hillsnews@tampabay.com.