Abstract
She entered the room wearing a slightly soiled bulky winter coat with fake fur trim around the hood. The hood completely covered her face. She was much taller than I was and did not seem to be the least bit excited about my idea to organize a new group. As one of my University students told me later, “I thought she was going to hit you.” I, too, was not entirely certain that she was not planning violence. Her body posture was definitely aggressive. Ignoring her obvious signs of hostility, I suggested that we all find a chair. Three teens, middle school and high school age, two of my university students, and myself were stuffed in an overly crowded computer lab at a local community center. I explained that the six of us would be meeting each week. Sometimes we would meet as a group, sometimes for one-on-one tutoring, but that every Thursday we would come to this room to work on reading. She sat defiant with her hood still pulled over her head hiding her face. We broke into one-on-one subgroups for testing and initial tutoring. She was 15 years of age, a freshman in high school, and reading at the pre-primer (below first grade) level. The school had placed her in a special education classroom and had designated that she was to be taught second grade course material. She had an extensive record of behavioral issues and had been removed from the school bus because of bad behavior. Her file was marked “will most likely drop out of school as soon as she is old enough.” There was absolutely no way she could read the second grade material being given to her at school.
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Harpine, E.C. (2011). Creating At-Risk Children and Youth. In: Group-Centered Prevention Programs for At-Risk Students. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7248-4_2
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