COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS'S BLOG
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Life Support: A Success Story
- Posted on 04.20.09
Related causes: Community, Youth
It was during Precious Oliver’s sixth grade year, punctuated by periods of skipped school, classroom disruptions and altercations with teachers, that she came into contact with Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area (CIS-Charleston). Before entering a CIS-Charleston grief group with other young people who had lost close relatives, Precious was, in her own words, “one referral away from expulsion.” Today, she’s one step away from a college scholarship.
Precious was born in Harlem, New York, but all she has known is rural Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. At the age of four months, Precious was taken in by her grandfather and step-grandmother after her mother was killed in New York. She has never met her father. Today she is a 16-year-old sophomore at St. John’s High School, located about 30 minutes from Charleston.
The youngest of four children, Precious describes Wadmalaw as “quiet and kind of sleepy.” She loved her early years on the barrier island that is histor...Read More
