UW alumna Angela Simpson created a class enabling students to aid local underprivileged high school students. The program, called BreakOut, began as a concept in her Comparative History of Ideas senior thesis.

“I felt frustrated,” Simpson said about her experience at the UW. “We would talk about community problems in the classroom, but not do anything about them.”

Simpson created BreakOut as a result of this frustration. The program is a five-credit class within CHID. The program’s driving premise is to bridge classrooms and communities, giving UW students the opportunity to mentor Evergreen High School youth.

Evergreen students shared their problems with Simpson and UW mentors during the program’s first quarter meeting in autumn quarter 2007.

“They all said they did not feel safe at school. They felt that the school did not disperse their funds fairly. They were also disheartened by the startling depletion of attendance,” Simpson said.

An article published by Johns Hopkins University titled “Dropout Factory” cites Evergreen High School as having one of the highest dropout rates in the country.

Junior Jennifer Vahora, an Evergreen alumna, mentors Evergreen students because she views BreakOut as a “mechanism for change.” Furthermore, Vahora feels the program “acts as an agent of empowerment.”

Giving students an active role in creating their futures has “caused students to take on leadership roles and has given them the confidence and skills needed beyond high school,” Simpson said.

Simpson and Vahora mentor the Evergreen students, but they don’t expect them to all aspire to similar goals for their futures.

“We want to support them in their endeavors and to help them accomplish goals that they might have, whether that’s empowering them to go to college or to get technical education to become a mechanic,” Vahora said.

Like Evergreen’s students, BreakOut faces an uncertain future. Amy Peloff, the assistant director of the CHID program, who helped Simpson create the mentoring plan, describes it as unsustainable.

“Angela has a baby and needs to work in order to provide support,” Peloff said. “This year especially, she has struggled to pay for child care while she works on this program. She has worked really hard to make this program a reality at great personal sacrifice.”

Vahora describes Simpson as very dedicated to the success of the program.

“She’s stuck with us with no pay even though she has a family to support,” Vahora said.

Simpson purchased snacks for the students and rented a van from the UW with her own money when meeting with them.

“Without her, there would be no program,” Vahora said.

BreakOut has no source of funding beyond what Peloff, Simpson and Vahora can provide.

However, Vahora thinks the UW can play a more active role in the program by providing funding.

“We as mentors pay tuition to take the class, but we cannot get the educational experience we expect if they do not fund the program,” Vahora said.

Vahora hopes the UW can at least provide help to find funding if the University cannot provide funding itself.

Despite setbacks the program faces, Simpson does not consider leaving Evergreen’s students an option. To obtain funding, BreakOut is now reaching out to the UW community at large. She hopes people will be compelled to share their resources with the program and more UW students will mentor and help the youth of Evergreen High School.

[Reach contributing writer Nikolaj Lasbo at development@thedaily.washington.edu.]