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Article: Chicago Valedictorians Struggle to Stay Competitive.
- Article from:
- The Chicago Reporter
- Article date:
- May 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Community Renewal Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Even though she worked hard and earned top grades in almost all her classes, Wendy Purham said her principal at Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School gave up on her and made her feel her dream of becoming valedictorian was beyond reach. So did her guidance counselor, who didn't include her in trips to college campuses.
It would have been easy for Purham to give up on herself. When she looked out the windows of her classroom at DuSable, 4934S. Wabash Ave., she saw a foreboding line of beige public housing high rises--the Robert Taylor Homes. She watched other girls pulling their children along. And in her junior year, Purham could reach down and feel her own baby ...