April 2023
News, updates and perspectives on the
future of education from Learn4Life
Bullying Made Her Give Up on School…Until She Found Learn4Life
Aspen A. was a good student and enjoyed school – until she got to junior high and was a target of physical and mental bullying. She dreaded going to school and started skipping class. Knowing it would only get worse in high school, her parents had her transfer to Learn4Life where she found a safe home and flourished.

She soon emerged as a leader among her fellow students, will graduate a year early and was a Fellow in our 12-week Civic Literacy and Media Influence program, earning a $1,000 scholarship for her successful completion. 
Nevaeh Beat the Odds and Earned a Scholarship to UCLA
Nevaeh D. always got good grades and had goals of higher education, so it’s no surprise she is headed to a leading college this fall with a full scholarship. But this path to a degree and a fulfilling career could have easily been derailed 2 1/2 years ago when, as a high school sophomore, she found out she was pregnant.

The grim reality is that only 53 percent of women in their twenties who first became mothers when they were teenagers completed a traditional high school degree, according to the nonprofit research organization Child Trends. By contrast, 90 percent of women who did not give birth as teens obtained a traditional high school diploma.

Fortunately, during the pandemic, Nevaeh had transferred to Learn4Life and was able to continue her studies at her own pace while taking care of her baby.
These Students are Developing a Nose for (Fake) News 
If it’s on the internet, it must be true, right? While most adults know that’s not the case, do children? Turns out, most kids don't, despite having grown up with technology. Over the last decade there has been a drastic increase in the amount of time young people spend with media, so it’s important for them to learn to control the media that surrounds them, rather than letting it control them.
 
We created a Civic Literacy and Media Influence (CLMI) fellowship program to do just that. Working with seasoned media professionals, students develop critical thinking skills about the media and learn how the media shapes our culture and society.