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Category: W.9-10.7 (Writing | Research to Build and Present Knowledge)

From Street Kids to Wall Street

When Steve Mariotti, a successful young businessperson, was mugged by a bunch of teenagers in the streets of New York it changed his life. He decided to find a way to channel these young peoples’ destructive energy and creativity into more positive pursuits. In this story, we learn how the organization Steve started – the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship – has helped kids like Felix Rouse turn their passions into profitable small businesses. In just 10 years, NFTE had 186 teachers and 14,000 mentors who are replacing the deadens of drugs, crime and teenage pregnancy for over 10,000 students with a vigorous pursuit of success in the business world. As one graduate put it, “My dream is not to die in poverty but to have poverty die in me.”

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Freedom from Madness

Mahatma Gandhi had a very ambitious mission: to teach total nonviolence to the people of India. He had used civil disobedience and his fasts to free India from British imperialism in 1946. Now he wanted to teach his people how to create peace and racial harmony. “We are one human race,” he would say. “Religion must unify us, not divide us.” In this inspiring story, Gandhi’s grandson tells the story of how the great teacher helped Souren Bannetji, whose life had been ruined by religious hatred, to set aside anger and vengeance and learn how to forgive. Out of tragedy, Souren could create a new life for himself and his new family. He came to understand Gandhi’s words: “Change can come only one life at a time.”

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Focus: HOPE

EDS Chairman Les Alberthal came from a small town in Texas where everyone knows everyone else, and helping your neighbor is “as natural as pulling on your cowboy boots.” He encourages his 95,000 employees to live out his philosophy that healthy communities and healthy business go hand in hand. This is the story of how one EDS executive, Hulas King made a big difference in the lives of young people at Focus: HOPE in Detroit where a state-of-the-art technology center trains high school students to become manufacturing engineers and machinists. “Since the center’s founding in 1981, more than 5,000 young people have moved out of poverty and forward in their lives,” says Hulas. “For kids once on welfare and walking the streets, that’s an incredible future.” For Maia Cherry, one of the students mentored by Hulas, the personal attention and encouragement she received were as valuable as the technical training. “There are so many smart young people, and they don’t even know their potential,” says Maia. ‘1want them to know, if you have the desire, you can do it!”

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Fulfilling Martin’s Dream

When Frank Carr heard Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, it was a turning point in his life. Returning to Chicago, he challenged his business colleagues to join him in opening doors of opportunity to “all God’s children” so they could succeed in the. corporate world. His vision led to the national organization, INROADS which provides mentors and internships for over 6,000 young people like Juan, a young Mexican immigrant who was given a chance to succeed. Now a manager at Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, Juan says” There is so much talent in our youth. We all need to take the time to harvest it and help them realize their dreams.”

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