Believe to Achieve, a program that teaches young people kindness, caring and respect as a means of achieving lifelong success, this year helped dozens of at-risk girls graduate from Collinwood High School.

Now the leaders of Project Love, the nonprofit that is spearheading the program, are planning to expand Believe to Achieve to 12 schools across the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD). They are currently seeking funding for that initiative.

"l ascribe our success to a very simple formula, and the formula is love," says Stuart Muszynski, President and CEO of the Project Love Remember the Children Foundation. "When people love themselves and understand what they stand for, then they understand the social and emotional part of being successful."

Seventy one girls entered the four-year trial program in 2008, and 51 of them recently received diplomas. Along the way, they were buttressed with constant mentoring, a character-building curriculum, summer jobs and 24/7 support.

Eric Gordon, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, also praised the program. "The successes we are celebrating at Collinwood show the power of collaborative investment in the social and emotional learning needs of our students," he said in a news release.

Source: Stuart Muszynski, Eric Gordon
Writer: Lee Chilcote