Success stories motivate Philadelphia teens

Hazim Hardeman knows the odds are against him.

In Philadelphia, nearly half of all high school students drop out, and the rates for African American and Latino youths are even worse.

"It's hard on the streets," said Hardeman, 15, a sophomore at Dobbins Technical High. "There are so many distractions."

Still, he's determined to graduate, to go to college, to find his way out of a dead-end neighborhood. So were 250 other male teens from around the city who gathered at a town-hall meeting yesterday to sign pledges to stay in school.

To help motivate them, a dozen men who have made it - athletes and financial wizards, TV personalities and sneaker executives - spoke of the obstacles they faced in common.

"We all have similar backgrounds," said 76ers star Andre Iguodala, who grew up in Springfield, Ill., in a tacitly segregated neighborhood. "We're not people from a whole different world. You've just got to pick the right avenue, find your gift, and have a plan."

Held at the Philadelphia School District's headquarters, the event was cosponsored by the district and the Urban Youth Racing School, a nonprofit extracurricular program that teaches inner-city students about motor sports. It was open to all male high school students in the city.

Those who signed up, many of them squirming on hard seats, heard seldom-told tales of the men's beginnings - in cities and small towns, on tough streets.

CBS sportscaster James Brown, who moderated the event, talked about encountering racism in broadcasting, of once being passed over because, he was told, he was too black.

Eagles fullback Leonard Weaver recalled growing up without a father, and how it motivated him to pursue a better life than his dad's.

Their messages resonated with the students, who peppered them with questions: How do you handle peer pressure? What's a real man? What is staying in school going to do for me?

Weaver's childhood friends were caught up in gangs and drugs. "I had to say, Is that going to help me to get where I want to be? If your goals are here, bro," he said, holding his hand high above his head, "then you've got to let those friends go. You've got to separate yourself."

Iguodala nodded.

"Set the tone early," he said. "I had a lot of friends like that. We're cool, we can hang, but from an early point in my life, they knew what I was about."

Keith Houlemard, president of the Air Jordan brand for Nike, told the teens what he thought defined real men.

They "stand up and own their responsibilities, no matter what they are," Houlemard said.

Celebrity wealth adviser Ted Reid, who grew up in Willingboro, talked about a teacher who told him he'd never amount to anything - words that fueled him to do great things.

"The greatest revenge," Reid said, "is success."

Math class might not mean much now, Weaver told the teens, but it will eventually. No way, he said, could he memorize and execute 400 pages of plays without that foundation.

"Reading is fundamental. Going to school is fundamental. Anything you do in life is defined by what you do in school," Weaver said. "Not all of you are going to be athletes, and even if you are, you have to get an education."

Anthony Martin, founder of the Urban Youth Racing School, said that by reaching out to the teenagers, he hoped to reduce the dropout rate in city schools by 2 to 3 percent.

"The numbers in Philadelphia are just staggering," Martin said. "We're going to take these 250 boys, remain in their lives, get behind them, and follow them."

Danny Colon said it could work. Now 22 and a student at Drexel University, Colon discovered Urban Youth Racing School when he was 16 and disillusioned with his classes at Northeast High. He had been kicked out of his parents' house.

Strong mentors who stressed education, who instilled in him a work ethic, and who urged him to pursue his passion for racing helped save him, Colon said.

"I went from almost dropping out to receiving academic honors," Colon said. "They can do it, too."