Jefferson Award Winner Steers Students To College

SAN PABLO (KPIX 5) For almost 30 years, this week's Jefferson Award winner has been teaching high school students in the East Bay, and says in all that time he has never met a "stupid student." So when many of his students weren't going on to college, he did something about it.

Karl Debro and Robert Marrujo have covered a lot of ground together. Debro taught Marrujo in high school more than a decade ago and changed his path forever.

"The roadmap for getting to college is complicated for people who don't know anything about it," Marrujo explained, saying he found that roadmap through a program Debro piloted at San Leandro High called AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination.

"I was really passionate about African American and Latino kids in the higher classes, they weren't going on to college," Debro recalled.

With the structure and support Debro provided through AVID, Marrujo became one of many success stories.

"At the end of the day, we had a 95% four year college admission rate!" Debro reported.

Today you'll find Debro on the campus of Contra Costa College, where he has taken on his next challenge as Director of Gateway to College.

"Here I saw an opportunity to work with kids who really were given up on, were drop-outs, or being pushed out," he explained.

Gateway to College is a different kind of high school experience: it's on a college campus. Students take high school classes, but also can take college courses, and are mentored every step of the way.

"They make sure I get the classes I need," said student Jorge Gonzalez. "They are constantly helping us keep on track with things we are doing, so if we start slipping up they will help us move us back on the path."

Gonzalez joined Gateway last year.

"I knew coming here, kids would actually want to learn and there would be no distractions for us whatsoever," he added.

Many students come from stressful homes, so counseling is provided on campus through a partnership with the Wright Institute. With over 110 kids currently enrolled, the number of Gateway graduates is growing every semester.

"People say these kids can't do it, people have given up on these students, and that's not how I see them," Debro said. "I see them as people who are brilliant, who have tons of potential, who might not know it themselves.. and I feel like I can help them."

So for years of helping students on the path to personal success, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Karl Debro.