Madeleine Gertsen, Features Editor
@MGertsenCourant
Most NCHS students find themselves with a busy schedules; including going to school, participating in extracurricular activities, occasionally being tutored, and spending time with their family. For junior Brian MacCalla, an A Better Chance (ABC) kid, this experience is not any different. Besides the fact that he lives with seven other boys in a local house, Brian finds himself going through very similar routines to other New Canaan students. “We live with two resident directors, a husband and wife, who are really supportive of us and want only the best,” he said. “We also have two tutors that live in an apartment above the house and they tutor us during our study hall sessions on weeknights. Overall, it’s a pretty great environment.”
ABC Inc. was founded in 1973 and is one of 25 Community School Programs around the country. According to its website, its mission has been unchanged: “to offer capable minority youth the opportunity to learn in a superior educational program that will affirm and nurture their academic talent, while also preparing them to assume positions of responsibility and leadership in American society.”
Each year, the ABC House in New Canaan selects a handful of auspicious students in the tri-state area who will attend NCHS their freshman year and continue through all four years of high school, if they keep up the required minimum grades. “The point of ABC is to give students a better educational opportunity,” freshman Kai Clancy said. “For me personally, this program has prepared me for the real world and helped me develop study habits that I can use in the future.”
Applying for ABC programs is similar to the college application process. “What I had to do was complete a common application and then ABC called me in for an interview,” senior Kwaku Gyasi said. “They liked me and decided to send out an application to me. I later received the acceptance letters in order to decide which school I wanted to attend for the next four years.”
Each ABC student has a host home in New Canaan with students who attend NCHS as well. Kwaku’s host family is the Ross family (Ariana class of 2013, Bobby class of 2014). “They have done so much for me over the past four years that I can’t put it into words,” he said. “The biggest thing they have helped me with is opening up to people. They helped me develop into who I am today and I am very thankful to have them in my life.”
Each host family also serves as another outlet for the ABC kids. “The host family system is mainly designed to get the students away from the house for a bit so the residential directors could have a break during the week,” Kai said. “In terms of extracurriculars and education, my host family, the Essigs, have provided me with a tutor in the past. Also, they help me to participate in sports and community service.”
Each student is required to participate in extracurriculars, such as sports or theatre, to make friends and use time productively. “Staying active is extremely important in leading a balanced lifestyle and being as socially active as possible,” Brian said. “For instance, freshman football started three weeks before school began my freshman year, so I was able to join a friend group before school even started.”
As well as being required to do extracurriculars, many ABC kids volunteer in multiple clubs. “I’ve participated in SLOB’s (Service League of Boys) since my freshman year and I always try to go above and beyond to assist as many people as possible,” Brian said. “It’s not just for the rewarding feeling that I get, but it’s also truly to help people.”
Finding a balance between academics, extracurriculars, and community service is one way that the ABC House nurtures their students’ capabilities. “NCHS has helped me develop important academic habits such as organization and time management,” Kai said. “Classes are challenging and required me to change my old habits that led me through middle school and to create new ones.”
NCHS is teaching both academic and social skills to all of their students, including the ABC students. “I’ve always had the incentive to learn and achieve success, but it took me three years of high school in New Canaan to realize that I would have been miles behind if I didn’t come here,” Brian said. “This town has opened up my eyes and enabled me to endure the best of both worlds.”
“Living in a community like New Canaan has helped me meet new kinds of people and live a different lifestyle,” Kai said. “I love the community and I am thankful for the program here. It is important for other deserving students to get opportunities to study at a great school and live in a different community as well.”
Brian recently met the founder of the ABC program in New Canaan to discuss why he started it. “It was simply trying to bring diversity,” Brian said. “This is a great opportunity to thrive and show why we were accepted.”
Adapting to a new community, such as New Canaan, is a new experience for many of the ABC kids. “It is hard for many to adapt to the community of New Canaan, understandably, but it’s a journey worth making. The output is far greater than the input,” Brian said. “All in all, it’s such a great thing that New Canaan offers this program, and people in our school should just realize that we’re all just normal kids who were offered this opportunity and took advantage of it.”
