Educational Media Reviews Online

One of the fastest tracks toward becoming a high school dropout is to become a single mother; 90% of the girls who do drop out of high school do so because they became a parent. For Dr. Asenath Andrews, principal of Catherine Ferguson Academy for pregnant and parenting teens and their children, this is simply unacceptable. She is determined to make sure that this generation of teen mothers will not lose a decade of their lives. “You cannot determine the ancestors that you inherit, but you can completely determine the kind of ancestor you will be.” Grown in Detroit chronicles just how one school with some 300 students is making a difference in the lives of these young mothers and their children.

Andrews is compassionate yet realistic; she’s fully aware of the city’s problems and the seemingly insurmountable challenges faced by her students, yet she’s leading her alternative high school into new enterprises. Since much of the vacant housing in Detroit has been razed, Ferguson Academy students have created an organic farm. The students are raising bees and livestock, and selling the organic produce at Detroit’s Eastern Market.

Ferguson Academy students face almost overwhelming obstacles. Some ride as many as three buses for a two hour ride; they lack support, and it must be emphasized these mothers are children themselves. As Andrews says, “It shouldn’t be that hard for somebody at sixteen whether they have two kids or not. It just shouldn’t be that hard.” The school’s lessons may be unorthodox—ranging from gingerly milking a goat to a less than successful encounter with a bee hive—but the students are learning decision making, critical thinking, and parenting skills and they are becoming successful. At times both heart-warming and heart breaking Grown in Detroit is an inspiring story of urban education that works. Highly recommended for all collections.