ABOUT GAIL WOLKOFF:
Gail Wolkoff is a dedicated teacher educator, former school administrator, and longtime advocate for youth-centered, equity-driven education. After decades in public education, she resigned from classroom teaching and administration in May 2010 to pursue her vision of building community-based programming that connects young people to the world while fostering a deep love of learning.
In Fall 2011, she founded Dedicated to Make a Change, L3C (DTMAC), an organization focused on empowering youth through academic accountability, mentorship, and advocacy. In January 2017, she expanded her work by founding Educate Youth, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to increasing high school graduation rates in the 48197-48198 zip codes of Ypsilanti and ensuring every student develops a clear post–high school plan.
Gail’s practice centers anti-racist and positive education, grounded in the belief that strong relationships are the foundation of meaningful teaching and learning. Her work supports historically marginalized youth through academic support, leadership development, and community engagement.
She studied Earth Science and Social Work at The Evergreen State College and earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Pittsburgh. Gail continues to lead with a focus on educational equity, youth voice, and building pathways to long-term stability and success.
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David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU. And today, we're going to talk about concentrated efforts to raise graduation rates among young people in Ypsilanti and the process of providing the educational and personal support to accomplish that. I'm David Fair, and welcome to this week's edition of Washtenaw United. It is our weekly exploration of equity and opportunity in our community. Our guest today is Gail Wolkoff, and Gail is the Founder and Executive Director of Educate Youth. It's a local non-profit working to improve life outcomes for Ypsilanti youngsters. And, Gail, thank you so much for the time today! I appreciate it!
Gail Wolkoff: Thank you very much! It's exciting to be here!
David Fair: Well, from a layperson's standpoint, Gail, it appears to me there is still a great deal of inequity when it comes to access to quality education. Is that a fair statement in your estimation?
Gail Wolkoff: Yes.
David Fair: Do you think our government's budgets show education is a primary priority?
Gail Wolkoff: That's a really hard question to answer, David. I mean, my first gut would be to say, maybe, where the disparity comes in is just, if you look at Washtenaw County, the discrepancy between one side of the county and another side of county that has one of the largest discrepency of income. And then, we're also becoming known nationally for that reason. When you have a huge discrepancy income, you have one side of the county getting funds and the other side of the county, not getting the funds that are needed. It creates a situation where students are not getting what they need, so they need more, which means there needs to be more money put into it. And so, it's just a huge no-ball that has been created in the Ypsilanti city and township, otherwise known as the 48197/48198 zip code.
David Fair: I was just curious as to, after all of that time that you spent in public school systems, why you chose to kind of expand and take a different approach to how you educate students with Educate Youth.
Gail Wolkoff: Okay, thank you! That was an awesome question! When I taught, I was teaching in Ann Arbor. So, I saw that the social economics, I could see some of that there. I could see some other marginality. What really opened my eyes and changed to, I lived in Ypsilanti and I taught in Ann Arbor, is Hurricane Katrina and the breaking of the levees for close to a decade, I took students down into the Lower Ninth Ward and into areas to do hurricane cleanup and to work with youth. And so, youth and middle schools and high schools were working alongside of people in the Lower Ninth Ward. And it made me realize, number one, I saw the discrepancy. I saw the difference in the way just what education can do. When I got back, I thought about it for a moment, and then, it was like, "Okay, I've been working here. And now, I need to go literally to the old saying of my own backyard." And that's when I stopped teaching in Ann Arbor, and I opened up Dedicated to Make a Change, which was an L3C at first, and then we changed in 2017 to a nonprofit with the focus being on education. So, the original focus when we started was creating access for students to get academic support that was free for the students and that provided free academic support and transportation. And we have not moved from that backbone of being free and transportation.
David Fair: Our Washtenaw United conversation with Gail Wolkoff continues on 89.1 WEMU. Gail is Founder and Executive Director of the Ypsilanti nonprofit Educate Youth. Now, I saw a sweatshirt associated with Educate Youth that said, "Teams need role models, not critics." How do you apply that philosophy with students?
Gail Wolkoff: Teens need to be listened to. They have feelings. What was interesting is just a question that we asked yesterday is, "What do you want adults to know about you?" And it was amazing how many of them talked about, we want to be listened to, we want adults know that we can be depressed, we want adults to know that when we snap or when we have a hard moment, it's what's going on in their lives. And it's not necessarily about them. Developmentally, students are at that challenging moment in their life, and adults and teenagers historically don't get along because, developmentally, that's what's supposed to be happening.
David Fair: Right.
Gail Wolkoff: If they're going to move into adulthood, people get critical of them. And so, what a teenager needs is they just need a mentor and somebody to listen to them or someone to say hi and give them a smile and let them know that they're seen and welcome.
David Fair: Empowering students is a much easier task when there is a real sense of equity in the system and trust in who is running it. How do you go about creating that sense of fair play that allows you to better empower the young people to seek out their own successes?
Gail Wolkoff: Our building is at 104 South Huron. And when we first opened 15 years ago, the students who were the original cohort called it "The Clubhouse," because, as they said, everybody needs a clubhouse. And it's maintained that name. If you walk inside the building, it's the students that paint the walls. There's sayings. There's murals. Students have a sense of safety. So, the students have created the expectations of no put-downs, a safe environment. So, students know that everything that goes on, they have a safe space. And, one, I can't emphasize the importance of feeling safe, because if students do not feel safe, then they're not going to learn. If we have an 11th grader, that is reading on a first grade level, it's like, "Okay, let's do something about it," because if they're here, they want to do something, or if they don't have their credit load or if we have an 11th grader that's in National Honor Society and wants to go on, then we meet students where they are with a smile. We ask students how they're doing. Students repeatedly let us know that like you're the first people in the day to ask me how my day was doing. Think about that for a moment how hard that would be. So, we just create a space where students can be themselves.
David Fair: And, Gail, a primary component of the mission of Educate Youth is to give the best opportunity for success, and part of that is post-high school plans. How do you go about increasing the graduation rates, first and foremost, but then providing the students with the tools necessary to create that plan forward into either college or a career path?
Gail Wolkoff: That's an excellent question, David, because it changes with each year of school with students. Parents work with us. Parents have given us permission to communicate with the school, so all of the schools, we represent seven schools. So, each week, we check students' power school. Students learn how to do just the executive functioning of how to keep up and maintain school work. The next thing is we do is we make sure that the students have all the academic needs that they want and need. So, we supply anywhere from pencils to Chromebooks to cake mix because you're making a project in geometry class. And we have the mentors here. We have people that are willing to sit and work with them. So, we have mentors and tutors from EMU. We're getting more from the University of Michigan. And then, we also have alums who now are coming back to tutor the students. So, there's more of a holistic belief in education. As far as going to college and going on from it, they see the representation of people that look like them or may have a background from them or may have grown up down the street from them.
David Fair: It becomes possible.
Gail Wolkoff: Right. They're now going to college or are now working with somebody as an apprentice.
David Fair: Well, I mentioned that Educate Youth is a non-profit, and you do rely on grants donations and the like. You have an upcoming fundraiser on May 23rd at the Ladies Literary Club. There's going to be music and speakers. But what I'm most interested in is to extend your conversation on the importance of connection. People will have an opportunity to connect with some of your students. They'll share some poems and some writings. And if I'm in the audience that evening, what might I learn from the students at Educate Youth?
Gail Wolkoff: You'll see teenagers being teenagers. You'll see teenagers laughing and having that moment of being a part of something and feeling like they're welcomed and heard. And I can't emphasize that enough that, just that feeling of safety, I mean, starts to create that foundation for educational equity. You will see students taking the risk of sharing their words. You'll see them interacting with the people that are there. The person who is making the desserts was, at one point in time, a student, a participant here. He came here during the pandemic, and he's now doing the desserts for us.
David Fair: Well, once again, I think people become more connected if they feel as though they know somebody or see the progress and see the potential.
Gail Wolkoff: That is correct!
David Fair: Well, Gail, thank you so much for talking with me today! We most certainly appreciate it!
Gail Wolkoff: Thank you very much! It was exciting! I appreciate you taking the time to learn more about Educate Youth!
David Fair: That is Gail Wolkoff. She is Founder and Executive Director of Educate Youth and has been our guest on Washtenaw United. For more information on the nonprofit and the work it is doing with youngsters in Ypsilanti and the fundraiser on May 23rd, stop by our website at WEMU.org, and we'll get you pointed in all the right directions. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU Ypsilanti.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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