Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Guillen.
Christina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Chicago, IL, but seeing the danger growing in our city and neighborhood, my parents moved my sister and me to Atlanta when I was in 4th grade. That is where I began my matriculation through Clayton County Public Schools, I attended elementary, middle, and high school in the district and knew that is where I wanted to bring my talents. As I got older, the reputation of my community began to degrade quickly and many people no longer saw Clayton County as safe. Seeing the reputation of Clayton County change so quickly, I wanted to do my part to set the record straight. I began teaching fresh out of college at 20 years old. I only planned on teaching for two years as part of a community program called “Teach for America.” My first year was amazing and I felt more fulfilled than ever. I knew I had found my calling.
It did not take long for me to realize that the system was not created to see students succeed. I knew that if I wanted to transform education, I would need to go beyond a classroom teacher. In 2008, my students and I wrote a grant for an afterschool program that would provide youth the opportunity to experience the things that had changed my life; community service and travel. This began the birth of my nonprofit YouthServ360, Inc., formerly Jeryme Brown and Mitchell Smalls Foundation. The organization was originally named after two youth family members I lost to violence during the hours of 3 to 7 pm. Jeryme Brown was my 13-year-old cousin who was shot at 3 pm while trying to return a video game to Rebox. Mitchell Smalls was my 3-year-old God-son who was shot while in the car going home from daycare between 3 and 4 pm. I knew it was important to provide a safe place for youth that began to address the trauma youth of color are more prone to experience than others.
The Passport Program is an extensive afterschool and summer program that combines, community service, travel, and activism to empower youth to walk in their greatness and lift up the community with them. The Passport Program has been in operation for 10 years. In that time, our students have completed over 100,000 community service hours, have attended over 40 college tours, and been participated in over 200 life skill workshops. The Passport program is a catalyst for change, but we saw that there were limitations with only seeing youth for two to three hours per day.
Thus the creation of 7 Pillars Career Academy. A charter school that combines a unique academic experience during the school day tasked to break the school to prison pipeline while giving each student access to the Passport Program. 7 Pillars Career Academy is the first school to be an approved charter in Clayton County Public Schools in over 10 years. The school is the first brick and mortar charter in the district and in the state that allows students to have autonomy of their pace through curriculum, and place of engagement. In addition, students will participate in social-emotional learning education on a daily basis to ensure a holistic approach to educating our students.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many obstacles, twists, and turns on the journey to launching my own school. Much of the struggle surrounds being a woman of color attempting to disrupt a system run primarily by white males that profit greatly from students graduating with very little education taking place.
Please tell us about 7 Pillars Career Academy.
I am the founder of YouthServ360, Inc. a youth development nonprofit tasked to empower youth to be intuned with themselves, their community, and preparing them to be global citizens. YouthServ360, Inc is comprised of divisions; Passport Summer and Afterschool Program, Passport Pantry (community food pantry run by Passport program participants), 7 Pillars Career Academy, Passport Food Program (our summer and afterschool feeding program), and YouthServ360, clothing closet.
As a company, I am most proud of the impact we have made on our students that have translated to the impact they have made around the world. Our students committed over 50,000 service hours to Atlanta Community Food Bank ensuring that those most fragile in their communities have access to food.
What sets us apart from others is our dedication to supporting the whole child, which in part means supporting their families.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Playing board games with my family on weekends. We would play Clue and my mother would make us Coke ice cream floats while we tried to figure out who was the murderer. As we got older, we increased the types of games we would play which I believed directly contributed to my “go get ’em” spirit. It also instilled that being together as a family is vital.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4234 Hendrix Dr.
Forest Park, GA 30297 - Website: www.7pillarsca.org
- Phone: 4043882561
- Email: 7pillarsca@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Christina Guillen, Sharon Daniel, Hilary Carruthers, Jazmin Briggs
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