CBS special looks at faith response to children 'left behind'

Published: 2004-06-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A new interfaith religion special airing June 27 on CBS will examine different faith responses to children often left behind by society. "Help Them Learn, Help Them Grow: A Faith Response to Children Left Behind" will air 8-8:30 a.m. EDT. Featured in the special is San Miguel School, a middle school founded on the South Side of Chicago by the Christian Brothers after a Catholic school in a crime-ridden Mexican-American neighborhood was closed down and the local public school was failing. San Miguel serves students who barely speak English, and are several levels behind in reading and math. But with the aid of longer school days, year-round classes, 90 minutes a day of reading, and a 9-to-1 student-teacher ratio, the children show marked improvement. Christian Brother Ed Siderewicz explains on camera that many teachers live in the community, work for modest pay and look upon their work as a mission. The children, some of whom are interviewed in the program, are monitored through high school; many get scholarships to leading Catholic institutions.

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