This is another installment in Birmingham Times/AL.com/CBS42 joint series “Beyond the Violence.” This project is grant- and donor-supported. Contribute to support the project here.
With just a single student, one table and four chairs, Donna Dukes opened Maranathan Academy in 1991 to help Birmingham’s young people.
Maranathan, a nonprofit, private alternative school, serves critically at-risk students from sixth grade to adulthood.
Many Maranathan students have experienced violence, hunger or poverty. Dukes founded the school with the hope that the program would give students and their families an opportunity to succeed and thrive.
In the wake of rising violence across Birmingham, including the mass shooting in Birmingham that left four people dead and 17 injured, Dukes says it’s important for local youth, especially those who might struggle or feel unsafe in a traditional school setting, to have options.
“So many of our kids come to us exhibiting signs of PTSD because of the crime in their neighborhoods and the fact that they have never known a life that doesn’t have daily gunfire in it,” Dukes said.
Some go to Maranthan in search of better opportunities and a safe haven.
“I have seen the most miraculous transformations among my students who complete the program,” Dukes said. “I cannot stress enough the reward that comes with seeing the light of hope come into the eyes of a critically at risk student and the success that they are able to attain.”
‘The most amazing kids’
Dukes planned to become an attorney that specialized in juvenile offenders. However, after spending time volunteering at the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center, she felt a calling to help them in another way.
“It only took three days to meet the most amazing kids, who had done not so amazing things. All of them had been expelled. They didn’t have anywhere to go…Someone needed to start a school for these kids,” Dukes said
With her mother, Jacquelyn Bates Dukes, who taught science, math and French, and her father, Rev. Frank Dukes, who taught African American history, by her side, Dukes opened Maranathan in her grandparents’ small house with a red painted porch and white banisters in Kingston.
“It was that hominess that helped a lot, in the beginning, with our students who had been so broken down…to actually feel like they had some place to go, and a safe haven and a second chance,” Dukes said.
Over the years, Maranathan has graduated more than 400 students.
Today, Maranathan Academy is based in a suite in a large glass paneled multi-use office building.
Classes are small, with no more than five students per grade level.
Most students attend Maranathan through scholarships. It costs $10,000 to teach a Maranthan student for a year, which includes textbooks, uniforms, food, field trips, bus passes, haircuts and personal hygiene products.
“Our dream is to have our own free standing building where we can have more students, more consistent, multi-year, committed fundraising or funding,” Dukes said. “Here, they’re free to laugh, and to dream and to be children.”
Maranathan has an 85% graduation rate, similar to Alabama schools’ 2022-23 88% graduation rate, according to reports from the Alabama Department of Education.
Over the years, Dukes worked with the Birmingham Public School System and the Birmingham Police Department to take on more students.
Devin Bridges is valedictorian of Maranathan AcademySpecial
Devin Bridges entered Maranathan as a ninth grader after spotty internet access during COVID made remote learning at his former school difficult.
Bridges said he often went to class feeling ill, suffering from migraines, stomach pains and body aches. Dukes and his teachers took notice and connected him to resources that could help. His teachers were always understanding and helped him to catch up on his work.
“They connected me with doctors. They helped me out with getting medicine,” Bridges said. “It was just like a family. Whenever I needed help there was always someone there to help me. It was the best school environment I had ever been in.”
Bridges took writing classes at Maranathan from Birmingham author T.K. Thorne, who encouraged him to use his voice.
In the spring, Bridges graduated from Marananthan as valedictorian. And earlier this month, he recited his own poem about unity in front of 600 people at a fundraiser at Samford University.
Bridges said Maranathan helped him to find his voice.
“Everyone at Maranathan Academy pushed me to do more. They made me a lot more comfortable with just getting out there and doing more,” Bridges said.
Becoming welders, lawyers, teachers
Many Maranathan students face unimaginable hardships.
“Critically at risk students have challenges that far exceed socioeconomic hardships, crime in neighborhoods or familial composition. I actually have students whose parents try to get them to quit school every day so they can deal drugs, [engage in prostitution], have babies, just to not go to school,” Dukes said.
The primary goal of Maranathan Academy, Dukes said, is to break cycles of dependency on government assistance and give students and their families opportunities to thrive through education.
Maranathan students have gone on to become members of the military, welders, HVAC technicians and teachers, she said. Two former students have graduated from law school. Some own their own homes and businesses.
Maranathan also serves adults of any age through a diploma completion program at Campus of Hope in Gate City. The program is also available online through Zoom.
Dukes said a majority of the students are single mothers who live in public housing. The adult students go to prom, get caps and gowns and cross the stage alongside the high school seniors.
The oldest graduate from Campus of Hope was a 95-year-old woman.
Many of the women who got their diplomas through Campus of Hope became certified contractors, nursing assistants and phlebotomists, according to Dukes.
Dukes said the commonality between all of her students over the years was that they all simply wanted a second chance at education.
An alumni’s story: ‘Life changing’
Donna Dukes (right) opened Maranathan Academy in 1991 to help at-risk youth succeed through education, resources and mentorship. Robyn Levert (left) said Maranathan made her feel safe.Alaina Bookman
In high school, Robyn Levert witnessed and experienced bullying. She transferred to Maranathan to be in an environment where she felt comfortable learning.
“I can remember that first day. I felt safe. All the teachers were super sweet. They actually took their time with actually teaching you…Ms. Dukes was the one person who would have gone beyond the beyond to make sure I was okay. She was one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life,” Levert said.
Today, 24-year-old Levert is in the final stages of becoming a registered nurse and attends Lawson State Community College.
“Maranathan set us up for success. It set us up for the world,” Levert said. “I would not have made it this far if it wasn’t for me going to Maranathan Academy.”
Ladazia Brown transferred to Maranathan Academy in search of a better learning environment when she was 16 years old. Brown said many of her peers made it hard for her to learn, so she found Maranathan and begged her mother to transfer.
“My experience at Maranathan was wonderful. It was life changing,” Brown said. “It felt like home.
Brown, who as a child did not believe college was for her, said Dukes convinced her to attend Miles College where she joined a sorority, became cheer captain and graduated with honors with her bachelor’s in science and child development.
Today, Brown, who is 22, works as a kindergarten aide in San Diego. She plans to go to graduate school for her master’s degree.
To this day, Brown still trusts and confides in Dukes. Brown said she became a Kindergarten teacher in hopes of making a similar impact on another child’s life.
“The staff really wanted to help you and the students are really ready to learn. Truly, all those students just wanted a second chance at life. They want to be heard. They want to do good. They just fell short in life and the school system counted them out,” Brown said.
During their time at Maranathan, Brown and Levert said they remember attending prom and graduation, participating in extracurriculars, community events, taking etiquette and communication classes and listening to “powerful” speakers who talked about careers and goal setting.
Most of all, Brown and Levert said they remember the impact Dukes and Maranathan made on their lives.
“For the students that attend Maranathan, I just want to tell them to, just keep going, keep pushing. There’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m living proof of it,” Brown said.
