As I struggle to make sense of why our different states are now locked in raw and fierce competition for "Race To The Top" funds when the educational needs in each and every one of our United States desperately begs to be addressed by "we, the people," out of one of Chicago's worst ghettos comes a story that reassures me "if we can dream it, we can achieve it."

Walk with me through a shameful area of urban blight that is called Englewood. As one there told a reporter from the Chicago Tribune earlier this week, "Poverty, gangs, drugs, crime, low graduation rates, teen pregnancy - you name it, Englewood has it."

But after we saunter a bit through the 'hood, we will come to a charter school called the Urban Prep Academy for Young Men. It is here the school's first-ever graduating class is anticipating graduation this spring and, if you'll notice, you'll find the seniors, each with a beautifully defined purpose to their step, now wear neckties unlike the other African-American males who also attend the school.

Urban Prep Academy, a no-nonsense mecca where each student is determined to be there, has a daily dress code that calls for a black blazers, khaki pants, a white shirt and a red tie. They are rigorous, and proud, about it. But when a young man receives documentation that he has been accepted into an accredited four-year university, there is a certain ceremony that takes place.

In front of the entire student body, he is presented a necktie with alternating stripes of red and gold. It's a big deal. That's why Chicago Mayor Richard Daley himself was in the crowd on Friday because when 13 proud sons were stood in an assembly and given new ties to exchange, the war whoops and tears and applause were deafening. On Friday it was celebrated that every senior in the school - all 107 of the first class ever - have now been accepted into colleges next fall.

Get this; when Tim King, the founder and CEO of the charter school, first met the same students as freshmen four years ago, only four (4!) percent could read at the 9th-grade level. "There were those who said you can't defy the data. Black boys are killed. Black boys drop out of high school. Black boys go to jail. Black boys don't go to college. Black boys don't graduate from college ... "

Guess what? As Tim King will fiercely tell anyone, "They were wrong!"

Life at Urban Prep Academy isn't easy. It is designed not to be. Students take twice the load in English, for example, that other Chicago high schools do. They go to school earlier, get out later, and do more while they are there than any other school in Illinois.

Four years ago 150 students started in the freshman class, but along the way 43 were lost, mainly because they moved elsewhere and, in some cases, into other Chicago ghettos where it was "too dangerous" to come to Urban Prep. Less than 10 were ever expelled.

And while the focus now shifts to passing final exams, the intense counseling given every student, will intensify. It includes applying for federal student aid, a pledge that each must sign saying they will attend college, and a summer-long commitment by the student and school to assure not one graduate slips through life's cracks.

Does it get better than this, or what! This is proof a kid will fight like a heavyweight champ if his heart is in it. Go to the website and look at these guys. Find Saturday's Chicago Tribune and look at the expressions - and the red and gold ties - on the front page. Urban Prep is rock-hard evidence that if the right crowd goes to even a rat-hole like Englewood, the kids will respond in a way that results in every blessed one of them getting accepted into a four-year university.

Do you believe that? Okay, then, let's join in and, with strong-voiced pride, recite the Urban Prep Academy for Young Men's creed. As we all do, I draw your attention to the leaders of tomorrow, those rightfully proud young men who wear the black blazer with the patch, because they know the words by heart:

We believe.
We are the young men of Urban Prep.
We are college bound.
We are exceptional -- not because we say it, but because we work hard at it.
We will not falter in the face of any obstacle placed before us.
We are dedicated, committed and focused.
We never succumb to mediocrity, uncertainty or fear.
We never fail because we never give up.
We make no excuses.
We choose to live honestly, nonviolently and honorably.
We respect ourselves and, in doing so, respect all people.
We have a future for which we are accountable.
We have a responsibility to our families, community and world.
We are our brothers' keepers.
We believe in ourselves.
We believe in each other.
We believe in Urban Prep.
WE BELIEVE.

royexum@aol.com