Why are boys falling behind, in Sonoma and nationwide?

Whether the measure is grades, SAT and ACT scores or college going rates, not only have females closed the academic gender gap, they are now exceeding boys across almost all measures.

This nationwide trend is reflected at Sonoma Valley High where the high school’s ratio of boys vs. girls accepted to a four-year college is now 40/60. At Sonoma State University, the 2015 incoming class was 38 percent male and 62 percent female and (and the numbers are similar at UC Davis).

In reading about these trends, two local business executives, Jon (JP) Parker and Jerry Klenow, grew concerned and questioned if there was anything specific that they could do to help address the issue right here in Sonoma Valley.

“I wanted to understand why it was that so many young men seem to have lost their drive,” said Parker. “Why have girls improved so much and why have the guys’ performance stagnated?”

So what can be done to combat this trend on a local level? After being approached by the administration at SVHS, Parker and Klenow agreed to lead a year-long series of seminars for two dozen boys. They chose the name, “Seize the Advantage,” because, said Parker, “We wanted to suggest a very proactive mindset with an intent to achieve a goal and the need to recognize when ‘opportunity knocks’ so one can go after it.”

The faculty and administration at the high school invited about 20 juniors to a pilot program and response was strong. The program was officially launched in the fall of 2012.

Klenow was so inspired by the work that he moved into the classroom full time as a math teacher, and Parker now oversees the program on his own. The juniors in the program meet twice a month, and the agenda centers around three main objectives:

• Motivate /inspire the members to set and achieve personal goals;

• Teach practical life skills;

• Expand awareness of educational and vocational options after high school.

“We talk a lot about purposeful learning,” said Parker. “What do I need to know in order to gain advantage relative to my goals.” Motivation is a bit trickier, he says. “No one has found a silver bullet. But we talk about about proactive decision-making and personal responsibility for the outcome.”

Parker feels strongly that self-confidence is an essential building block for learning and success. “The more frequently a boy goes beyond his ‘comfort zone’ to where the variables are unfamiliar, the experiences are new, and the outcomes are unknown, the more confident he will become.”

Also equipping these young men with some practical skills means nuts-and-bolts discussions of how to choose a car and negotiate the best deal, how to evaluate the need for a loan, managing your money, time management and asking for help.

“While high school gave me the academics I needed for college, Seize the Advantage helped with real life stuff,” said Adalid Hernandez, who graduated from SVHS last year and is now a freshman at UC Merced. “It was definitely interesting and we got a lot out of it.”

Parker is currently assisted by a handful of recent Sonoma Valley High Schools graduates who have work experience in a variety of industries, and the seminars are sponsored in part by the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, who provide the popular pizza lunch that goes a long way toward ensuring attendance. “We’re big fans of JP’s seminars, and proud to help sponsor them, because we think the workshops provide the boys with crucial tools, with compelling role models and with inspiration as they plan their future,” said Lee Morgan Brown, executive director of the Mentoring Alliance.

Parker is, himself, an inspiring role model. He and his wife, Kathy Wikowicki, have raised six children, now aged 27-35, all of whom are SVHS grads. He worked as a milkman, garbage man and a house painter in high school. He paid for his MBA by working as an assistant to a dean and by chasing down local scholarships. He grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, where he went to the local public schools and was active in sports and student government. After college, he worked and lived around the country, succeeding in a variety of fields. “We are all the sum of our family upbringing, our education, our vocational experience, and our social life. I am lucky and blessed to have been the beneficiary of broad experiences and I am trying to bring some of that to these young men through these seminars.”

What some of the boys he works with might lack in passion right now, Parker possesses in droves.

“Seize the Advantage is all about recognizing opportunities and having the courage and resourcefulness to pursue them aggressively, while recognizing that responsibility for achievement resides with self … the individuality,” he says. “Nobody else is going to do it for you!”

Interested students can contact Jon Parker directly at jparker@parwitko.com.

Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.