For several years, I have been involved with an organization which helps at risk children achieve in school. The Institute for Student Achievement (ISA) is a Long Island success story which has now been transported to New York City, Westchester and Troy. The underlying thesis of ISA is that every child can succeed, once the playing field is made a little more even.

Founded by two very generous people, Gerry and Lilo Leeds, ISA is less than 10 years old with a solid record of already helping thousands of children. One hundred percent of the children in ISA complete high school on time. Some 90 percent of the program's students go on to college. ISA is a program which works!

In 1990, ISA started with 25 children in the Roosevelt School District. This year, ISA will be serving some 2,000 students at 16 schools in six very different school districts. ISA has been given strong bipartisan support in the New York Legislature, because its approach to helping children has made a difference.

High expectations and caring are at the heart of the ISA program. Coupling academic enrichment with effective counseling helps students stay on the right track. When a child's home life and the wrong type of peer pressure collide, it is often more than the average teenager can cope with. Working as a team, the teachers and counselors in ISA help students find their way through social turmoil, while keeping eyes focused on the learning process.

While it costs a little less than $5,000 a year to support students in one of the ISA programs, think of the results. New York State spends more on criminal justice each year than on education. And remember that ISA is dealing with the children most at risk in each school district ¬ the children who are the most likely to drop out of school. With a 100 percent graduation rate, many lives have been saved.

Beyond my words of praise for ISA, here is what one graduate had to say. Doyle Brown, selected as Hempstead High School's Most Improved Student in 1998, and now a freshman at Delaware State University, recently said, "They gave me the kind of support and individual attention I needed." There is no doubt that ISA changed his life.

ISA is supported through corporate and individual contributions, the generosity of the Leeds and concerned Legislators in Albany. If you would like more information about ISA or want to be a volunteer in the organization's efforts, call 562-5440.