By Larry Hannan, Contributing Writer
It’s been an amazing time for Amy Donofrio.
In the last few years, the Robert E. Lee High School teacher has, with her students, met Barack Obama when he was president, testified on Capitol Hill, saw herself quoted in a front-page story in The New York Times and given a TEDx Jacksonville talk.
But on Sept. 12, speaking to the Jacksonville Bar Association meeting, Donofrio said even with those highs, she still deals with at-risk students every day of her teaching career that face disadvantages that many cannot comprehend.
“The challenges don’t stop,” Donofrio said. “That’s something we have to understand if we want to help our youth.”
Donofrio said her students, who are mostly African-American males, have been detained and questioned by the police multiple times, had immediate family members locked up in prison for a significant amount of time, been shot at, seen someone shot at and had a close loved one murdered.
The experiences led Donofrio to co-found the EVAC movement to help create change in her students’ lives. The movement has had its own class period at Lee High School where the students worked on criminal justice reform and juvenile justice issues.
The EVAC name came from spelling cave backward, a reference to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.”
She does not have a class for it this year.
“You have to come to the schools to truly help out,” Donofrio said to an audience that included State Attorney Melissa Nelson, Public Defender Charles Cofer and numerous Jacksonville judges.
Donofrio encouraged attorneys to recognize that they can use their privilege to help, especially since many youth who are arrested don’t have access to lawyers.
One of Donofrio’s students was arrested and sent to adult court even though he was a minor.
Donofrio said the efforts of her class helped get him sent back to juvenile court. He ended up with two years of probation and will not have an adult criminal record.
“Once you know the story, it’s hard to treat these kids as criminals,” Donofrio said.
U.S. District Judge Brian Davis introduced Donofrio and said it was people like her who helped make real change possible.
Donofrio returned the favor by saying Davis, the first African-American chief assistant state attorney in the 4th Judicial Circuit before he became a judge, was a hero of hers.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry also attended the luncheon and declared the week of Oct. 21-27 Pro Bono Week in Jacksonville.
Members of the Jacksonville Bar have been providing pro bono legal services to the poor for 80 years.