Beyond The Bell: OKCPS Helps Pregnant, Parenting Students

School officials said southwest Oklahoma County has one of the highest pregnant teen populations in the state. And Oklahoma City Public Schools created a special position to help tag and target those students in order to help them succeed.

It was a shock for US Grant sophomore Daja Young in July when she found out she was pregnant.

“I was scared and I felt like I had nobody to go to,” Young said.

She was 15 years old at the time - not expecting to be thrust into motherhood.

“I was just worried like if I was going to do the wrong thing and mess up, I guess. Because I didn’t want to be a bad mom,” she added.

After a long pregnancy, baby Atonio was born. He's now 9-months old.

“If you’re feeling sad and you turn on music and you watch him, he’ll start dancing and he’ll make you laugh,” Young told News 9.

She wakes up every morning and gets him ready for daycare before she goes to school - where Oklahoma City Public School District’s new teen pregnancy coordinator Katie Morgan comes in. Her position is partly funded by the district and partly funded by Variety Care Clinic.

At the time of this report, Morgan said she served 130 pregnant or parenting students in the district this year. The two most populated are US Grant and Capitol Hill.  Morgan said only 40 percent of teen moms will actually graduate high school and a majority of them said they quit because they're pregnant or parenting.

So Morgan does all she can to help the students manage it all. Beyond baby needs, she helps them with contraception, co-parenting and relationship skills. She stays on top of their attendance, grades and helps them set goals.

“Now they have this young being looking up to them and role modelling for,” Morgan explained.

Young said she wants to study math or science and become an OB-GYN.

“It’s always good to have somebody like on your side to talk to whenever you need somebody, like how Miss Morgan was for me. And I would always want to be somebody like that,” Young said.

Morgan keeps in touch with each student for a year past graduation.