SOUTH BEND â South Bend educators and community members are coming to the defense of a longstanding program serving teen mothers after administrators unexpectedly announced its discontinuance last month. Wrapped into recommendations to close and restructure several other schools in a multiyear âright sizingâ effort, South Bend Community School Corp. leaders called for the closure of the districtâs School Age Mothers Program during a late January school board meeting. Shocked by the proposal, more than a dozen current and former staff, students and community members submitted letters in support of the program they say keeps students engaged at a time where the pressure to drop out couldnât be greater.