BrickCityLive

Newark High School Student Contributes to a Cleaner Community

By: Vince Baglivo | BrickCityLive
Cleaner Community Brick City Live - Bard

On a recent snowy Saturday morning, while many of her high school peers were still asleep in their warm beds, Asada Rashidi was hard at work keeping the streets in her South Ward neighborhood clean and crosswalks clear for pedestrians.

Asada, a junior at Newark’s Bard Early College High School, is the first volunteer member of the Bergen-Lyons-Clinton Partnership (BLCSID) Clean Team Ambassadors. And the organization’s board members and professional staff, along with local residents, business and property owners, couldn’t be more pleased with her effort and commitment.

Known locally as the South Ward Special Improvement District (SID), the BLCSID was established to help the area compete, improve and sustain commercial viability. A public/private partnership between the City of Newark, local business and commercial property owners and residents focused on generating economic activity and community development, the SID moved forward in 2016 with an aggressive streetscape maintenance program that is transforming the streetscape, including vacant lots and properties in need of extra attention.

Chris Bernardo, principal of Commercial District Services (CDS), the company that oversees the hiring, training, scheduling and work of the Clean Team Ambassadors, said he was pleased to partner with Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the BLCSID to establish the program. Like all members of the Clean Team Ambassadors, Asada is a resident of Newark and the South Ward.

“Asada is applying the same hard work and focus that she brings to her academics to her commitment to serving her neighbors,” Bernardo stated. “Special thanks to supervisor Jerry Blankman and team leader Quanika Joseph for their guidance and support as mentors for Asada.”

The Clean Team Ambassadors have been gathering more than 240 bags of garbage and removing 25-50 graffiti tags, stickers and posters on a weekly basis as part of the supplemental streetscape services the South Ward SID funds in support of the City of Newark’s Department of Sanitation.

“The Clean Team Ambassadors we have hired with the help of the job placement programs provided by the City of Newark and Beth Israel Medical Center are making a difference in their own community, contributing to a better quality of life for their families, friends and neighbors while learning valuable job skills and earning a paycheck,” Bernardo added.

“I’m proud of her desire to help keep our community clean,” said Asada’s mother, Atiya Jaha-Rashidi, Director of Special Projects at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center & Children’s Hospital of NJ, and the BLCSID’s Second Vice President. “She proactively sought this opportunity to be the Clean Team Ambassador’s first volunteer, and she is always eager to help out.”

When asked about her volunteerism, Asada said she has enjoyed her experience and looks forward to making more contributions. I love it; it’s cool to help set an example by cleaning up the streets in your own neighborhood.”

“A clean, safe and welcoming community is the standard we are committed to on behalf of the people who live, work, shop, dine, invest and worship in the South Ward, and the people who visit our neighborhood and Newark,” concluded Ronice Bruce, the SID’s Executive Director. “Asada, and all of our Clean Team Ambassadors, are now recognized and welcomed in their community for the work they are doing that we believe will contribute to the South Ward becoming the ward of choice in our city.”

A complete schedule showing where the Clean Team Ambassadors are working in the district on a weekly basis can be found at www.southwardsid.com, along with more information about programs, services and opportunities to support and contribute to the initiatives of the South Ward SID. You can also follow news from the South Ward SID through social media at Facebook.com/SouthWardSID.

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Newark High School Student Wins 10th District Congressional App Challenge

by Brick City Live Staff/December 9, 2016

Today, Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. announced the winner of the 2016 Congressional App Challenge for high school students in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District. Ayobami Adewale of Bard High School Early College Newark was named the winner for his language-learning app, Learning Chinese.

“The Congressional App Challenge showcases the innovation and technical skills of New Jersey students, and I congratulate Ayobami on winning this year’s competition,” said Payne, according to a statement. “His success is a reminder that we must continue to invest in STEM education to ensure that young people can learn, create, build, and pursue innovative careers that are essential to the economic future of our nation.”

The annual Congressional App Challenge is meant to highlight the value of STEM education by encouraging high schoolers to learn to code by creating their own apps. Competition entries were judged by a local panel based on the quality and implementation of the idea, plus demonstrated excellence of coding skills.

As a winning app, Learning Chinese will be displayed on the Congressional App Challenge website and on a digital display in the U.S. Capitol Building for the next year.

Newark’s top high school students who choose New Jersey colleges to receive scholarships and internships

January 5, 2016 | By Brick City Live Staff

Choose New Jersey, a company whose stated mission is “to encourage and nurture economic growth throughout New Jersey, with a focus on our urban centers” today launched a scholarship and internship program to recognize top students in Newark who choose to attend an institute of higher learning in their home state.

The pilot program for Smart Students Choose New Jersey will reward the highest academically ranked graduating senior at each of Newark’s 33 public, private and charter high schools who choose to attend a New Jersey college or university. The program will offer a one-time scholarship of $2,000 and a paid summer internship opportunity each year over three years. The program was launched today at the headquarters of its Newark lead corporate sponsor, Audible, Inc.

A subsidiary of Amazon.com, Audible is the world’s largest producer and seller of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word content.

“The Choose New Jersey scholarship program will support our efforts to create improved college and career opportunities for Newark’s future leaders and innovators,” said Christopher Cerf, Superintendent of Newark Public Schools.

The pilot program is being launched in response to statistics showing that annually, nearly 35,000 of New Jersey’s high school graduates leave New Jersey for their college education, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In addition, research shows that students offered paid internships had the highest job offer rate post-graduation.

“Access to top talent is critical to our businesses and the economic vitality of the City of Newark,” said Mayor Ras Baraka. “The Smart Students program is a win/win for our City. It will give Newark’s high achieving students the opportunity to build successful careers close to home, and will help ensure our companies have access to top talent in the future,” he continued.

Ralph LaRossa, president and chief operating officer of PSE&G, and chairman of Choose New Jersey, echoed the programs benefits to area companies. “New Jersey’s highly educated workforce is one of its competitive advantages” he said. “We need to do everything we can to encourage our best and brightest to stay.”

Smart Students Choose New Jersey will offer students the opportunity to work at top businesses and organizations from around the state, including Fortune 500 companies, labor organizations, and small businesses that range across a variety of industries and sectors. The internships will be offered for three consecutive summers, after students’ freshman, sophomore, and junior years. The students will have the choice of remaining at the same company for all three years, or working at three different companies each summer.

The program will be implemented and managed by the Choose New Jersey staff, and lessons learned in this first pilot year will be applied to subsequent cohorts. The program, open to public, parochial and charter schools, will also be offered in the 11 eligible schools in tCamden. The program’s 44 scholars will be announced in June 2016.

For more information about the Smart Students Choose New Jersey scholarship and internship program, visit www.choosenj.com/smart.

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