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Choose New Jersey partners with businesses to keep students in state

Andrew Sheldon | NJ BIZ | Email the author | Follow on Twitter
By Andrew Sheldon, January 5, 2016 at 2:18 PM

At an event Tuesday at Audible’s headquarters in Newark, Choose New Jersey announced the launch of pilot programs for its new Smart Students initiative.

The program aims to address the issue of students that leave the state to pursue their further education, an occurrence that happens with New Jersey students at nearly twice the rate of the national average, or close to 35,000 students each year.

The program, launched Tuesday morning in Newark and later in the day in Camden, will incentivize top-performing students by offering the best youths from 44 schools who choose to attend a New Jersey college a one-time $2,000 scholarship and paid summer jobs at participating businesses for the three summers after their freshman, sophomore and junior years.

More than half of internships turn into jobs for the interns, according to Choose New Jersey.

Participating businesses include Audible, Public Service Enterprise Group, Atlantic City Electric, PNC Bank, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Hackensack University Health Network, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and others.

At the event Tuesday morning, Choose New Jersey CEO and President Michele Brown said, “That loss of the best and the brightest is completely antithetical to our mission at Choose New Jersey.”

She added: “Anything we can do as an organization to keep our talent here is good for our future (and) businesses.”

View the story on www.njbiz.com.

Campaign is music to Weequahic High marching band’s ears

Barry Carter | The Star-Ledger | Email the author | Follow on Twitter

The pep rally on Friday wasn’t for the football team. The season has already ended. And it wasn’t for the basketball team, either, even though its first game is just days away.

This midday celebration was for Newark’s Weequahic High School marching band, which was led into the gymnasium by the fire department’s Pipes and Drums band.

“I feel appreciated,” said Aryc Cuello, a 15-year-old sophomore who plays the bass drum. “I feel like people finally care about us.”

The band learned that the city’s fire and police departments, and the office of emergency management are joining a $30,000 fundraising campaign to help them get new uniforms and replace worn-out instruments.

All of this started after I wrote a column last month about the band. The football season was seven games in and the band had not not yet performed on the field because their instruments were in disrepair and there weren’t enough orange hoodie sweatshirts and brown sweatpants for the members to wear. This attire, some of it faded, has been the kids uniforms for the past five years after the actual band uniforms fell apart.

But despite their situation, the young people still wanted to play, encouraged by Darryl Taylor, the assistant band director who has been volunteering to teach the kids how to do so for 28 years.

Many of the band members were recruited by Taylor, some while they were still in elementary school. The students – most are from charter schools without a band program – show up faithfully after school at 4 p.m. every day and practice for two hours. They could have quit, but they didn’t. They see themselves as a family and no one lets members’ bail on the group, even if they felt like leaving.

It’s a good thing they stayed.

Myra Lawson, executive director of the Weequahic High School Alumni Association, said graduates have been calling and giving money after reading the story.

“They were horrified,” Lawson said.

Since then, $6,000 in donations has rolled in.

“It’s been heartwarming because our kids feel the stress of budget cuts around the arts and after-school and cultural programs,” Lawson said.

Readers also called, wanting to know how they could help. Many were directed to Taylor, who was a Weequahic band member during the 1980s.

He’s been the glue for the current band, helping director Michael Page keep the students focused on music, reminding them to be appreciative of the support coming their way. Taylor said his cellphone hasn’t stopped ringing. One reader, he said, purchased $3,000 worth of new drum equipment and had it delivered to the school.

“They (students) have yet to experience what it’s like to have on real uniforms,” Taylor said. ” We want them to experience it.”

Momentum for the band campaign received its biggest boost when Newark’s fire department pledged to get involved with four fundraisers. One of its employees, Patricia Bradford, a program development specialist in community relations, got things moving because the band’s troubles resonated with her.

In the 1980s, Bradford said West Side High School had the same problem when her kids were band members. She helped raise funds back then, and even though she’s not a Weequahic graduate, Bradford said she wanted to do something for those students.

“I couldn’t let it go and not try to do something,” Bradford said. “I have love for children and life.”

All of this fuss has the students giddy, smiling and relieved that someone is finally recognizing them.

“We’ve been working so hard,” said Stephon Waddell, 16, who plays the trumpet. “Usually, the band doesn’t get this much attention.”

The spotlight was on them twice Friday. There was the pep rally to start and producers from “The Meredith Vieira Show” were at the school all day to do a story about the band and the dedication of its directors, Taylor and Page.

Surprised. Wowed. Shocked. That’s how they’re feeling right about now.

This past weekend, the fire department pitched in with the first fundraiser. Four engine companies hit the streets collecting money from motorists in fire boots. You may have seen them on McCarter Highway and Murray Street, Route 280 and First Street, Springfield Avenue and Irvine Turner Boulevard, and Broad Street and Raymond Boulevard.

“Anything you can do to help a kid is a home run,” said Fire Chief John Centanni.

After the pep rally, the band retreated to the band room, where some of them continued to play, not letting up. They were singing and playing drums. One of them was on the tuba, blowing hard. The dancers practiced dance steps.

This is what they do. They play with Indian – the school’s mascot – pride, making as much musical noise as they possibly can, even though they didn’t think anyone was listening.

Somebody heard them and that’s why good things are happening.

View the story on nj.com.

Cory’s Keepers

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New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider recently launched “Cory’s Keepers,” a new initiative where the Devils starting goaltender hosts students and veterans at NJ Devils home games at the Prudential Center.

Invitees sit behind the net for the game, are provided with t-shirts and then meet Cory after the game.

The initiative kicked off on December 6, 2015 with 20 students from the Newark Public School’s East Side High School Boys and Girls Hockey teams and the Hockey In Newark Program who attended the game as well as a meet and greet with Cory.

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NPS Announces South Ward Community Schools Initiative

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

I have exciting news to share with you today.

This morning, I had the honor of standing with Mayor Ras Baraka, the Foundation for Newark’s Future, and many other dedicated community partners to announce the launch of two groundbreaking community initiatives: the South Ward Community Schools Initiative and the Newark Opportunity Youth Network. Both of these initiatives are designed to provide critical educational and support services to the city’s most vulnerable young people.

As you likely know, over one-third of Newark’s children are living in poverty, and even higher percentages are concentrated in the South Ward. In recognition of the barrier to academic success these conditions can be for children, our community partners are coming together to create the South Ward Community Schools Initiative. This initiative will engage community members in a process to determine how best to give school and community leaders more autonomy over school-based decisions and access to outside resources, so that they can provide students with the academic, social, emotional, and health services they need to be successful. By giving principals more control over budget, staffing, and curriculum, this initiative marks a critical step forward in leveling the playing field for Newark families in some of our highest need school communities.

We are also launching the Newark Opportunity Youth Network, an intermediary organization that will provide educational and support services to the city’s most disengaged young adults.  This new citywide intermediary will bring together the systems, expertise, and experience of Newark Public Schools, Newark City of Learning Collaborative, Newark Workforce Investment Board and the City of Newark to create a diverse network of coordinated programs and services for “opportunity youth”. It will also empower local community-based organizations to provide educational, social and job-training services that increase our students’ graduation rates and help create job opportunities that improve the quality of life for Newark families.

I am proud to work with all of our partners and community leaders to help provide more educational opportunities for our young people.  Today’s announcement is a great example of what we can accomplish when we work together, and I look forward to working with all of you to make these initiatives a success.

Best,
Chris

njcomBaraka, Cerf announce $12.5M plan to rescue needy Newark schools | A coalition of city officials gathered at City Hall Tuesday to announce a new initiative they hope might blaze a path toward erasing the glaring and often controversial disparities across Newark’s school system. Mayor Ras Baraka and Superintendent Chris Cerf were among those on hand to detail early plans for the “South Ward Community Schools Initiative”, which would provide a variety of supports to students in the some of the city’s neediest schools. … FNF has pledged a total of $1.2 million to help plan the initiative and the Newark Opportunity Youth Network – a separate program aimed at steering dropouts and other disconnected youth toward obtaining a diploma… If successful, officials said they hope to replicate the program in other schools around the city, though funding could present a major issue in a district still wrangling with a significant budget deficit. “As we expand and invest in this initiative, we will make sure that we not in any way short change any of the other schools in the district,” said Cerf. (NJ.com, 12/1/15)

apNewark Launching Community Schools with Facebook Money | The foundation managing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation for education in Newark will finance a new project that helps poor students. The Foundation for Newark’s Future will invest $1.2 million now and up to $12.5 million total on two initiatives unveiled Tuesday in Newark. They will include additional support to students living in poverty, including programs in school and the community… The initiatives announced Tuesday will include bringing community groups and institutions together to help students both in the classroom and in after-school programs. Newark schools Superintendent Christopher Cerf said the schools will have more control over their own budgets, staffing and curriculum. The South Ward Community Schools Initiative will start as a pilot program next school year. The Newark Opportunity Youth Network will provide educational and support services, including job training. (Associated Press, 12/1/15)

wbgoAUDIO: Newark Announces $12.5 Million Community Schools Initiative | City officials gathered at city hall in Newark today to announce a multi-million dollar effort, funded by The Foundation for Newark’s Future, the organization created to manage the $100 million Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donated to the city in 2010 to reform the city’s school system, to create community based schools in the state run district in one of the city’s most embattled neighborhoods. Mayor Ras Baraka says the $12.5 million South Ward community schools initiative, funded by the Foundation for Newark’s future, will provide support beyond the classroom, in an effort to address the social ills that often affect student success in impoverished communities like Newark’s south ward. “We are going to ensure that all of our children are alive and well and healthy in community schools and we’re going to begin this effort in the south ward.”… State appointed superintendent Christopher Cerf says the district is in full support of the plan. “This was a sensible research based initiative that we should join and get behind.” The plan is set to launch at Malcolm X Shabazz high school by next fall. If successful it will be expanded throughout the district. (WBGO News, 12/1/15)

njspotlightNew Initiative Revives ‘Community Schools’ Approach in Newark | Mayor Ras Baraka stood in the vaulted City Hall rotunda with state-appointed schools Superintendent Chris Cerf and a diverse crowd of union, community and foundation leaders to launch the South Ward Community Schools Initiative… Cerf said planning will start immediately for bringing new programs and services into Shabazz High School, an anchor of the South Ward, and to the three or four of the elementary and middle schools that feed into it. The aim is for the program to eventually go citywide in every ward, Cerf and Baraka said, but even which South Ward schools will take part is still undetermined. Central to the process, they said, will be listening to the community’s voice… Whichever school is chosen for the initiative, Cerf said the plan is to give the schools greater flexibility and freedom in shaping their budgets, a clear nod to the attraction of charter schools. Among those new freedoms will be the ability to hire staff and to direct funding to address specific needs, he said, something not typically afforded Newark’s public schools. “I can assure you they will be given the tools and the support to create a level playing field with any school in the district, district or charter,” Cerf said. (NJ Spotlight, 12/2/15)

PoliticoNewark officials announce new initiatives to support city’s youths | Newark city and school officials announced the launch of two initiatives they hope will improve the educational and job prospects for youths in the South Ward, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods… Tuesday’s news signaled a shift in tone between the city’s mayor and the school superintendent. (POLITICO New Jersey, 12/1/15)

Fios1VIDEO: Newark launches initiative to aid vulnerable students from South Ward’s community schools | Lawmakers, school officials announce program that will provide families with ongoing academic, emotional and health services (FIOS1 New Jersey, 12/1/15)

Newark Students Learn How to Code and Think Big!

Barry Carter | The Star-Ledger | Email the author | Follow on Twitter

Keyon Vassell didn’t want to give up any of his Saturday, let alone eight hours of it. He’s a typical 13-year-old, who would rather relax and enjoy some downtime after a week of school.

But his mother, Kiyonna Thomas, says his eyes lit up when he brought home a flyer about a digital coding program from Newark’s North Star Academy Middle School, where he’s an eighth-grader.

The Urban League of Essex County was offering Newark Kids Code, a 10- week, free course on coding, and digital and computer technology that started in September at North Star Academy. It’s a field that speaks directly to young people who are fascinated with programming and how video games work.

Keyon admits to being a bit reluctant about wanting to spend so many Saturdays in a classroom, but the lure of science and math – and figuring out how characters move in a video game – was too strong.

“I was like, ‘Oh, Ma, do I have to go?'” said Keyon, who wants to create video games. “As I progressed, I was able to able to learn more and I actually enjoyed it more than I expected.”

Plus, it helps to have a buddy like Steve Sanchez, 13. He’s the one who applied a bit of friendly peer pressure on Keyon to sign up, when his classmate seemed apprehensive about attending the sessions. Science and math are Steve’s passions, too, at North Star. He’s so into the program that he’s been helping other students understand the material.

Getting up early every Saturday hasn’t been a problem for the duo, or the other 28 kids from North Star and Thirteenth Avenue School in Newark. As soon as the class begins at 9 a.m., the students get lost in a technological zone, their heads buried in their laptops.

They were there this past weekend, during an open house for the public to see what they’ve been learning. Idle conversation around them in the gymnasium didn’t break their concentration.

Hands went up when instructor Paul Rajah posed a question about the analog clock they were programming. If the young students were unsure about something, Rajah, a senior majoring in information technology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, showed them what to do – with help from his eight NJIT classmates, who volunteer their time to teach the kids.

After eight weeks, the NJIT students are impressed. Rajah, who comes up with the lesson plans, said he sometimes finds himself running out of things to do for the kids.

“They just fly through it,” he said. “We’re learning, we’re programming, making decisions.”

They’ve done mazes, created a store, programmed autobiographical stories, a paddle and ball game, and more.

Emmanuel Dortu, an NJIT student, said he’s not sure what many of the teens will wind up doing with their lives, but he’s certain that computer science will stay with them.

“For those (who) really, really like it, (they) will take it forward and become programmers in the future.” he said.

The kids have been learning a coding program called Scratch, which helps young people to think and reason creatively. Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Scratch is used by school-age youngsters in 150 countries and it is available in 40 languages.

It made its way to Newark after former city councilman Darrin Sharif saw a presentation about it – on his smartphone. Sharif, the kids code program director for the Urban League, said the agency funded the demonstration program with a $50,000 grant from the state Department of Community Affairs. Students were selected based on federal poverty guidelines.

“We have to prepare people for the pipeline,” said Sharif, speaking about future technology jobs. “We want our kids ready for them.”

Although the grant runs out next month, the Urban League plans to start a new session in January, as it seeks funding and a partnership with Newark Public Schools to expand the program to more kids.

Meanwhile, these kids are hooked and they understand the value of this experience. Even after the program is over, Sharif said the NJIT students will continue to meet with kids who want to strengthen their coding skills.

“I’m learning to think like a computer,” said Aze Williams, an eighth-grader at Thirteen Avenue School. “I’m learning to understand a deeper level of technology.”

Aze, 13, said she plans to use the technology in a career as a holistic neuroscientist, which she gladly explained is the use of plants to create natural medicine.

With that, she has lofty ambitions, too.

“I’m going to cure mental illness such as schizophrenia,” she said. “That’s what I’m going to dedicate my life to.”

If you are a parent, Kenneth Aboagye, 12, of North Star, highly recommends that your children get involved.

“This is amazing,” he said. “We’re making games, we’re making short stories, drawing our own characters and making them say stuff.”

And then there’s Nikolas Figueroa, 11, another North Star student. He sees himself as the next Steve Jobs. Most important, Nikolas said he’s “astonished” that so many people are willing to help Newark students pattern themselves after someone like the technology giant and entrepreneur.

That’s easy to understand, Nikolas. Newark students are visionaries, just like him.

View the story on nj.com.

Measuring Up: Educational Improvement and Opportunity in 50 Cities

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The Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) recently released a study called “Measuring Up: Educational Improvement and Opportunity in 50 Cities” that featured Newark as a national leader in providing students access to “beat the odds” schools – meaning that a higher proportion of the city’s schools outperform those that serve students from similar backgrounds – than any other city studied.

  • CRPE reported that across all cities studied only about 8 percent of disadvantaged students were enrolled in “beat the odds” schools.
  • The report identifies Newark as an outlier though, with close to 40% of students enrolled in “beat the odds” schools in both Math and Reading.
  • Newark provides a significantly higher portion of students with access to “beat the odds schools” than any of the other cities studied.
  • When examining the share of students in “beat the odds” schools across Newark, significant portions come from both the charter and traditional public school sectors.
  • While a higher proportion of students enrolled in charter schools are “beating the odds, a higher percentage of students overall in Newark that are in beat the odds schools are enrolled in traditional public schools.
  • The combination of “beat the” odds schools across both charters and traditional public schools combine to provide Newark students with more access to beat the odds schools than any other city that was studied.
  • CRPE defined “Beating the Odds” Schools broadly as schools that outpaced demographically similar schools statewide.