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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsProgram I Work in on Front Page of Newark Star Ledger
Yesterday this was the main story on the front page of the Star Ledger. It was above the fold on the hard copy. Good news from Newark!
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2016/05/against_the_odds_100_of_kids_in_this_newark_progra.html
Against the odds: 100% of kids in this Newark program got into college
NEWARK For the 73,000 children in the state's largest city, the odds of going to college are not good.
According to the most recent New Jersey School performance Report, one high school in Newark Barringer Arts Academy has the lowest average SAT score of any high school in the state, and the second lowest graduation rate of any high school in the state, just 35.69 percent.
According to the latest Census estimates, only about 13.7 percent of the city's population has a college degree, as compared to nearly 40 percent statewide. An education advocacy group last year received a $1.5 million grant as part of an effort to increase the population's college graduation rate to 25 percent by the year 2025.
But 130 kids in the city say they have found a way to defy the odds.
The New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project, or NJ LEEP, a competitive, after-school, college-prep program that students apply to enter during the summer after their eighth grade year, started modestly nine years ago. Looking for a way to motivate Newark students, the nonprofit, which is affiliated with Seton Hall's law school, targeted teens interested in the law, and in going to college. The first summer, 27 kids took part in the program.
More at the link.
I enjoy my Saturdays working with the students, my fellow teachers, and the staff at NJ LEEP. When I go home from work, I feel like I've really accomplished something.
Cher
libodem
(19,288 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)MerryBlooms
(11,768 posts)phylny
(8,380 posts)Liberal Jesus Freak
(1,451 posts)Thanks for making a difference
DamnYankeeInHouston
(1,365 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)I've forwarded that to a few good people in Detroit.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)greiner3
(5,214 posts)But if next year only 99.9% graduate, will this cause some sort of ratings and/or teachers' pay go down? BTW it sucks that in the world I find myself in, my conjecture could be possible
rurallib
(62,411 posts)the very best way to keep kids out of trouble.
Iwillnevergiveup
(9,298 posts)Take a bow and thanks for sharing your good news here. As a fellow teacher, I salute you!
K&R
ReRe
(10,597 posts)... and your school too! Is there a limit on the number of students that can participate in the program? I hope that the program grows and grows and grows until all of Newark's children can participate in it!
Keep doing what you're doing!
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,421 posts)libdem4life
(13,877 posts)The first two years at Jr. Colleges were free. All could participate.
I got through my last two years on NDEA loans...National Defense Education Act.
I paid them back by being a teacher. .. every year my balance automatically went down until it was $0.
It's not a pie in the sky as it's already been done and looks like this program does so as well.
Hats off to NJ.
barbtries
(28,789 posts)way to go. i'm choking up here, guess i was in deep need of good news!