The morning got off to a great start with a screening of the film "Say It Loud" by Jordan Coleman. Jordan, a student at Hackensack Middle School and the voice of Tyrone the Moose on the Backyardigans, made the film when he was only 12 years old! In it, he interviews a number of famous black men about why education is important and why young black men should stay in school. After the film, Jordan answered questions from the audience members, all of whom were impressed by what he's been able to accomplish so far. Check out the film at http://www.sayitloudfilm.com/
Dr. G. Jeremiah Ryan, the president of Bergen Community College, spoke about Community Colleges in the 21st Century. In his short tenure, Dr. Ryan has been instrumental in bringing the college out to the community, a role which will become increasingly important given the current economic climate.
Teams of Bergen LEADS participants fanned out across the county to visit schools and see what K-12 educational options are available. Site visits included Bergen Arts & Sciences Charter School, Hackensack High School, Al-Ghazaly High School, Bergen Catholic High School, River Dell Regional School System, Head Start (pre-K) and Dwight Englewood. Said one LEADer:
"The site visits are fantastic - to see and interact in real time versus just discussing issues from a removed vantage point. Obviously it's important to have background preparation for the visit. But the visits have been, for me, very insightful and powerful."
A visit from Dr. Aaron Graham, Bergen County Executive Superintendent of Schools, wrapped up the day. Dr. Graham's presentation about recently enacted legislation to create the office of County Executive Superintendent and the resultant focus on shared services for school districts was a surprise to most in attendance. According to one participant:
"Dr Graham's presentation was very informative and provocative. It is cool to have and understand information prior to the community at large so that we can help better educate other residents."
After a debrief, another day was done. Several class members have expressed their wish to extend each seminar to two days, because there's just not enough time to fit everything in. That's a thought for another day...
1 comments:
Although not an education comment, I saw in the Record an article about a bill in the legislature about separating water usage for tenants in multi-family dwellings such as apartments, etc. Apparently tenant water usage is not individually monitored and usage is therefore rampant. The bill is designed to incentivize conservation, for both landlord and tenant. I submitted an email into Assemblywoman Charlotte Vanderwalk, who we met at the healthcare seminar, regarding this, as well as any other conservation measures currently for review.
Also, in case you didn't see it in my blog, Duke Energy in the Carolinas appears to be interested in my idea of leasing rooftops from buildings in order to build solar capacity with economies of scale.
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