I began this blog after a friend sent me a post by career guru, Penelope Trunk. It was called: “Blogging Essential for a Good Career.” It made sense, so registered for this WordPress blog: K2Twelve.
A series of serendipitous readings and conversations helped me understand that “professional” does not mean “impersonal.” And while the goal of this blog is still to speak “professionally” about educational issues and nurture a “good career”, it is not meaningful to me unless I am able to tell a personal story about my experiences as an educator — and a student — and then connect with others who have had either similar experiences or radically different experiences.
Please feel free to share your educational experiences and stories with me. Comment on the posts here or ask about a submitting a guest post.
Visit cranialgunk.com or vincentyoung.net for information about me and my experience as an educator.
For your consideration… please see below:
MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL (MHS) today announced that they have been designated a Promise Place by America’s Promise Alliance (the Alliance). The Alliance, whose founding chairman is General Colin Powell, is the nation’s largest partnership organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth. A Promise Place is any school, community center, place of worship, business, or organization that provides youth with the Alliance’s Five Promises – caring adults; safe places; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others – under one roof. The designation was formally made yesterday during a school assembly held to celebrate the centennial of the school’s founding by chocolate magnate Milton Hershey. Kathy Spangler, Chief Operating Officer of the Alliance, addressed the assembly and presented MHS officials with the official designation certificate.
As a Promise Place, Milton Hershey School has earned the distinction of becoming a local Alliance Partner. MHS will now join a network of several other Promise Places both locally and nationwide able to share and receive information on how best to provide more Promises to local youth.
“Recognition by America’s Promise Alliance that MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL is a Promise Place is tremendous confirmation that the vision Milton Hershey had 100 years ago is alive and well,” said Anthony Colistra, President of MHS. “When Milton Hershey and his wife Kitty founded this school they did so hoping to create an environment where children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds could learn and develop into caring, productive adults, able to give back to their society. Designation as a Promise Place will help spread the word about the school and its mission so we can attract more students and professional staff.”
MIILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL (originally named Hershey Industrial School) was founded on November 15, 1909. Today, MHS is a safe home and school for more than 1,800 girls and boys from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade who come from states throughout the country. These children come from families of low-income, limited resources and social need. MHS gives them the opportunity to work hard, realize their potential and build towards a better future.
The research brief, Every Child, Every Promise, found that children receiving four of the Five Promises are far more likely to be successful, twice as likely to get A’s, twice as likely to avoid violence and 40 percent more likely to volunteer. Moreover, the research showed that receiving four out of five of these basic resources has the potential to level the playing field for youth across racial and economic lines.
“If we are going to truly change outcomes for our young people then we have got to start approaching their development in a holistic sense. This success model is embodied in Promise Places like Milton Hershey School,” said Marguerite W. Kondracke, president and CEO, America’s Promise Alliance. “By offering young people all of the services they need—under one roof—we are exponentially increasing the chances that they’ll receive the support they need, and succeed.”
A guest post or write-up by you for your consideration:
Sage is a mobile website that supplements existing resources such as SchoolBook and InsideSchools by letting parents look up their school’s performance on the go.
See: http://bit.ly/zOe9Sc
I developed this app and submitted it to NYC Big Apps 3.0, a competition where the NYC administration releases a data from city agencies and invites software developers to make innovative applications to improve the lives of NYC citizens. You would think that after the NYC administration released a plethora of datasets from the Department of Education and made a special category for Education at NYC Big Apps 2011, there would be at least a handful of apps that improve access to NYC education resources. Number of apps for NYC parents: 1. While there are more apps for single Manhattan twenty-somethings than you can count, parents’ needs are underserved. If Mayor Bloomberg is committed to making New York a more livable city, he needs to encourage the development of more than yet another app that helps fill your social calendar!
Thanks!
Ed