BlackPlanet Rising

Catherine Ferguson Academy: What Does Its Closure Really Mean?

Byakuugan_Mod — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 20:57:50 +0000

Due to the amount of feedback generated by the original post on this topic I felt the need to add my two cents to this debate. For some people the closing of Catherine Ferguson Academy is simply a story about budget concerns, but for others it is an attack on women, minorities, or just class warfare, yet for others it strikes a chord of big governmental overreach and/or a threat to democracy in general. What do you think?

The entire Detroit Public School system is in a state of emergency, but do you cut funding to a school which has actually developed a track record of high success? What is the alternative to this unique school, turning them loose into regular schools that could not accommodate them and will either kick them out or discourage them enough to dropout? Instead of creating self-sufficient adults with kids you will then have two generations of Detroit kids on public assistance programs when your goal was to save money? If your decision is to close the school regardless of the circumstances it seems to be at its most innocent a matter of being penny wise and pound foolish.

In the past the community felt that this school was an important investment into its future enough to protest closing it and find ways to fund it. It has become an important part of the community with commuters traveling just to purchase the produce in Detroit Agricultural Network. Now there is no democratically elected official or committee to convince of this school’s importance. When the entire country is in serious financial difficulty the steps to effectively end democracy beginning with the people most powerless to fight against it could not and should not be the answer that “free” society based in democratic principles gravitate toward.

Catherine Ferguson Academy on JackandJillPolitics.com

BP Rising: Black Pregnant Students Arrested

http://www.saveourschoolsmarch .org

Here is a diametrically opposed viewpoint on this story and the larger picture overall.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/06/rachel_maddows_catherine_fergu.html

Join the debate in the BlackPlanet Forums area.

Black Pregnant Students Arrested For ATTENDING School in Detroit!

Byakuugan_Mod — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:08:05 +0000

We often pay lip service to education in America, but the Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit is a symbol of our educational commitment in action. Unfortunately, this unique all girls high school for pregnant girls and young mothers is being shut down. This is their story.

The following article is a collection of snippets from The Rachel Maddow Show blog. I have chosen to package these various blogs to share the plight of these young mothers and pregnant girls doing their best to obtain an education in Detroit by attending the Catherine Ferguson Academy school that addresses their particular needs. They face an uphill battle with an astounding lack of options to find recourse due to the Financial Emergency Status that effectively cancels out their local government and places all the power in the hands of one man. Watch the video. Follow the links. Please above all else share with your friends, family, co-workers, church members and anyone else you know. Education is so vital. Without out it how will America be able to compete globally in order to recover?

A number of you have written in after our story last night about the possible closing of Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, a school for pregnant girls and young mothers. Below, a few links to that conversation about this that has already been going on in Detroit and Michigan. If you’ve got others to share, please include them in the comments. This is a story that’s happening at the grassroots level — no Catherine Ferguson gardening pun intended. This is a story that depends on you to tell it.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/23/6517421-more-about-the-catherine-ferguson-academy

Catherine Ferguson Academy, the school for pregnant girls and young mothers in Detroit, is being closed, says its principal, Asenath Andrews. You might remember that we covered the sit-in at Catherine Ferguson Academy this spring, when a dozen students and a teacher were hauled out and arrested in a cacophony of police sirens.

Their school had been put on the Detroit Public Schools’ list of possible closures by the state-appointed Emergency Financial Manager. Under Michigan’s new emergency manager law, Robert Bobb had the power to do with each school what he wanted. A new emergency manager, Roy Roberts, took over last month. On May 26, he posted a new plan for closing schools, one described as created after “broad community input, including more than 40 community meetings.” This new plan suggested that Catherine Ferguson Academy might be sticking around in some form.

Apparently, that was not to be. Principal Andrews, who’s been there 20 years, said she went to a meeting yesterday for schools that are closing, and the list includes hers. “On Friday, June 17th, I turn in my keys,” she just told us. “It’s the end of my life’s work and the end of the school.” She says they told her the school was too expensive and that the student population was declining.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/07/6805405-principal-detroits-shutting-down-catherine-ferguson-academy

Right now, those of you in the TRMS audience who are looking for a way to save Catherine Ferguson Academy are a lonely bunch. It’s not that other people don’t care — it’s that most of the world still hasn’t gotten the news. Even the local Detroit press hasn’t picked up on the story yet. You’re some of the very few who know about it. The World Socialists have the lone other report up today — it’s worth reading.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/08/6812157-michigan-recession-officially-over-catherine-ferguson-closing-anyway

To learn more about the Catherine Ferguson School go here. http://www.grownindetroitmovie.com/

Grown in Detroit focuses on the urban gardening efforts managed by a public school of 300, mainly african-american, pregnant and parenting teenagers. In Detroit alone, there are annually more than 3,000 pregnant teenagers who drop out of high school. This school is one of three located in the United States. As part of the curriculum, the girls are taught agricultural skills on the school’s own farm located behind the school building what used to be the playground. The young mothers, often still children themselves, are learning by farming to become more independent women and knowledgeable about the importance of nutritional foods. Many of them start out disliking the often physically hard work on the farm but this aversion disappears as they see their crops growing and being sold for profit. “Back to the roots”, a simple yet effective solution for a city that has to start all over again and perhaps a lesson to be learned for the rest of the world.

The article that started it all on MarkMaynard.com

Interview with Asenath Andrews on FreewheelBurning.com

Catherine Ferguson Academy: What Does Its Closing Mean?

Braylon Edwards pays for 100 students to attend college

Byakuugan_Mod — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:59:17 +0000

Braylon Edwards was very popular in the headlines for all the wrong reasons not too long ago. His name could have easily been added to my earlier Celebrity Trouble Again? blog. This time he’s being recognized for a good play off of the field.

Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards is a man of his word. And because he is, 100 students are going to college on his dime. In 2007, Edwards promised 100 Cleveland high school students that he would pay for their college tuition—a total value of $1 million—if they maintained grade point averages at 2.5 or higher and performed 15 hours of community service. The students lived up to their end of the bargain, and now Edwards is living up to his end, according to CBSSports.com and the Detroit Free Press.

“As the 2nd most hated man in Clev & a man of my word, today I will honor a promise made to 100 students in Cleveland years ago,” Edwards tweeted. “The last of my Advance 100 students will graduate from my program and head off to college on scholarships that I will provide them with. Guys, enjoy and embrace your new beginnings and remember your promise to me, to reach back & help someone else along the way.

Edwards, who caught 53 passes for 904 yards and seven touchdowns last season, is currently unsigned but says he would like to return to the Jets.

Def Jam Rapstar Gets “SchoolED” In Philadelphia

Byakuugan_Mod — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:15:37 +0000

The Get MotivatED Challenge partnered with Def Jam Rapstar to encourage students to rap, rhyme or sing about why education matters to them and Lincoln definitely represented! They put together six video submissions including a rousing cheer from their cheerleading squad, two pieces from their ROTC groups, a group rap with over 20 students singing the chorus in the background, a beautiful solo performance and a trio of strong women with a powerful message about the importance of education.

Freeway Congratulates Lincoln High School from Get Schooled on Vimeo.

Today in Philadelphia, Get Schooled made the final stop of its four city tour as part of the Get MotivatED attendance challenge. The students of Abraham Lincoln High School were visited by Radio One personalities Mia Mendez and DJ Cesar and DJ Greg Nitty from 100.3 the Beat to celebrate their improved attendance rates during the six week challenge. Studies have found that students with more than 20 absences in any given year have only a 19 percent chance of graduating.

During todays event, three students were rewarded by Comcast with a $1000 scholarship for their leadership and for going above and beyond to motivate other students to show up every day. The winners were Mahbuba Choudhury, Malcolm Robinson-Gonzalez and Melinda Harris.

Get the full story at GetSchooled.com.

Learn more about Abraham Lincoln High School here.

Find out more about the 100.3 the Beat – Philadelphia radio personalities.

Kimora Lee Simmons Unveils Fabulous School Makeover

Byakuugan_Mod — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:05:32 +0000

With the help of Bounty, the Style Network’s Kimora Lee Simmons unveiled a $50,000 makeover at The North St. Francois County High School in Bonne Terre, MO. (Missouri)

Kimora Lee Simmons really enjoyed the entire process of designing a classroom for the students. She had fun combining form and functionality for the students which will help inspire creativity in the teens. Simmons was “honored to be a part of the process, and this is the first of many.” Bounty and Kimora Lee Simmons plan to continue the “We Love Our School” campaign and donate cleaning supplies to classrooms in need as well as bring a little bit of “fabulosity” to schools.

The “We Love Our School” campaign received thousands of entries from parents who entered their school into the sweepstakes through Bounty for a chance to win the grand prize of a $50,000 classroom make-over by Kimora Lee Simmons. The lucky winner of the sweepstakes was North St. Francois High School in Bonne Terre, Missouri.

Later she posed with a few of the students leaders and teachers at the school while viewing the classroom the $50,000 was used to makeover.

: Kimora Lee with North St. Francois County High School

Check out more of the exclusive interview on examiner.com