The New Survey - Eau Claire Community Council

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Page 8 • June 2011 The New Survey Continued from Page 5 action team formed of Hinkle, Eau Claire Community Council Executive Director Henry Hopkins, Columbia College VP Dr. Ron White, Dr. B.A. Ingrim, City Center Partnership CEO Matt Kennell, Benedict College instructor Faye Hardy, Dr. Jenene Whitty, former Morris College administrator Jim Solomon, and Columbia Urban League President J.T. McLawhorn was mobilized to “Institutionalize in the community a movement to assist the district.” In January 2008, then Columbia Mayor Bob Coble led a contingency of stakeholders on a junket to Mobile, Alabama to observe that city’s collaborative which saw 85 of its 100 schools reach Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2007, a 215% jump from 2002, when 27 schools out of 93 met the requirement. The experience resulted in a sea change in attitudes. . Financial commitments were made by the City of Columbia and Richland County to continue to support initiatives. Together We Can Read programs have been an annual staple in District One classrooms; local authors and volunteer readers visit the schools. Opening Non- Conventional Doors Alternatives to public school education became a point of debate during the 1980s as parents and school districts alike were weighing outcomes of traditional education. Research supported the notion that not all children learn in the same way, at the same pace, and in the same environment, thus alternative systems might improve the successful completion of secondary skills for those children experiencing difficulty learning in a traditional setting. Though parochial and private education has always been a part of the education landscape, attitudes toward religious views and/or costs associated with attending private schools often complicated access for urban students, especially in the South. On June 8, 2006, the South Carolina Charter School Act of 2006 was signed into law by the governor. In his working paper, “charter Schools with Some Focus on South Carolina’s Experience, Richard D. Young said, “Though charter schools had been enabled by legislation passed by the General Assembly in 1996, the charter School Act arguably gave what has become to be known as ‘school choice’ a significant boost in South Carolina.” See Sea Change Page 13 Richland One student named Gates Millennium Scholar Top Grad Hakeem Hicks, second from left, was recipient of the Bill & Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship. Pictured with him are (l-r) Eau Claire High School Principal Rodney Zimmerman, Hicks’ mother, Angela Hicks and Richland One Superintendent Dr. Percy Mack. Hakeem Hicks, a senior at Eau Claire High School, has been named a Gates Millennium Scholar, a highly prestigious award that will pay the entire cost of his college education through graduation, including graduate school. The Gates Millennium Scholars Program is funded by a $1 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Its goal is to provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students with significant financial need to attend college. Applicants must have a 3.3 or higher GPA (grade point average) and have demonstrated superb academic achievement, leadership abilities and extra-curricular community service activities. Hicks is the second Richland One student in the last three years to receive this honor. Theta Brown, who graduated from Eau Claire in 2009, now attends Furman University. Each year the Foundation awards scholarships to 1,000 students nationwide. When his scholarship award was announced at the Richland One Academic All-Stars Recognition Banquet on April 19, Hicks made a promise to the cheering audience: “To whom much is given, much is expected and I will make you proud.” Hicks is currently ranked number one in his class with a 4.38 GPA. In addition to being a Richland One Academic All- Star, he is the business manager for the student body government organization. This scholarship will allow him to attend any college of his choice in the United States with all expenses paid by the Foundation. This fall he plans to attend either Clemson University or Howard University to major in teacher education. “We are extremely proud of Hakeem,” said Richland One Superintendent Dr. Percy Mack. “Richland One provided him the foundation to excel academically. His hard work and dedication to excellence will serve him well in the future.” Submitted by District I Eau Claire High School grads earn state-wide recognition in 2011 The Eau Claire HIgh School Class of 2011 had much to celebrate in May. Earning more than $11 million to spend on higher education, the class received nearly 20% of all scholarship monies awarded to District I schools. In addition, nearly 70% of freshmen who started Eau Claire in 2008, finished on time, resulting in the school’s recognition as a Palmetto Silver honoree. Awarded for student performance on the HSAP (High School Assessment Program) exams, end-of-course tests and on-time graduation rates, the Palmetto Silver was created by the SC General Assembly to recognize schools that attain high levels of absolute performance, high rates of growth and substantial progress in closing achievement gaps between groups of students. Among the scholarship recipients at Eau Claire is Hakeem Hicks, who received a Gates Millennium Scholarship which will pay for his full college tuition and expenses, including graduate school. The scholarship is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. An Honors graduate, Hicks was also awarded Salutatorian and is a member of the National Honor Society, and the International Thespian Honor Society. In addition, Honors graduate and member of the National Honor Society, Jamence Jenkins, was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School. Other Honors graduates at Eau Claire include top graduate and Valedictorian Ricki Blakeney who is also a member of the National Honor Society See Recognition on Page 13
The New Survey June 2011 • Page 9 Eau Claire Promise Zone announces its first executive director With a mission to “do whatever is takes” to improve the educational outlook of its community schools, the Eau Claire Promise Zone (ECPZ) takes another step in that direction this month with the hiring of its first executive director. Matthew Costello, a South Carolina transplant who has traveled throughout this state as an outreach worker on health and wellness initiatives in poor communities, combines his longtime advocacy for education innovation, mental health reform, and wellness with extensive governmental relations and nonprofit leadership to head up the group. Costello brings extensive knowledge and experience to the table. Most recently as grants director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Columbia, also located in this North Columbia community, and as executive director of South Carolina Fair Share’s Education Matthew Costello, the first executive director of the Eau Claire Promise Zone, shares his thoughts on the organizations first initiatives at a reception on May 27. Fund, Costello is enthusiastic about his new role saying, “I feel as though my entire career has prepared me for [this] position.” On the job for less than two weeks, Costello has been preparing for his new role by making himself known and visible throughout North Columbia. Calling on business and community leaders, service providers and schools, Costello says he wants to learn “who’s doing what” in the community as a means of developing better partnership opportunities. “I don’t want the Promise Zone to be the ‘smartest’ white paper on the shelf,” he said. “I want us to be a competent, steady group, being careful what we promise, and making it easy for people to get involved.” The new director says that, following assessment, the real work will begin with the development of an operational document—hopefully by the end of June—that will serve as a guide “to what we can do." We will be working in the community where it is, today,” Costello explained of the group’s already successful grassroots approach to involvement. Costello was hosted at a reception on Thursday, May 26 at Arden Elementary School in North Columbia. The Eau Claire Promise Zone, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is a citywide grassroots coalition of community partners committed to doing “whatever it takes” to ensure all of our children are prepared to graduate from college and be successful in their career and in life. It is part of the nationwide “Promise Neighborhoods” movement, modeled after the groundbreaking work of Geoffrey Canada and his Harlem Children’s Zone. Submitted by the Eau Claire Promise Zone http://promisezone.org New Timbuktu Academy offers nontraditional middle school curriculum For more than a decade, Abd’Allah Adesanya has been a leader in Islamic education in North Columbia, first at the Sister Clara Muhammed School on Monticello, and, since, 2008 at the New Timbuktu Academy (NTA) located in the Ridgewood Community. A contemporary of Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada, Adesanya began working with disadvantaged and underachieving students in New York and Atlanta where Islamic education and religious ethics were a driving force to his philosophy toward education. The former principal of the Sister Clara Muhammad School in Columbia sought a more focused curriculum for middle school students and based it on one of the basic tenants of Islam, the philosophy of unity or tawheed. Co-founded by USC philosophy professor Dr. James E. Fisher, the school seeks to “address the needs of the whole human being, and to teach respect and reverence for the Creator of all things.” Students learn to work as teams to solve problems through mutual respect and with a focus on combined success. Open to students in grades 6-10, regardless of race, religion or cultural origin, the school prepares students to be “active participants in the global green economy.” In addition to the basic core courses of math, English, science and social studies, NTA integrates social studies and science curriculums to prepare students for entrepreneurial opportunities in South Carolina’s hydrogen and bio-fuels economy. An active partner in the Eau Claire Promise Zone initiative, Adesanya says that educating children should not focus on the catchment of an individual school, rather “on those willing and wanting to work with the program.” “Our reach is to all students in the area,” Adesanya said. We want our students to be successful in the public schools when they leave.” For more information on the New Timbuktu Academy, contact Adesanya at 782-2532 or aaadesanya@aol.com. Above: Abd’Allah Adesanya (left), cofounder of the Timbuktu Academy in Eau Claire, worked professionally with Geoffrey Canada (right) founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City before coming to Columbia. Left: Students Minniya Muhamad, Abdullah Bueno and Destiny Hunter wrote directed and designed scenery for, “The Cinderella Play,” which they presented in May at the school. Dr. James Fisher, co-founder of the academy, serves as their advisor.
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The New Survey - Eau Claire Community Council

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