Educating future nurses as a ticket out of poverty

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Sometimes, an airplane ride can change your life. Rachelle Simmons was college visiting in Baltimore with her son, and mentally noted something unique. “Usually in the inner city, on every corner you see a liquor store or a church – every corner. And there (Baltimore), on every corner there was a clinic! Or there was a hospital! Continue Reading

Art Rolnick: Support all high quality Pre-K programs equally

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In a recent commentary, Minnesota 2020 advocated for “helping school districts grow their early learning programs.” I agree with Minnesota 2020 that early education is a very sound public investment. In fact, the research is overwhelming that there is not a better public investment. I hope Minnesota 2020 continues to advocate for improving access to high quality early education for low-income children.However, the tenor of the commentary made it clear that Minnesota 2020 meant that we should support public school-based programs more than we help private programs, such as center-based, home-based, and religious-based early learning programs.The “more than” part is where I disagree.Under the current ratings and scholarship approach being used in Minnesota, it’s important to understand that public school-based pre-kindergarten programs already receive considerable state government help, such as millions of dollars in early learning scholarships, direct-to-program funding, and Ratings promotion. Public school programs are hardly being ignored by the state.I support public school pre-kindergarten programs. But I oppose giving public school programs more financial and technical opportunities than are available to private programs.Public school programs have some advantages, such as existing bricks-and-mortar infrastructure and generally high early learning quality. But they are far from a cure-all. Continue Reading

“Keep their Minds Engaged in Wonder”: Educators’ advice about summer learning

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“Keep their minds and bodies engaged in wonder during the summer months when they are not attending school.” That’s what Julie Olson, director of elementary education for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools recommended last week. She was one of 41 union leaders, superintendents, principals and other education leaders who responded to my request for suggestions about what parents could do to encourage continued learning during the summer. They described a combination modeling, advocacy, exploration and encouraging participation in community, school and family activities.  This can produce a summer with great memories and student growth. Continue Reading

“Miracles Can Happen” celebrates expansion of Karamu Garden in north Minneapolis

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A diverse mix of city and community leaders gathered with north side residents and community partners June 2 to celebrate the expansion of Karamu Garden in north Minneapolis.Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges helped preside over the garden groundbreaking and dedication ceremony entitled “Miracles Can Happen,” along with Barry Sanders, President and Chief Operating Officer of Scotts Miracle-Gro, members of Project Sweetie Pie, the Black Storytellers Alliance and a host of others. Attendees enjoyed free hot dogs and refreshments, a health fair, commemorative speeches, and live entertainment from musician Blair Lee, and Asian Media Alliance performers whose ribbons danced in the blustery wind.Karamu Garden, located on 1600 Plymouth Avenue North, and the city of Minneapolis, are one of five national recipients of a grant through the U.S. Council of Mayors by Scotts Miracle-Gro’s GRO1000 program. The program is dedicated to creating more than 1,000 community gardens and green spaces in the U.S., Canada and Europe by 2018. Project Sweetie Pie founder Michael Chaney sees the Plymouth Avenue location of Karamu Garden as fertile ground for his broader vision. “Plymouth Avenue is the Nile of the North!” proclaimed Chaney. “I’d like this garden to be the impetus for a Plymouth Avenue makeover, with Karamu Garden becoming the Rose Garden of north Minneapolis.”Karamu Garden has been redesigned to become a municipal community garden with food planted and harvested as a givng garden, unfolding over the next three years. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | 200 pack Osseo school district Parents of Color meeting

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 On May 22, More than 200 people crammed the main meeting room at the Brooklyn Park Community Activity Center to participate in the Community Town Hall for Parents of Color in the Osseo School District. Most of the participating parents were African immigrants and African Americans. The meeting was hosted  by African Immigrant Services and Legacy Family Center. Teachers and staff of Northview Junior High participated in the planning and logistics of the meeting.A top goal of the meeting was to give the parents an opportunity to talk about what they wanted changed in  their schools, identify solutions, then work together to get solutions implemented.Small group brainstormingPeople gathered around tables in groups of about ten.They then in turn brainstormed these questions: What do you like/dislike about your child’s school?What solutions would you propose?What kind of follow-up would you like to see after tonight?The answers to the like and dislike questions were then written on big easel sheets, and the sheets were taped up on the wall.As the meeting ended, people were given five dots, and asked to vote for the five things they most liked and disliked about their school and the school system.Voting PrioritiesThese dislikes got the most dot votes:1.    Staff not racially similar to students (41 votes)2.    Low expectations for black students (38 votes)3.    Need better support for immigrant students (36 votes)4.    Inconsistent communication from teachers to parents (35 votes)5.    Not enough diversity (32 votes)6.    Blowing black student school issues out of proportion (32 votes)7.    Teachers lack cultural understanding of their students (31 votes)8.    School board is not racially similar to community (30 votes) These likes got the most dot votes: 1.    Hiring people of color (25 votes)2.    Good at getting communications out to parents’s homes (15 votes)3.    There is good diversity (13 votes)4.    Progress made regarding racial equity (11 votes)5.    Cares about exceptional students (10 votes)6.    Open communication (10 votes) Over the next few weeks., parents and community members will be reaching out to more parents, researching possible solutions to the biggest problems, negotiating with the Osseo school district, and working together to get solutions implemented.Even though  the room was packed and noisy, people came away energized and vowing  to work together to improve  their school systemBelow are the easel sheets with dots and the vote count for each like and dislike Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Open letter: MFT board must seek to be more inclusive

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by Kaitlin Lindsey, Minneapolis Public School TeacherThe arrival of ballots in the inboxes of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers members can mean only one thing: another union election is upon us, and with it, the chance to make our voices as classroom educators heard. The union election presents an all too rare opportunity for us to reach out to leadership, knowing that what we have to say will be taken to heart. As such, we are writing this open letter to the next President of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, whomever she may be, to express our hopes for the next two years.Active member engagement must be the key goal for the next MFT President. Too many teachers do not actively work within the union, and do not feel that it represents them. An engaged membership strengthens the union’s ability to meet our shared goals, elevating our profession and improving student achievement. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Words from a composer: Creating “Olorund and the Orishas”

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There is a new, intriguing orchestra on the Northside today – the Hopewell Community Orchestra.  The orchestra is comprised of students of a variety of ages, skills, and has both Hopewell students and community members. At Hopewell’s 2nd Annual Founders Day Funder this past April the orchestra had the opportunity to give a world premiere of Dameun Strange’s “Olorund and the Orishas.” Andre Bronson, age 18, plays the violin and when asked how he felt about performing the piece, stated “Playing Dameun’s piece was a lot of fun. I was nervous because no one has heard it before… but I thought of the story the piece told while playing it and had fun and the piece practically played itself.” Staff member Martha Chataleine asked Mr. Strange if he would explain the process he went through in composing his piece, and he was kind enough to put it into the following words. They will be playing it again as a part of their program during their Contemporary Composer Concert on Saturday, May 17th/3pm at North United Methodist Church, 4350 Fremont Ave North, Minneapolis, which is free and open to the public.What type of musical piece is your orchestral composition? Continue Reading