By: Tiffany Taylor; Video by: Madison Mills and Emily Mae Czachor
Jennifer Bonilla, a Dorsey High School senior killed in Thursday’s tour bus crash, was remembered with a memorial outside the school on Monday. Students and faculty brought flowers, candles and signs as they continued to mourn her loss.
Bonilla was killed when a bus carrying Los Angeles area high school students to Humboldt State University was struck by a FedEx truck that crossed lanes of traffic on Interstate 5 near Orland.
The Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, a prestigious magnet school focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematic curricula, is breaking the mold for lower-income, minority students.
Studies show that STEM courses give high school students access to better colleges and higher-paying jobs, but minority students don’t have as many opportunities to pursue STEM topics. Meanwhile, white, middle-income students are twice as likely to go to a school with a full array of AP courses versus lower-income, minority students.
That’s where LACES comes in.
Learn more in a story from Annenberg Radio News:
Most of its 1,600 students have above a 3.5 GPA and over 85 percent are accepted into successful four-year universities.
LAUSD’s Teacher of the Year, Leslie Aaronson, spearheaded a workshop at Foshay High School in South LA on Tuesday morning. She had her students create ad campaigns about topics they were interested in. They all chose digital footprints and online security.
The students were divided into five groups and each group had their own booth at the workshop that all students of the school could attend. As the students came in their peers taught them about online security and safe Internet usage. Some students did not know that privacy settings existed in social media. Others incorrectly thought that deleting a post from the Internet meant that it would disappear permanently, when that is not the case.
The students in Aaronson’s class helped workshop attendees by having students log into their Facebook or social media accounts. The groups would then tell the students which posts should be deleted or avoided. Another group created a video tutorial that walked students through changing their privacy settings for Facebook.
Aaronson’s class chose issues with social media and online security because they are seniors heading off to college or applying for work. They know that future employers or admissions officers will look at their social media sites.
Hear the voices of Foshay students:
Andy Garcia on the basketball court | Jennifer Velez
Entering higher education can become a symbolic accomplishment for second generation Americans whose parents left their native countries to give them better opportunities. But what happens when college is not an immediate option for them? Meet Andy Garcia, a Locke High School athlete, who is looking for alternative ways to make a family feat a reality after not being able to attend college straight after high school.
Click play on an audio story from Annenberg Radio News:
Changes to the SAT, which will be implemented in Spring 2016, claim to make the test more accessible and might bring more to highly-ranked universities, such as USC. | Jordyn Holman
Whenever the SAT gets revised, controversy trails close behind, especially regarding fairness across the board for test-takers from all backgrounds. Many educators have criticized the newest iteration of the test College Board announced this month, which is set to go into effect in two years. But some veteran educators are saying the revamped version holds promise.
Jennifer Hollie, who runs the college prep program for the Challengers Boys and Girls Club in South Los Angeles, feels optimistic about what the new format portends for students from disadvantaged communities.
“For [the College Board] to change the way the SAT is being written is a positive change,” said Hollie, who assists high school students from underserved communities with the college admission process by involving them in comprehensive programs.
“Even with my master’s degree I don’t always understand the words that they’re giving,” she said.
The revisions to the SAT include the elimination of obscure vocabulary words and the penalty for guessing wrong. It will also adapt the essay, which became mandatory in 2005, so that it is an optional test component, according to a College Board press release. The new SAT will have three sections, including reading and writing, math and the optional essay. It will be scored out of 1600 instead of 2400 points. [Read more…]
Maxine Waters speaking outside the LACOE meeting on Tuesday. | Stephanie Monte
Congresswoman Maxine Waters demanded a federal investigation of the L.A. County Office of Education on Tuesday, saying the office strong-armed the CEO of Kedren Head Start to give up its contract and close about 30 centers.
Kedren serves roughly 2,200 children at Head Start facilities located in South Los Angeles communities including Watts.
Waters told families and press gathered outside the Board of Education meeting in Downey that LACOE forced the President of Kedren, John Griffith, to make a decision in less than two hours.
“What they do is intimate the directors of these delegate agencies,” said Waters. “They tell them if they don’t give up their contract, that somehow it’s going to be even worse off for the program.”
See also on Intersections: Children’s Institute to take over Kedren Head Start centers in South LA
Men of Color College Forum at Gardena High School | Sikivu Hutchinson
According to GOP Congressman Paul Ryan, an insidious “inner city culture” has prevented “generations” of “inner city” men from seeking jobs. Evoking the ghost of the GOP past, present and future, shiftless lazy black men with no work ethic are to blame for the high rates of unemployment in the U.S.’ ghettoes. Ryan’s comments were no doubt a desperate attempt to stay relevant and on message after not receiving an invitation to be grand dragon (marshal) of the “nationwide” White Man March.
A few weeks before Ryan trotted out his Black Pathology 101 thesis, President Obama announced that the administration would spearhead a “Brother’s Keeper” initiative to address the dire socioeconomic conditions confronting young men of color. A central focus of the initiative is improving college-going rates for African American and Latino young men, who lag behind women of color in college admissions. Another is reducing Black and Latino mass incarceration.
See also on Intersections: Obama announces My Brother’s Keeper for young men of color
Shanice Joseph and her mother
If I were to get pregnant, I would know just where to go for help: the local offices of Women, Infants, and Children, the federally funded food and nutrition program; Planned Parenthood; and the Family Resource Center. All three are places where I stood in line for hours with my siblings as a child growing up in Watts. But finding local resources to pursue higher education is harder. As one of the few community college students living in Watts, I can’t find a place to print out an essay or get college-related advice.
When I ran into a friend who grew up in the same low-income housing development as I did, she said there was an easier way than to struggle through college. “You should get pregnant,” she told me. “Girl, the government will take care of you, trust me.”
I didn’t think much of her idea. But she was right about one thing: In my community, there are many resources for young parents, and barely any for college students. Just on my own block, I recently counted a total of five programs for mothers my age or younger.
Click to hear Shanice Joseph give an “audio intro” to her neighborhood, produced with Kerstin Zilm.
Protest outside Maya Angelou High School. | Stephanie Monte
Principal Yolanda Rangel was taken away from Maya Angelou Community High School in South L.A. on March 6. But what happened to her? At this point, teachers, students and parents have more questions than answers — and they are rallying to bring Rangel back. The L.A. Unified School District said her position is under review, but cannot divulge any details except to say she has not been fired or removed.
Rangel began at Maya Angelou six months ago, and cultivated a reputation for bringing order to campus, and bolstering tutoring, health and fine arts programs.
To hear from students and teachers who want Rangel to come back, click play on an audio story from Annenberg Radio News:
Maya Angelou Community High School | www.mayaangeloucommunityhighschool.com
Maya Angelou High School:
The SAT is getting another makeover and the College Board touts the test will be easier and more accessible to all students.
Unveiled last week, the standardized test will now contain more “relevant” vocabulary words, fewer math topics, an optional essay and an “evidence-based” reading and writing section. The Collage Board also promised that this test will give more minority and low-income students access to free online test prep resources and fee waivers.
But going back to a 1600-point scale, making an essay optional and offering more online classes won’t solve the access problems many of these students face when trying to take the test, some experts argue.
Click to hear their perspectives in an audio piece from Annenberg Radio News:
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