Clean Air Crusaders at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School

After considering multiple social issues affecting both their school and the larger community, 4th graders in the SLP Club at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School (BPCS) have decided to help prevent air pollution.  Especially in New York City, air pollution poses a serious risk to all residents: but children, seniors, and people living in low-income neighborhoods face the highest risk.

Students analyze the causes of air pollution

Deep into the Research Phase of their project, BPCS students have uncovered many startling statistics:

1. According to the World Health Organization, 92% of the world’s population lives in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution.

2. Up to 2,700 premature deaths per year in NYC could be attributed to poor air quality. Put in perspective, that’s more than eight times the 2013 murder rate.

3. Cars produce more air pollution than any other single human activity, producing 60% of all carbon monoxide emissions nationwide.

4. While pollution from natural events such as forest fires or volcanoes does occur, it is marginal compared to air pollution caused by human activity.

5. 6.5 millions deaths per year are thought to be caused by air pollution-related diseases; that’s 11.6% of all global deaths.

Though the situation is daunting, government regulation can have a positive impact. According to the NYC Health Department, air pollution in the city is at the lowest level ever recorded, thought to be the result of federal, state and city measures curtailing air pollution. But, under the Trump administration and EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, existing environmental regulations (let alone increased regulation) are in serious danger.

Stay tuned to learn more about which solutions BPCS students determine are the most effective, and what we can all do to help prevent air pollution.

Hurricane Destruction: How You Can Help

In quick succession, three hurricanes crashed through the Caribbean and southern United States, leaving overwhelming destruction behind.  Often, in the wake of a natural disaster, it can be hard to know how to be most helpful. With this level of devastation, following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, it can be overwhelming to even know where to start.

Although SLP’s work focuses on helping youth have a long-term systemic impact on social problems, sometimes what is needed is direct and immediate service.  Here are ways you can have an impact:

1. If you can, donate money.

Consider donating to a grassroots or local organization that can disseminate resources on the ground quickly and effectively such as United for Puerto Rico, the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, or the Miami Foundation’s Irma Community Relief Fund.

2.  Donate goods.

Organize a toiletry or canned food drive at your school, work, or place of worship. The Puerto Rican government has released a list of most needed items, and Mayor de Blasio has announced 18 locations across the boroughs where New Yorkers can donate goods. The Houston Emergency Operations Center put out a call for donations and included drop off locations. You can also donate food and goods through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

3. Keep checking back.

The Caribbean and the Gulf Coast will be rebuilding for years, but news coverage, as well as most people’s attention, will move on.  Remember to check back on the affected areas when the rebuilding effort is not getting as much press and the donations have stopped streaming in. You could set an alarm or reminder on your smartphone or computer to re-engage with the rebuilding effort in a month, six months, or even a year.

4. Remember the parable of the starfish.

Every drop in the bucket helps. While the sheer scale of destruction can lead some to feel their actions will have no impact, don’t underestimate the power of collective action.

Do you have more ideas or resources to support hurricane relief? Let us know in the comments below.

Welcome to our New Faculty Members!

Fr. left to right: Maddie Perlmutter, Claire Wampler, Jessica Bundage, & Tracy Jo Ingram

We’re thrilled to welcome four new Faculty members to SLP!  Along with their passion for working with youth, they bring impressive backgrounds in teaching, service, and project-based learning:

After college, Jessica Bundage worked as an AmeriCorps member in Dallas, Texas, where she supported under-served elementary and middle school-aged youth. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia, Jessica provided language, health, and leadership education to middle and high school students.  Last summer, she taught a journalism class and mentored high school students at a girls school in Kenya. Born and raised in Houston, Jessica is pursuing a Master’s degree in International Education at NYU.

Lousiville-native Tracy Jo Ingram served as Americorps volunteer coordinator in San Francisco after graduating college. Over the past seven years, Tracy held multiple positions with the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association, where her work focused on advocacy, identity development, empathy-cultivation, and public service.  In her most recent position as Director of Social Responsibility, Tracy managed curriculum development and program direction for more than 10,000 youth. Tracy is a graduate student at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, where she is studying for her Masters in Public Administration and Public Policy.  

During her gap year between high school and college, Maddie Perlmutter served as an AmeriCorps Member with City Year, where she supported 5th and 6th grade classrooms in a Sacramento elementary school.  When she’s not teaching or studying, Maddie can be found enjoying a morning yoga class, grabbing coffee with friends, or spending time outdoors.  A senior in the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Maddie is majoring in Education Studies and Child & Adolescent Development, and minoring in Public Policy & Management.

A graduate of Barnard College, Claire Wampler has facilitated service learning programs in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua.  Passionate about community engagement and social justice, Claire previously worked at Move This World, equipping students and teachers with tools to strengthen their mental and emotional wellbeing.  A professionally trained dancer, Claire is developing the curriculum for an integrated dance and sustainability course at a Brooklyn middle school and teaching dance classes at the Mark Morris Dance Center and in New York City schools with Marquis Studios.

We’re so fortunate to have their passion and expertise, and look forward to sharing their stories throughout the 2017-18 school year.

Interested in bringing project-based service learning to your school? Reach out to  info@servicelearningnyc.org to find out how you can become an SLP partner school.

NYC Special Needs Voucher Program is Not Enough

This is the part two of a series on students with special needs by Guest Blogger and SLP Intern Juliana Castro. 

According to a recent article on Chalkbeat (an incredible resource for education-related news), NYC families face a Herculean task when trying to arrange critical support for children with special needs.  The City is home to thousands of young students with special needs and many families rely on government support to find and afford help such as physical therapy, medical services, and counseling for their children. When the Department of Education (DOE) is unable to provide sufficient in-school services, parents are given a voucher to pay outside providers.  Just finding these providers, however, proves to be a very daunting task.  During the 2015-16 school year, families redeemed only half of the vouchers issued.  During the same year, just 59% of students with special needs received needed services, while thousands received none at all.   Families struggle to find providers in their neighborhoods and have difficulty arranging (and getting reimbursed for) transportation.  Many providers are simply difficult to reach.  

Chalkbeat interviewed Maggie Moroff, a disability policy expert at Advocates for Children, who called these findings from the NYC Public Advocate's office, "not surprising."  Services for students with disabilities, she added, are as "crucial as general academic instruction."  She explained, “It’s all the other things that go into a student’s ability to process and learn and develop in school.  Without any of them, you’re denying a student a really important piece of their education.”

Increasing Accessibility in the Classroom: NYC Schools

This is the first post from SLP’s guest blogger and Summer Intern, Juliana Castro.  Juliana is a junior at Wesleyan University.   

A few years ago, 6th graders in SLP's Residency Program tackled the issue of accessibility in NYC, specifically with regard to transportation.  But, too often, public schools themselves are not accessible. 

What would it be like to not be able to physically enter a classroom space, the library, the gym, or to be unable to even enter the main door into school? School is a period of time for children and teens to explore, grow, and learn but children with physical disabilities find it increasingly hard to attend school in the city.  Every day, they say, they are reminded that they have a disability and that they cannot experience school in the same way as their peers.  According to WNYC, only 17% of New York City schools are fully accessible and comply with federal regulations, making it hard for young students like Aron Phillips with cerebral palsy to learn in the classroom. He says he often feels isolated within the narrow halls of his school and that other students are not mindful of him. Because of the unreliable and inefficient bus transportation system his school provides, Aron has missed weeks of school throughout the year. Eighht grader Emma Albert uses a wheelchair and has never been able to enter school through the front door; instead, she uses the side entrance every morning.

Judging by personal accounts of students with physical disabilities, NYC schools have a long way to go before students with disabilities are fully able to participate in school life.

Advocacy Award for SLP Students

We were thrilled to attend Care for the Homeless' annual Summer Solstice event and accept an advocacy award on behalf of SLP students!

Care for the Homeless (CFH) is a long-standing SLP partner.   We have been so fortunate to have the opportunity to help advance their critical mission: providing free medical care and advocacy for NYC homeless.  Three SLP groups have partnered with CFH: Third and fourth graders in Fort Green, concerned about the impact on children of living in temporary shelters, organized a campaign to advocate for more supportive housing.  You can view their PSA here.   Two classes of third graders in Brownsville organized a petition drive to support CFH's request to the NYC City Council for funding to support their Peer-to-Peer Outreach program.  A request which was granted in late June.  

We look forward to continuing to partner with CFH with future SLP groups that select homelessness as the issue they would like to help solve.  

SLP Spring Fundraiser!

What a night! Thanks so much to all who came out to celebrate with us at the awesome Shapeshifter Lab  in Gowanus, Brooklyn on Wednesday night! 

In all, we raised more than $17,000 which means that close to 300 students attending school in under-served Brooklyn neighborhoods will have the opportunity to become leaders in their schools and communities. 

So many were so generous! 

Thank you to the incredibly talented artists who donated their work:  Miranda Barnes, Jenny Gage/Tom Betterton, Pamela Hanson, Lionel Koretsky, Anne Joyce, Elaine Mode, Joel Stans, MG VanderElst, Jen Ferguson, and Leslie Oberdorfer. 

Thank you to the awesome musicians who made it such a fun evening: Key Lime Pie, Chris Erikson, and Cliff Westfall...and his Electrified Honkytonk Band!   

Thank you to Blue Balloon School, Joanie Smith (Pilates), and Dumbelle for donating classes to the raffle. 

Thank you to Judith Viorst, the Wythe Hotel, La Vara, Txikito, Cipriani, Cheney Literary, John Ginns, and Vogue for their incredibly generous donations to our auction and raffle.  

Thank you to Rachel, Ashley, Olivia, and Rosa for sharing their SLP experiences. 

And for all of you who purchased tickets and came out to make it such a fun and inspiring evening- we are so grateful for your support! 

Teens in the News...

We are loving these teens in the news, making their voices heard: 

NYC students are calling for the City to integrate public schools and give students a voice in the process. Last weekend, students from IntegrateNYC4Me, a student-led advocacy group, organized a rally to “call attention to the necessity of including student voices in the creation of the policies that will affect us the most.” 

High school junior Tahseen Chowdhury announced his campaign to unseat New York State Senator Jose Peralta.  Explaining his decision to run, 16 year-old Tahseen said, "People are looking for someone who cares more about the people than the politics."  

New Jersey students on an 8th grade trip to Washington, DC respectfully declined to take a photo with House Speaker Paul Ryan, using the opportunity to protest his support of the Trump administration.