On a recent Saturday morning about 300 people filled a cafeteria at Corcoran High School. They stand around tables in solidarity to show their concern for black and brown students and join together in song.
“Let us march on, until victory is won.”
….And the victory that panelists, educators, parents and the public want is for each child to succeed, especially those who aren’t having success in schools
“Our district, community is filled with faces and smiles, the brilliance of children from all walks of life. Gender, ability, ethnicity, language, religion and race. And we celebrate every single one of them.”
That’s Deputy Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens who says education needs to be compartmentalized to address the nuances of every child in need… in each constituent group.
“Today we were focusing in on particularly those children of African and Latino and Hispanic descent but… of all children, we have to prepared to break away just portions of their particular needs, whether it be the trauma of poverty and domestic violence and incarcerated parents and whether it be the needs of children who are differently abled. We have to comfortably talk about the specific needs of children”
She shares with everyone that her son Isaac has autism and graduated last June from the district and now attends Onondaga Community College to a rousing ovation.
Moderator and Speaker Darrell Andrews who graduated from the district jokes that he only spent a week at Corcoran. He says it’s important for kids to have dreams for the future.
“The important thing is that these young people in this school have dreams for the future. They have dreams of being an engineer, dreams of being a scientists, dreams of being doctors, dreams of being great athletes, basketball.”
Andrews speaks at national conventions and is a best selling author.
“We’ve got some young folks you’re going to be hearing from in a few moments on this panel, when they were babies, they’re doing some amazing things in their lives. See, we can look at all the negative but, it’s a power in this city; it probably came from this city and we’re here today to set the record straight.”
… And that is the quality of education in city schools has the power to work for all.
Andrews’ cousin, Dr. Dimitri Vaughn graduated from Corcoran in 2003. He went on to earn his doctorates at the University of Albany and earned the President’s award as the top student who graduated in his class. Vaughn then earned a scholarship to attend PENN State University and graduated with honors in chemistry and nanoscience.
“A mentor is going to make the biggest difference, that’s what’s made the difference in my life. These kids need to see. We need funding to start investing in this district, so I can come back. It's like hundreds of people right now who have success stories coming out of Corcoran High School that I know personally. I’m not rare, so we gotta bring that back here on a very consistent basis.”
He shared with me that his father was not a part of his life growing up.
“Kids need to feel valued, loved, they need to feel respected because they might not be getting that at home. If a teacher is in a classroom and she’s got 30 kids in front of her, it’s probably hard or him. If you can take the extra effort to just try to embrace them and love them, that’s going to make a big difference.”
A present student on the panel, Azariah Padgett agrees. As he explains, if you want students to dream, encouraging words and serendipity really matters.
“Kids from adults in talking to kids, what you guys say to us, we take that very seriously. Even whether it’s negative or positive and if it’s negative, it’s real bad. Because I got a lot of friends that, at home, their parents say they can’t do this and the next thing you know, they just fall apart. That happened to me and I’m actually kind of stuck of what I want to do, like it changed my mind about a lot of things and what I want to do in the future. So positive vibes on the emotional part, please.”
Syracuse City Schools Board of Education President Derrick Dorsey can attests to the importance of mentors.
“The first thing is you have the accountability that comes into play. The second thing is you have the affirmation that kicks in and you have the confirmation, as well that you’re now able to inspire young people based on giving them positive reinforcement, positive advice. And then knowing that someone cares about their success, it’s a very critical piece.”
For kids that find themselves getting into trouble during the school day, Police Chief Kenton Buckner says excellent school administrative policies are necessary.
“Programs that are not properly managed, led become a pipeline from school to prison. The thing that you will significantly see stressed from my desk is that we are there to ensure that the kids are safe and have constructive contact with the young people. We are not there to make a child sit down, we’re not there to address administrative issues, that’s the responsibility of faculty and staff. So, when we get pushed into those moments. You will see under my leadership that we will push that back to the education system because a child who is having their moment because of the incident that’s going on should not be facing criminal charges.”
An alarming statistic that Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens mentions is that the State Division of Criminal Justice Services ranks Syracuse the highest when it comes to male youth ages 14 to 19 involved in gun related violence.
She feels to accomplish a true focus on student improvement and challenges, the state needs to revise its funding formula.
“In this district and other districts but, particularly Syracuse City District of the needs about mental health, counseling and family dynamics that we need in this community. So, formulas maybe be, policy wise, equitable but the affects that they have is not equitable because it has to be not just child based formulas but, need based formulas.”
The district isn’t really sure as to what an action plan will look like to advance ideas discussed at the conference. Others expressed that they feel the district already has enough programming in place. Expert moderator Andrews shares another thing that is powerful for adults to reach youth.
“We’re talking about Black and Brown students, too. In particular, people who look like them. People that been where they’ve been. Like I shared earlier, I’m from the Pioneer Homes project and I spoke at one of the schools and 50 of the boys wouldn’t let me leave because they just wanted to talk. They had question upon question. The reason why is they could relate. So, all the professions we want, no matter your race. They need to hear about doctors, lawyers, they need to see is people who have been in similar situations that education was the means that got them to the level that they are in life. Cause I am where I am today because the education in the school district. To be the first generation college graduate; my life shifted.”
The overall graduation rate of 58.3 percent in Syracuse City Schools declined in 2018 when tracking when students entered the 9th grade in 2014. State education data shows the achievement gap between black students and their white peers was nearly 19 percent, Hispanic nearly 20 percent and multi-racial students were 7.5 percent less likely to graduate. However, the district’s optimism in a Tweet following the conference reads, “Thanks to all who attended. Together, we are Building Our Future.”
