Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Dec. 22, 2011, edition 1 / Page 3
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Photos by Layla Farmer From left: Program participants Charity Neely, IS, Dayza Lee, 15 Dream Team Member Leslie Coles, K risshay la Rolle, 12 and Mikayah Foster, 7 (front). A Time to Celebrate Piedmont Park Dream Team recalls successes at holiday soiree BY LAYLA FARMER nil CHRONK i i Youngsters in the Piedmont Park community were treated to a special hol iday party in their neighbor hood on Tuesday, the last day of school before Winter Break. More than 60 school aged children (locked to the neighborhood's community center that evening to enjoy refreshments and take home some new additions to their personal libraries, thanks to Jonathan's Legacy: Connections of Hope, a locally-based nonprofit. Each youngster received three books, and parents were given books to read to their children. The holiday party and book giveaway was staged in part as a celebration of the accomplishments of the Dream Team, the leaders of a fledgling family engagement initiative designed to empower and educate the res idents of Piedmont Park, a 240-unit public housing community. Dr. Cecilia McDaniel. director of Family Engagement and Education for CHANGE, serves as coordinator ol the program, which was founded with a $5,000 grant that the Winston-Salem Foundation's Black Philanthropy Fund awarded to the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity and representatives of CHANGE earlier this year. "We wanted to really pro mote literacy by allowing them to choose the books they want and connect that with the season and make sure that over the vacation, they're not totally divorced from learning, and to engage the children and the parents, explained McDaniel. an alumna ot both Harvard and Yale. The Dream Team model has been resident-driven and resident-led from the very start, beginning with the 110 "Let's Dream Again" surveys a team ot residents distributed to their neigh bors-to-assess the communi ty's greatest challenges at the outset of the program. McDaniel said. "We want to leave the skills in the community so that they can push things forward and have that strong support in working for themselves and their fami lies commented the city native. "It has to be some thing that they own for it to be sustainable." Community members who responded to the survey overwhelmingly reported that fostering kindergarten readiness, increasing pri mary school success and addressing behavioral issues were among the communi ty's greatest needs, and McDaniel and the four-mem ber Dream Team have sought From left: Latonya Smith, Dr. Cecilia McDaniel and Leslie Coles. to answer their pleas with after-school tutoring, com puter literacy programs and the other community based programs. For 32 year-old Latoya Smith, a mother of five, getting involved with the Dream Team was a chance to liberate the community she grew up in from some of the challenges it faces. "I devoted myself to it. basically." said Smith, whose two youngest chil dren participate in the pro gram. "It made me wake up and realize I have to save this community before it went down." Smith, who has lived in the community since she was four years-old, said she had access to a wide variety of programs and services as a youngster. Today, those opportunities are far more scarce, she noted. "I love the kids and they didn't really have too many programs out here forlhem and we're trying to keep them away from drugs and violence," said the Resident Council president-elect. "What we try to do is bring everything to the communi ty because the major prob lem is transportation. If we can get it here, then the community responds better." More than 30 children participate in the program on a daily basis. "It's catching on slowly but surely," said Dream Team member Leslie Coles, the Residents Council secre tary-elect. "I think by next year, we probably might be doing a whole lot better." Coles, a mother and a grandmother, said recogniz ing the dire circumstances of the youth in her community inspired her to get involved. "I got tired of hearing lit tle kids outside cussing," she confessed. "Like they used to say, it takes a village to raise a kid. I needed to start participating in raising some of these kids." The 40 year-old Philadelphia native said working with the students has been rewarding for her. "It's a little fulfillment, that's all," remarked Coles, who is unemployed. "I'm helping somebody else, giv ing back to my community, I'm not just sitting around doing nothing." The BPF grant is long gone, but McDaniel said donations from Ministers Conference members and others in the community have helped to keep the pro gram afloat. She is hopeful that the group will be able to secure additional funding to not only sustain its effort, but fulfill the Dream Team's aspirations of help ing to launch similar pro grams in other local commu nities. McDaniel says the Piedmont Park project is evidence that such efforts can foster positive change. "It really means a lot to me to see residents empow ered," she commented. "They can feel like, 'I'm not just operating for today, I'm moving beyond survival - I want to have a different future and I have some way of getting to that and I'm willing to work together with people as a cohesive community to help everyone have a chance.'" The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co. Inc.. 617 N. Liberty Street. Winston-Salem. N.C. 27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem. N.C. Annual subscription price is $30.72. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem. NC 27102-1636 N.C. among Race to the Top winners North Carolina is among nine winners chosen from 37 applicants for the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The state will share the $500 million grant with the other winners. While the exact amount of the grant will be announced later, the state's application was for approximately $70 million. North Carolina's grant will allow the state to strengthen efforts to ensure that all chil dren are able to start kinder garten with a strong founda tion for future learning. Officials say that quality early childhood programs have proven to produce bet ter education, health, family and economic outcomes. Effective early education from birth to age five corre lates with school readiness, academic achievement, col lege graduation, good citi zensffip aritf^aprocluct i v e workforce. The grant recipients were announced by the White House on last Friday morn ing. The Race to the Top program is designed to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K-12 education. Ministries distributes toys Whole Man 'Ministries recently distributed toys to youngsters at its Bridging The Gap Community Center. In partnership with Toys For Tots, more than 200 toys were given to children who live in the community surrounding the church, which is led by Pastors Barry and Camilla V Washington. Whole Man Ministries also partnered with Carolina Christian Bible College and Wrangler Jeans Inc. to pro vide additional free items. Citizen survey posted online City residents can pro vide their thoughts on city priorities and the quality of city services by filling out a citizen survey posted on the city web site (www.CityofWS.org). The survey is identical to a printed survey that was mailed to a statistically rep resentative sample of city residents by National Research Center, a survey firm hired by the city to conduct its 2011 citizen sur vey. The link to the survey will be posted through Jan. 5. The survey is being posted online to give all cit izens an opportunity to voice their opinions. The online results will be pre sented to the City Council along with the results of the printed survey. Council members and city staff will use the results as a guide for evaluating pri orities and improving the delivery of city services. The city periodically conducts a third-party survey of citizens as part of its commitment to service excellence. Salem picked for scholarship program Salem College was cho sen by the Hattie M. Strong Foundation to participate in the Strong Scholars Program. The program offers $5.(XX) scholarships to col lege students enrolled in teacher-training programs. Salem was awarded $ 1 0,000 in scholarship money per year for three years. The first gift will be made in January 2012. Eligible students are in their final year of study with a demonstrated financial need and a minimum grade point average of 3.0. Undergraduate students who have exhibited outstanding success and enthusiasm in teaching expe riences prior to the final year of their program and graduate students whose life experi ences prior to enrollment reveal the same traits will also be considered. The Hattie M. Strong Foundation began as a suc cessful student loan program in 1928 and has since become a scholarship pro gram aimed at college stu dents enrolled in teacher training programs. The foun dation's mission is to help alleviate financial stress dur ing the student -teaching semester. Salem has enjoyed a positive relationship with the foundation throughout the years and looks forward to a continued partnership in the future. State residents asked to help save frogs Gov. Bev Purdkie issued a proclamation last week offi cially declaring April 28, 2012 "Save The Frogs Day" in the state of North aronna. The Governor's move was prom pted by the request of 1 3-year-old R achel Hopkins, an 8th grade stu Hopkins dent at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh. Rachel has been working diligently over the past year to spread the word of amphibians in North Carolina and around the world. Worldwide, nearly one third of the worlds nearly 6.897 amphibian species are threatened with extinction and 200 species have com pletely disappeared since the late 1970s. North Carolina is considered one of the world's amphibian biodiver sity hotspots. In particular, the state boasts at least 60 different salamander species, including the threatened Southern Gray-cheeked Salamander and Red-Legged Salamander. The Governor's choice of April 28, 2012 coincides with worldwide events planned for the day, which is indeed the 4th Annual Save The Frogs Day. 1 Is Proud to Present the 19th Annual David LXash Holiday Classic JV Basketball Tournament December 17 j 1:30 pjn.,3 pan., I 4:30 pan., 6 pan. December 21, 22, and 23 3 p.m., 4:30 pjn., 6 p.m., 7:30 p jn. Carver? School Sponsored by MM UN *-?100 MM' 4teb \VI\s I ON SAI EM STATI 1 n:\ 1 l<M 1 \ ReynoldsAmerican
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