More than 50 people lined the
sidewalks of Ashley to inspire
BY TEVIN ST1NSON
THE CHRONICLE
While Monday, Aug. 29
marked the start of a new
school year for thousands
of students in the local dis
trict, not many received a
welcome back like the stu
dents at Ashley Academy
for Cultural and Global
Studies.
As they walked into the
school located in East
Winston, students were
greeted by community
members, faith leaders,
police officers, firefighters
and other professionals in
the community looking to
inspire and encourage stu
dents to put their best foot
forward throughout the
2016-2017 school year.
After receiving count
less handshakes and words
of motivation from those
who formed the tunnel,
third grader Fa'Tru
Washington said he
enjoyed the passionate wel
come.
"I liked it a lot," said
Washington. "I'm ready to
start the school year off
right."
Washington's grand
mother, Nannie Wright,
said she was amazed by
what she saw. She noted
she believes the added
stimulation from the com
munity will help her grand
son and other students do
the right thing while they
are in the classroom.
"This is truly amazing.
I have never seen anything
like this before," she said.
"I think this is going to
inspire students to have a
good year because they
know there are people in
this community who really
care about them."
The welcoming cere
mony was the brainchild of
Rev. Lamont Williams, a
teacher at Ashley and
director of the local branch
of the My Brother's Keeper
(MBK) initiative. MBK
was launched by President
Barack Obama to address
persistent opportunity gaps
faced by young men of
color. The program also
ensures that all young peo
ple reach their full poten
tial.
Although it was a lot of
work to make the event
come to life, Williams said,
after seeing the look on stu
dents' faces, it was all
worth it.
"Struggle is the catalyst
to success. Any time you
want to do something that
is successful, you have to
struggle," he said.
"There were some
struggles trying to raise
awareness that there is a
need at this school, but
once we struggled through
that and everyone saw the
expression on the kids'
faces as they walked into
the building, I believe it
was worth the struggle."
Ashley, which is one of
11 struggling schools in the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County School district, has
been flagged for turn
_ Ptaoyo by Tbvin Stiuon
Kev. Lamont Williams greets a student on the first
day of school at Ashley Academy for Cultural and
Global Studies on Monday, Aug. 29.
around due to low turn
around rates by the federal
government last school
year.
According twWilliams,
the goal is to create a pilot
program of njfile mentors at
Ashley that will use evi
dence-based data to
improve turnaround rates
through community out
reach and various collabo
rations.
"In the end it's all about
action," said Williams.
"We're trying to raise
awareness across the city
so we can do what needs to
be done to turn things
around here at Ashley and
other struggling schools in
the district."
PSoyoft by Todd Luck
Carver High Principal Travis Taylor is hoping to see
academic improvement at his school this year.
Daniel Piggott, Jr., a Carver High math teacher,
wants to see more community involvement in his
school this school year.
Comeback
from page A1
supportive of the school. He hopes to see that support
grow, since Carver needs volunteers, not just for academ
ics, but also in other areas like marketing the school and
beautifying the campus.
Kanijah Edwards started her senior year at Carver this
week. She said she was looking forward to it. She stayed
at Carver even after she moved out of its district. She said
she's received support from Carver staff, who have gotten
her involved with the athletics department, which she vol
unteers with. She said she's learned a lot that will help her
as she pursues athletics as a career field.
Edwards, who works part-time at Cook Out, said she
is looking forward to improving her grades this year. She
credits tutoring last school year with turning her D in
Biology into a B. She said she thought the tutoring and
increased one-on-one attention for students will help
improve the school's proficiency if the students are will
ing to do their part.
"I hope that the freshmen help improve (Carver's) rep
utation, and not just the freshmen, every grade," she said.
Daniel Piggott, Jr., a math teacher at Carver, said he
was hopeful that that the school will begin heading in the
right direction academically this school year. A Carver
alumnus who's taught at the school for 13 years, he's seen
Carver bounce back before, like when it was one of the
low performing schools Superior Court Judge Howard
Manning, Jr. threatened to shut down. He said he believed
Carver would rise to the occasion again.
Piggott recently wrote an editorial that was published
in The Chronicle asking the community to help Carver. He
said there's been a good response with people coming for
ward to volunteer. He said he felt it'll take "the entire vil
lage" rallying around Carver to make a difference.
"1 know what this community is capable of because
I'm a product of it, so I just think we just need to reener
gize ourselves as a community and make Carver a focus,
a priority, again," said Piggott.
Correction
The Chronicle apologizes for an error made in The
Chronicle on Aug. 18. The article, on page A7 has the
headline "Caring hearts work in the school system."
Because of incorrect information given to The
Chronicle, the byline on the op-ed is incorrect. Kelly A
Solesbee, BSN, RN, CPN, school nurse at The Special
Children's School, wrote the article.
The Chronicle regrets any misunderstanding that may
have resulted from this error. The Editor
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