Forest Park’s electronic recycling event set for Nov. 15
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | NOV. 13-NOV. 19, 2020 31
BY BILL PARRY
LaGuardia Community
College announced that a vital
initiative will continue due to
a $390,000 renewal grant from
the Robin Hood Foundation
that will fund the innovative
Bridge to College and Careers
program which provides free
high school equivalency preparation
while exploring topics
in healthcare, technology
or business, to get students
ready for college or future
employment.
Housed within the college’s
Adult and Continuing Education
Division, the program has
served more than 2,500 students
thanks to Robin Hood’s
support over the last decade.
“We are grateful to the
Robin Hood Foundation for
their ongoing support of our
Bridge to College and Careers
Program,” LaGuardia Community
College President
Kenneth Adams said. “The
confidence Robin Hood has
shown continues to serve as a
critical foundation of the program’s
success in helping New
Yorkers make better lives for
themselves and their families.
Because of Robin Hood’s generous
funding, we have been
able to offer this program
tuition-free, which is incredibly
meaningful given the
low-income, disadvantaged
students we typically serve
and is even more so given the
financial difficulties many
students have as a result of the
pandemic.”
By providing educational
and career pathways
for adults and out-of-school
youth, LaGuardia’s Bridge
to College and Careers Program
was designed to address
historic challenges of high
school equivalency education
programs, including high attrition,
low pass rates on the
HSE exam, and a significant
gap for HSE diploma earners
is a successful transition to
college, certificate training
programs, or the workplace.
The Bridge Program’s evidenced
based approach to contextualized
instruction, where
the curriculum is based upon
content specific to a field of
interest, continues to be recognized
on a national level.
Basic skills in math, writing
and reading are taught using
materials specific to the track,
rather than generic material.
Sandra Chevalier is an example
of the success of Bridge.
The mother of five who was a
high school dropout raised
in foster and group homes
wished for more than another
job at a fast food place.
When she came to La-
Guardia’s Bridge to College
and Careers Program, she
says staff “introduced me to
a world of potential I never
knew existed for someone
like me. They told me I could
go to college and have guided
me every step of the way.”
Chevalier enrolled in the
healthcare track.
Less than a year later, she
earned her high school equivalency
diploma and enrolled
at LaGuardia Community
College, alongside her daughter
Mariah Diaz, a LaGuardia
psychology major while her
mother is a Liberal Arts Major
at Hunter College.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at
(718) 260–4538.
BY BILL PARRY
After having to postpone
their October electronics
waste recycling event at Forest
Park in Woodhaven due to
the rising number of COVID-19
cases in central Queens, state
Senator Joseph Addabbo, Assemblyman
Mike Miller and
Councilman Robert Holden
will host the event on Sunday,
Nov. 15, in conjunction with
the Lower East Side Ecology
Center.
The event will be held in the
Bandshell Parking Lot from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Since the suspension of ewaste
pickup due to the COVID-
19, we have been receiving inquiries
from residents saying
they have old televisions, computers
and other electronics
they want to dispose,” Addabbo
said. “I am happy that Senator
Addabbo and I, and co-sponsor
Councilman Robert Holden,
are now able to provide this
e-waste recycling event for
our constituents, and I want to
thank Lower East Side Ecology
Center for giving their time
and providing their services
and the Parks Department for
their help in coordinating this
event at Forest Park.”
Electronics that will be
accepted during the event include
computers, monitors,
printers, TVs, audio equipment,
video games, cellphones,
batteries, stereo equipment,
household materials and paint,
and household appliances.
“It’s important to properly
recycle old electronics that
are no longer in use, but it
can be hard for people to find
a place to take them,” Holden
said. “That’s why I’m proud
to partner with my colleagues
to bring this service directly
to our constituents to make it
easy for them to be environmentally
friendly.”
In order to keep everyone
safe, NYC Parks Department
is requiring that all participants
wear masks when in the
parking lot, especially when
interacting with a volunteer.
Participants are asked to stay
in their vehicles as much as
possible, for the safety of the
staff and volunteers.
All items should be placed
in an accessible area of the vehicle,
such as the backseat or
trunk, to allow a volunteer to
safely remove them and bring
them to the proper location. If
anyone wishes to leave their
car, they must have their temperature
taken and fill out a
visitor health screening questionnaire
indicating if they
have any symptoms of COVID-
19 or if they have been in close
contact with someone who has
contracted the virus in the
previous 14 days.
They will also have to provide
their name, phone number
and email address for contact
tracing purposes if it is found
that anyone with COVID-19
was present at the event.
“I would like to thank Assemblyman
Mike Miller for his
continued partnership, Councilman
Holden for coming
aboard and helping to bring
this great event to the people,
and Lower East Side Ecology
Center for being able to help
our constituents recycle their
unwanted electronics,” Addabbo
said. “I hope people come
out on Nov. 15 and safely recycle
their electronics.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
File photo
Sandra Chevalier (l.), with daughter Mariah, is a Bridge to College
and Careers program success story. Courtesy of LaGuardia CC
LaGuardia Community College
receives $390K grant to continue
innovative educational program
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