A celebration of youth,
community & culture
By Tangerine Clarke
A celebration, of youth, community,
and culture, brought
together educators and volunteers
on Thursday, May 23, to
applaud students who had completed
10-week apprenticeships,
all thanks to Citizen Schools,
a non-profit that partners with
middle schools across the United
States to expand the learning
day for children in low-income
communities.
During an afternoon of steel
pan music, dance, and presentation
of awards, the International
CARNA-Wow occasion
at the Urban Assembly Unison
School in Brooklyn, with a large
percentage of students of Caribbean
descent, came alive with
excitement during the celebration.
Its mission: educating children
and strengthening communities
Citizen Schools, give
students an opportunity to
expand their knowledge in sessions,
like “Girls In Charge,”
“Lego Robotics,” “Good Media
Literacy,” “Writing Academy,” “I
Scream you Scream,” “Making
Proud Choices,” Math Mysteries,”
and “Ultimate Frisbee.”
Executive Director of Citizen
Schools, NY, Nadia K. Selby, a
Vincentian-American, said that
at the end of the semester long
apprenticeships — (10-week
hands on engaging courses with
volunteers) — students present
what they have learned in something
Citizen Schools titled:
Wow!
“Each WOW, she said, has a
theme: This year’s was CARNA
WOW! “We use CARNA as an
acronym for Celebration of
Youth, Community and Culture.”
She added that Unison School
is a melting pot of many ethnicities
and the organization felt it
was important for everyone to
feel represented throughout the
event.
Selby is passionate about
the work, Citizen Schools do
to engage companies such as
Google, Alliance Berstein Holding,
Amazon and others, which
urge their employees to volunteer
their skills to educate communities’
youth.
“Students are passionate
about the programs because
this work is just as important.
It’s hard to understand the math
they are learning, and what it
Educators from left, Guyanese-American, Karen Watts,
executive superintendent, NYC Board of Education, Harry
Bullen, Google software engineer, volunteer, Stefani Zingerman,
Emily Paige, principal, Cheryl Watson Harris, deputy
schools chancellor, and Vincentian-American, Nadia K. Selby,
executive director, Citizen Schools NY.
Photo by Tangerine Clarke
looks like in real life, unless you
start building, and doing,” she
explained.
Selby applauded Harry Bullen,
a software engineer with
Google, who has volunteered his
time with Citizen Schools, for 11
semesters. His 90-minute sessions,
once a week, focuses on
robotics.
From science and technology,
to art and culture, Citizen
Schools, that have been in existence
Caribbean L 6 ife, May 31–June 6, 2019 BQ
for more than 25 years
nation-wide, give students an
opportunity of a lifetime.
Principal, Emily Paige, who
has led the school for six years,
said every year the school gets
an entire second shift of teachers
to support the after school
apprenticeships. “The esteemed
professions, such as a food engineer,
and other cool projects,
like building robots, also create
strong relationships,” she said.
Students of the Robotics
Apprenticeship, Mohamed
and Joshua Gomez, with
Google software engineer,
volunteer, Harry Bullen with
some of the robotics built by
the students.
Photo by Tangerine Clarke