16 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 3, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
New schools chancellor visits Queens and talks plans with local students
BY MADELINE NELSON
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
Richard Carranza — the new boss of
the city’s public schools system — visited
Queens schools April 30 as his fi ve-borough
tour came to a close.
Schools Chancellor Carranza discussed
his plans to rebuild the New York Public
School system at a student town hall held
at P.S. 131 in Jamaica Estates.
“I need to know from students,”
Carranza said. “Adults oft en make decisions
for you, but we oft en don’t ask your
opinion. I have to be looking to make sure
that what we’re doing is preparing you for
a world that we don’t even know what it
will look like.”
Several Queens students inquired about
topics from AP classes to diversity or a
lack thereof.
Carranza stated that one of his biggest
priorities as chancellor would be to make
art more accessible to Queens students.
He wants to expand the art program
to include several types of multicultural
artistic mediums, including those that
refl ect the school and location’s demographic.
Th e chancellor said that the $125 million
allocation announced by Mayor de
Blasio last week and investments from
companies and programs in Manhattan
should help with adding new art programs
in Queens schools.
Some students told Carranza that not
as many AP classes are off ered in Queens
schools, and there are no AP study sessions
in Queens, causing some of them
to travel to other boroughs on Saturdays.
“Every student in every high school
should have access to an AP class,”
Carranza said.
Carranza also said that he wants to
expand all the AP classes off ered to ensure
that students across the boroughs will
have the same resources and opportunities.
Another major topic was the safety of
immigrant families in the height of ICE’s
raids of schools and other public places
nationwide.
“Over my dead body will they ICE
conduct an immigration raid at our
schools,” Carranza charged. He stated
that children of undocumented people
have a constitutional right to attend
schools.
Th e chancellor said that the city’s public
schools would meet with immigrant families,
especially undocumented ones, in
their safe havens and provide them access
to programs that will help them feel safe
and eventually become documented.
One of the last questions he answered
turned into an open discussion about how
to diversify New York schools.
“I’ve taken heat because I’ve been
talking about the issues of diversity
directly,” he said, referring to a Twitter
post he made last week titled, “WATCH:
Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily
rant against plan to bring more black kids
to their schools.”
“When I taught history, it didn’t have
much to say about my history,” Carranza
said. He went on to say that he wants to
create an ethnic studies class and other
more specifi c classes relating to underrepresented
Americans in New York Public
Schools for history credit.
At the end of the town hall, he commended
each student for the questions
they asked and the information they
relayed to him.
“I have now traveled to every single borough
in the city of New York,” Carranza
said. “Without any hesitation, there is no
one that is as smart or smarter than the
kids I’ve seen right here in Queens.”
Photo via Twitter/@DOEChancellor
Queens businesses get big bucks to jumpstart their ventures
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Th ree aspiring business owners in
Queens each won $10,000 grants to help
get their ventures off the ground.
Many gathered at Resorts World Casino
New York City to celebrate the winners of
the 12th annual StartUP! Business Plan
Competition. Administered by the Queens
Economic Development Corporation
(QEDC) and Queens Library, the eightmonth
challenge-and-instruction course
awards the winners $10,000 to kick-start
their companies.
Th is year, more than 350 participants
received technical assistance and training
on such topics as operations, marketing
and fi nancial statements for their
businesses. Of the 42 teams that submitted
business plans to the QEDC judges,
who picked a winner in three categories:
Community, Food and Innovation.
Rebecca Deutsch, a Kew Gardens Hills
resident and graduate of the Queens
College/Macaulay Honors Program, won
the Community category with her company
Impact Fashion. Deutsch designed
dresses that adhere to Orthodox Judaism’s
modesty requirements and donates 10
percent of the profi ts to charities that
serve her religious community.
Th is year’s Food award went to
Movitzsa Simmons, a Long Island City
mother who didn’t want to feed her toddler
artifi cial snacks and treats. Th is led
to Simmons starting Smooth Pops, which
makes all-natural fruit popsicles that are
The three winners gathered during a special awards ceremony at Resorts World Casino New York City in South Jamaica on April 26.
made with fruit pulp. Simmons hopes
to add more healthy food options to her
product line.
In the Innovation category, the winner
was Victor Hunt, a Jamaica resident
who is currently studying at Yale
University, and his partners, Aaron and
Ethan Resnick. Together they started
Paragon Real Estate Technologies, a company
that aims to improve effi ciencies at
Photo by Scott T.
residential and commercial properties by
allowing building managers to get bids
from qualifi ed contractors. Th e company
also allows these managers to post needed
repairs online.
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