Editorial

What’s Going On In

“Perception ~ Whose Vision

of You Matters?”

A pictorial look at what is

happening in the Greenville, NC

Bridging the Black Male

Achievement Gap

No one can save our

children but US!

Schools Without

Principals Look to Set

New Standards!

What if the teachers who teach

our children ran our schools?

Book of the Month!

“Kaffir Boy” Mark Mathabane

Be Inspired

INCITE-tv Network

& Jack Poles Interior Designer

How do you perceive yourself? Does what people think of you, shape how you perceive yourself? How do you make decisions? Do you make your decisions on what you know for sure for YOU, or for what a person thinks about what your life should be or how you should think?

Have you ever took a “look” at the person who is giving you the information…have you looked at the fruit they are bear-ing in their life? Not fruit as in material possessions, be-cause we have to look further than material wealth be-cause a person can have an abundance of things, but have rotten relationships with people. Look at the fruit of their life…how have they built their life…is it on integrity, is it of the highest quality of life you can think of? Where is the observation-advice com-ing from, is it from experience…or is it from the scrutiny of a conversation the individ-ual has had with other individuals on how they believe your life should be?

Perception is the basic component in the formation of a concept. No two people look at the same thing alike! The meaning of something will change when you look at it in your own way. You can look at anything differently and it will have a different meaning. You can always change perspectives and change meanings. Why not change them to what you prefer them to be for YOU? My favorite saying is “To Thine Ownself Be True!” If you cannot be true to yourself, you cannot be of any service to anyone else!

In this issue of IMPACT Magazine, we are highlighting an assessment on the educa-tional system. We draw attention to “How To Bridge The Black Male Achievement Gap”. In the end, our children needs the help not only from the teachers, but ulti-mately, we as parents have to step up! If we continue to be apathetic in our young men lives, the cycle of what is happening now with the youth will continue. In addition, in Newark, New Jersey, a couple of teachers saw how the education system was fail-ing their students. They positioned the superintendent to say who is better to lead the administration than the teachers themselves. Who better to give the children the the leadership they are in dire need, buy the educational items they are in need of and who better to handle the budget than the teachers. Within two years, the superinten-dent gave leadership to the teachers! We applaud these teachers in the article, “Schools Without Principals Look To Set A New Education Standard”.

If we don’t take a look at our perception of who we are, then the series that we are in will continue. If we look into the mirror and our true re-flection of who we are is not reflected back, than we are to grab hold to what we need in order to get that true likeness….remember, “To Thine Ownself Be True”! If you aren’t true to yourself FIRST, you can be of no service to anyone else. Be a blessing to someone today,

Tunisha C. Brown Editor-In-Chief

Though decades of research have documented the persistence of a

racial bias that threatens to increase the marginalization of African

-Americans, the black male achievement gap is reversible. To

date, one of our greatest civil rights victories was the dismantling

of a biased educational system that segregated opportunity. How-

ever, this report confirms that in many schools across the country,

a segregation of opportunity continues in the form of critical

resource disparities, de facto racial segregation, and biased school

discipline policies that unnecessarily and prematurely remove

black males from classrooms.

Our next big challenge is to structure a coordinated response to

this crisis so that we keep our young men from walking down a

path toward economic instability, lifelong participation in low-

wage employment or underemployment, and in the worst cases,

incarceration, sickness or premature death.

According to the report, we can bridge the achievement gap when

we invest resources into early education and in classrooms and

other environments that extend opportunities for our children to

learn, and when there is institutional accountability to advance

parity. A host of national foundations--including the Kellogg

Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Institute's

Campaign for Black Male Achievement, among others--have led a

national investment in efforts to reverse this troubling course, but

still more is needed.

We need the rallying cry of our communities to support the work

of national and local leaders who continue to fight for the security

and healthy development of all of black males by offering them

the tools they need to be productive sons, fathers, brothers,

uncles, partners, employees, leaders and active participants in our

society. When the equity agenda is elevated and achieved in

education, the more likely it is that black males, and all other

children, will succeed. This is a worthy investment.

It's just Dominique Lee's personality to dream big. Two years ago, as a

high school teacher, he grew increasingly frustrated at how far behind his

students were in reading and other subjects. Simply put, his students

were unprepared. "I just kept thinking, I have to find a way to get at

some of the feeder schools these kids were coming from," said Lee, a

Teach for America alum. "And who better to change things than

teachers?"

Lee, along with other teachers he brought on board, wanted to take over

leadership control of a school -- from budget decisions to designing

curriculum. After two years of planning and presentations to Newark

superintendent Dr. Clifford Janey and his staff, Lee's plan was approved.

And this fall, BRICK Academy, a public school, opened under new

leadership -- the teachers."I think it makes sense the people that are

ordering should be the ones in

the classroom knowing what we

need to order," said Charity

Haygood, who is the school's

principal.

(Pictured Left) BRICK Academy's

Princess Williams teaches her

kindergarten class in Newark, NJ.

"And that's why, as principal, I'm in the class helping teach."

Yes -- Haygood, along with BRICK's other core leadership,

teach every week -- this year, they're working with first grade

students.

BRICK Academy enrolls 650 students, from kindergarten

through eighth grade. Lee finds time to do just about every-

thing during the school day.

"...Working with the first graders, then jumping hats and doing

the report for downtown and then jumping back and doing

cafeteria duty, it is a lot..." Lee admits. "But my fundamental

belief is that every child deserves the right to read. And so that

drives me."

"Any theory is only as good as it is put into practice," said

Jonathan Gyurko, senior vice-president at Leeds Global Part-

ners, an education investment firm. "I think it only works if

you have a clear accountability system." Gyurko said he

applauds the efforts teachers are taking to transform their

schools.

"This kind of approach keeps school leaders totally connected

to the real work of schools, which is teaching students." Simi-

lar school models have opened in cities such as Minnesota,

Detroit and Boston.

The leadership structure is still relatively unproven, but

BRICK Academy's teachers say they're already seeing results.

"We recently came together [as teachers] and discussed a

brand new reading intervention program," Lee said. "We

designed what we wanted and once we secure funding, we can

make it happen."

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Atlanta’s premiere African American interior designer,

Jack Poles realizes his clients’ visions with passion and

timeless design. As owner of J. Poles Interiors, Jack,

draws from his background of floral design and retail

merchandising to create inspired

and memorable spaces. His atten-

tion to detail and to his client’s vi-

sion has awarded him the opportunity to design hot

Atlanta properties such as the famed Villa Juanita,

home to Anthony Pratt, and the exclusive lake house

of environmentalists Laura and Rutherford Seydel. Jack’s talents go be-

yond residential design as he has redesigned both Premiere Dermatology

and Levett’s Funeral Homes.