If you close my school...

If you close my school...

Please watch this video created by JuDonn's Journalism RWLO, and call your councilperson as soon as possible.  Let our voices resound!  Save our school!

"My pride, my integrity, and most importantly, my education."

Helen Rowe and Joandaly Chavez at City Council on 5/25
(photo by Andrew Christman)

Good afternoon, my name is Joandaly Chavez. I want to thank the councilmen for giving me an opportunity to speak my mind on the proposal to close the thirteen alternative schools in the school district of Philadelphia.

 First, I want to start off saying that everyday I fight for my future, whether its in school or outside of school. To me, El Centro De Estudiantes is my high school, my pride, my integrity, and most importantly, my education. When I first applied to El Centro, I was a troubled teen, as many are here In Philadelphia. A year previously, I was in a public high school with a background of fights, suspensions, student riots, teacher neglect, and worst of all bullying from students and teachers. I felt alone, I was failing the most important school years of my life. I was also involved in a lot of the violence that surrounded my school and neighborhood. The teachers from the school district of Philadelphia who taught at the public high school assured my parents and me they would keep me focused, give me an excellent education, and would never let me down. Yet, in reality, I was neglected and viewed as just another young woman who would eventually dropout. Due to those conditions, I did dropout. Coming into El Centro gave me hope. There’s no comparison to the teachers at El Centro, because they have a higher level of understanding; They’re way more than just teachers to me and my peers, they’re like an astonishing older brother or sister. When I have the smallest doubt in my mind about actually being a somebody and graduating, not only do my advisors lift my head up high, but so do my peers; We’re all united as one, one family, no one is above anyone. I take school more seriously than anything now, I am no longer getting into fights and my grades are even better.

 I just want to end my testimony with this question up in the air for you to answer, councilmen. What’s going to happen to all the students that had no assurance, dedication, and commitment before Big Picture came into their lives? I believe that if all thirteen accelerated schools were to shut down, ill go back to my old ways. This is not because I want to or because I am a follower, but because no one but the students and teachers understand what El Centro De Estudiantes and the twelve other accelerated schools mean to our education and future. Big Picture Philadelphia is the name I want printed on my transcript when I graduate. I was one of Philadelphia’s troubled teens, who is now truly honored to stand strong and believe that I am going to be successful with the help of Big Picture Philadelphia schools. This is why I strongly ask that you let us keep our schools, our educations, our futures, our homes … our hope!  Thank you for time.

"More than just a school."

Shanna, Precious, and Precious' mom testify on 5/25
(photo by Andrew Christman)

I have never really been a troubled student or been in trouble either. I am a good student and have always gotten good grades. However, the things I’ve had trouble with are self-confidence, public speaking, and other skills that’ll help me throughout my future. After graduating middle school coming out of a private school on a scholarship, there weren’t many schools my parents approved of. So, my parents tried homeschooling me but I needed a more hands-on environment where I could actually talk to my teachers in person and get help rather than over the internet. So, that wasn’t working to well and one day my mom ran into an advisor from El Centro. It had just opened. They talked about it and it sounded like the type of school we were looking for. When we got there it was more than just a school. (And when I say ‘’we’’ I refer to me and my mother because this school is all about having the parents be a part of the students education and always knowing what’s going on.) It’s a school where everyone has an equal chance at learning what they need, whether it be academic or life skills. If they don’t have what you need they’ll find a way to accommodate you. When I felt I wasn’t being challenged, they set it up so I was enrolled in a dual-enrollment program at CCP. There I got a taste of what college is going to be like. I was able to have that chance because they trust the students at El Centro. Internships are a major part of Big Picture learning, that’s where you learn what it’ll be like to be out in the real world working. I’ve had two internships while going to El Centro and through them I’ve learned what I want and don’t want to do in the future. It saves me time and money wasted from changing majors because I’m unsure of what truly enjoy, but because of the m I know. El Centro has taught me a lot about the friends and connections you make along the way and what they’ll continue to mean to you. It’s through El Centro that I learned that my voice had meaning and how to use it and speak up about what I truly want. At El Centro the school is the students domain, it’s where we feel comfortable, and are able to do what we love, and learn. I’ve been so blessed to be a part of El Centro. As a part of the first graduating class of El Centro de Estudiantes, I wanted to be a part of the first group to leave our legacy behind for the next class, instead of being the only legacy. They have been doing extraordinary work with students, some who have gotten to enjoy learning and get something out of it for the first time. Everyone keeps saying that we children are the future but without this school the future looks a pretty dim.

--Precious Y.

"I chose to attend el Centro for one thing only…"

Good afternoon.  My name is Forrest Laws and I am a student at el Centro.  Over the past few days me and my fellow classmates have heard about the proposed cuts of all 13 Accelerated Schools in Philadelphia.  And el Centro is one of those schools.  The main reason why I am attending el Centro is because I have dropped out of a Philadelphia public school. I dropped out because of all the stress and lack of care from the teachers around the school. I chose to attend el Centro for one thing only…Respect.  From the first time I walked in, till this day, they have showed me the same amount of respect every day.  While I’ve been attending el Centro I have learned a lot about myself that I never knew I could do.  My Advisor, Helen, has pushed me all through the year of becoming the leader that I am now.

"There's no worse feeling than to have your home taken away from you."

I would first like to start off asking the question, “What happened to no child left behind? Or to the equal right to education?” Coming to el Centro has changed me in so many ways, I can hardly put it into words when people ask me what el Centro means to me.  One of my biggest problems when I was in my other school was speaking up, but el Centro has shown me that everyone’s voice should be heard and without speaking up there’s no hope. It has even gave me the courage to speak here today. If it wasn’t for el Centro, I don’t know where I would be in life.

When I think of el Centro many things pop into my head, things like, faith and happiness, love and care, success and the future—things that you will take from me and every single person in my school and the twelve other schools your trying to shut down. There’s no worse feeling than to have your home taken away from you, so why are you taking our home away? El Centro is more than a school, we are a family like any other. We’re not going down without a fight so before you make your final decision, please take a second to think about the kids being affected by this. Thank you.

--Selena M.

"El Centro feels like home."

            Hello my name is Ryan Rivera and I am a student from El Centro. I started going to El Centro after Kensington Business high school would not take me. My mom called the school district and the school a number of times but nothing got done. They just kept telling my mom to do the same thing, which was to call the school district then the school district would tell my  mom to call the school. This went on back and forth for hours. At that point I just did not have a school to go to so I was out of school from about September to January until I found out about El Centro. After I applied it was all good from there.

            I think El Centro is the best school I have ever been to. As soon as I got started here they had an art gallery opening and I was involved. It was all student art and we had a lot of people who came and liked what they saw. Now that art class in my school is called a R.W.L.O. (real world learning opportunity) and they have more classes like that. They also have L.T.I. classes which are internships where you can work anywhere you want as long as it is involved with the school I had an internship at a motorcycle shop where I learned about bikes and how they ran and how to take off parts and stuff like that.

Now I know for a fact that the alternative schools the school district runs do not have classes like this. I have had my experiences. I went to C.E.P. and it was not fun, it had packed classes filled with disruptive kids. No learning happened there and I felt as though they were always violating our space by searching us whenever they wanted. When I went in the morning we would walk through the metal detectors but that was not enough because they still searched us by hand I just hated it there. Ever since I got to El Centro it’s been way different. There are no metal detectors we don’t get searched, it’s just way better. I can’t even call El Centro an alternative school. To me an alternative school feels like a prison but to me EL CENTRO FEELS LIKE HOME.  DON’T TAKE AWAY MY HOME…. 

These students are ME. (And you.)

I stand here today as a concerned sibling, guardian and as a product of the North Philadelphia communities (the schools, the local organizations and the people). I was once one of these students, who lacked support at home, feeling like I wasted my time in a public school every single day because my success meant nothing in comparison to the straight A students. A student who struggled to prove my potential because the system only highlights those who are visibly perfect not those students whose parents have language barriers or are simply disengaged, who suffer behind poverty, who have issues at home and use school as an outlet to run from the pain, those students who simply need guidance, support, resources- A HELPING HAND.  I was one of these students and now my 15 year old sister, who is under my guardianship, now she is one like every other student here today. These alternative schools provide these kids with a foundation of positivity- where they learn have support, grow as individuals and professionals where they have the opportunity to shine and prove their potential every single day. These students aren’t walking into schools every morning- they are walking into their second homes. I have come across students who are closer to school staff than their own parents and because of that they are motivated from day one and graduate to come back and help others who like them have been labeled ASTRAY, because no one ever mattered to hear their story. I’m here to tell mine, because each of these students is me; now a working professional, parent and college student at the age of 22, who has overcome barriers and made it through crappy schools with the help of mentors and leaders who many are now the faces behind these schools. As a guardian I have witnessed significant and valuable change from my sister and from many students whom I associate with regularly. These schools are not only for students with behavioral problems, or students who have children, or students who simply didn’t want to go to school – these schools are schools of acceptance, discipline mixed with family values, learning and growth. These schools have made a major impact to our communities and have changed many lives; don’t try to fix something that isn’t broken. These schools are whole, their values are straight and their outcomes are proven every single day with young people like me. Please look into this issue closely and dig deeper because in little time these schools have managed to do what school districts have been trying to 
figure out for years and that’s how to keep every single one of these kids engaged!


--Maryelis S., sister of an el Centro student