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Youth
and Education Committee: Community Board 8
by
Sybil Maimin
Volunteers
are needed for Junior Achievement, a decades-old organization
that teaches K-12 youngsters the values of the free enterprise
system. Speaking to the Youth and Education Committee of Community
Board 8 at its March meeting, manager Alex Vasquez explained that
Junior Achievement brings to schools and non-profit community
organizations an activity-filled curriculum that introduces business
and economic principles. Materials such as workbooks, posters
and teaching guides are provided, and volunteers are trained and
given on-going support. Grades K-6 focus on themes such as “Ourselves,”
“Our City,” “Our Nation,” and “Our World.” Middle school programs
directly emphasize economics and business, including “The Economics
of Staying in School,” and “Exploring Math in Business.” High
school programs show how trade connects peoples and cultures around
the world. Students learn leadership and success skills and, if
they choose, may run a student company that makes, markets and
receives profits from a product. They may also operate highly
technical companies in computer-based simulations through JA TITAN.
Junior Achievement now functions in over 300 schools and 40 community
organizations in the five boroughs, during school hours, after
school and in the summer. Those interested in joining its participant
base or volunteer crew should contact Alex Vasquez at 212-907-0027.
The
first task force meeting regarding an academically strong Upper
East Side high school was not encouraging. The commitment of a
site (Life Sciences High School on E. 96th Street)
made by the Board of Education at a large community forum in January
seems to be wavering. And parents in The Partnership for an Upper
East Side High School are questioning the feasibility of meshing
the proposed academically rigorous high school with the current
Life Sciences High, a Gateway Program school for “kids at risk.”
Partnership parents would prefer a shifting of schools and students
between Life Sciences and Julia Richmond, a building they covet,
to better utilize space and provide the number of seats and type
of academic program they seek.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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