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In April, New Rochelle became the only municipality in Westchester County to accept Obama’s challenge, which is a cradle-to-career initiative that is aimed toward assisting children to live and lead productive lives.
Since then, a steering committee comprised of members of the City Council, school district and prominent community members have been hard at work, tasked with “creating action steps to address six areas of focus – the goals of the challenge – that are critical to ensuring that youth can succeed from pre-K, all the way up through college and careers.”
On Monday, The committee presented a 24-page Action Plan report that outlined the goals and steps that will be taken to meet Obama’s challenge. The co-chairs outlined a total of 27 goals, 33 action steps and 20 performance measures to address six milestones that need to be met.
To ensure that children enter school ready to learn (milestone one), the school district is customizing early child curriculum that daycare providers can use, as well as several new initiatives that will present New Rochelle youth with more opportunities to get their hands on appropriate literature.
The second milestone will have all students reading at grade level by the third grade through a “reading buddies” program between the high and elementary schools, book giveaways and by giving special attention to struggling readers.
If “My Brother’s Keeper Challenge” is met, all students will graduate from high school (milestone three), with struggling students getting an assist through a personalized tutoring program, expanded SAT preparation classes and the establishment of an “MBK Ambassadors Club,” with “members meeting weekly with mentors to navigate high school challenges and the college application process.”
To meet the fourth milestone, having every student complete post-secondary education or vocational training, the Youth Bureau, Guidance Center of Westchester and school district will establish a community based “One-Stop Career Center.” They will also team with the city’s three local colleges to institute transition programs for high school students heading to college.
To ensure that the final two milestones (having all youth out of school employed, and ensuring that all youth remain safe from violent crime and given second chances), job training programs will be designed, civic employees will allow prospects to shadow them and mentoring programs will be put in place.
“The My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge is about providing opportunities so that everyone can reach their potential, particularly, boys and young men of color," the steering committee said in a joint statement. "We all want success for our children, yet in our community, despite the diversity, rich history and cultural heritage of which we are so proud, we are not seeing success for all of our kids. The My Brother’s Keeper New Rochelle initiative seeks to build upon and improve the conditions in our community to ensure success for all.”
When announcing the action plan, City Councilman Jared Rice – who spearheaded the efforts to accept Obama’s challenge, issued a statement of his own to the president.
“Not only have we accepted this challenge. We are going to win this challenge.”
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