Past News

Learning Leaders honored

Wednesday June 23, the Municipal Arts Society of New York held its 39th Annual Awards, where Learning Leaders was given with a Certificate of Merit for making an exceptional contribution to the life of New York City. The ceremony was held at the Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the award was presented to Learning Leaders president, Mindy Duitz, by the awards committee chair, Kitty Hawks.

Learning Leader Shadra Strickland Honored

[May 1, 2009] Shadra Strickland was named the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator of 2009 in April, just weeks after also receiving the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for her illustrations in the picture book Bird (Lee & Low, 2008), by Zetta Elliott. Bird is the name of a young boy whose loving family, friends, and a gift for drawing help him cope with the death of his grandfather and his drug-addicted brother.

During Learning Leaders Great School Volunteer Week, Shadra had visited P.S. 132 in the Bronx and conducted a "read aloud" with two fourth grade classes in the school’s library. She read Bird and, after reading, discussed her creative process, including the steps her drawings went through to get to the finished product. Naturally, the kids had many questions for her. ("Did she always like to draw?" "Did she use drawing to help express herself?") One boy announced that Strickland "was like a role model to him," since he "also liked to draw."  She also read from Our Children Can Soar to an equally enthusiastic reception. 

The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award for authors, established in 1985, and the illustrator award, created in 2001, recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children’s books. They are awarded by the New York Public Library and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

Tovah Feldshuh Visits P.S./M.S. 187

[April 24, 2009] Renowned actress, singer and playwright Tovah Feldshuh took the stage of P.S./M.S. 187's theater on Friday, April 24 to help celebrate Learning Leaders Great School Volunteer Week. Feldshuh welcomed the entire second grade to a riveting read-aloud performance of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who, the tale of an elephant who protects and saves a small dustball that serves as host to an invisible civilization. Feldshuh, who noted, "Never underestimate the good you can do," dramatized the story with a wide range of comedic voices and engaged her young audience with numerous anecdotes from her own family and life.

Learning Leaders Named in NYC Service

[April 20, 2009] Learning Leaders was named the lead organizational partner to help "Serve our Schools" as part of NYC Service, a series of initiatives announced by Mayor Mike Bloomberg to help make it easier for New Yorkers to volunteer their efforts in response to some of the City's biggest challenges. Education was named one of several top priorities. Joining Mayor Bloomberg at the event, which took place at the Armory Track & Field Center in Washington Heights, was Learning Leaders Great School Volunteer Week Honorary Chair Caroline Kennedy. 

MetLife Foundation Grant will Support Student Success through Parent Engagement

[April 9, 2009] Learning Leaders announced a $160,000 grant from MetLife Foundation to engage middle and high school parents to support their children’s academic success and college preparedness. Learning Leaders will use the support initially to engage parents whose children are entering sixth grade at three grade 6-12 schools. The new initiative will connect Learning Leaders with other local and national organizations focusing on college awareness or parent engagement. At the pilot schools, Learning Leaders will work closely with school staff, parents, and students to forge a college-going culture. Parents and caregivers have unique roles to play in inspiring and preparing their children as they progress from 6th to 12th grade. “We know that parents are their children’s most influential source of information about college.” said Mindy Duitz, president of Learning Leaders. “Learning Leaders has successfully engaged elementary school parents through volunteerism, but this form of involvement drops off as the children become more independent and progress to middle school. With the help of MetLife Foundation, we seek to broaden the definition of ‘parent engagement’ for parents of middle and high-school teens and help build a vocabulary for parents to embrace and promote post-secondary readiness.”

As the recent MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Past, Present and Future corroborates, the lack of parental involvement in a child’s education can be severely detrimental to student academic success. According to the Survey, teachers rate lack of parental support as highest on the list of problems that may interfere with learning. Unfortunately, low parental engagement is even more dramatic in urban schools where only 17% of teachers report that parental support is excellent. Principals echoed this concern, with only 25% of urban principals rating parental and community support as excellent.

“The critical middle school years are challenging in many ways. Parents, like school staff, need to be prepared to support student success and ultimately college readiness,” said Dennis White, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation. “Learning Leaders has been effective at engaging parents and will focus with this new initiative on the important role of parents in the middle grades and beyond.”