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Community Outreach<br />
Community Outreach: A Vital, and Growing, Part of <strong>Lehman</strong>’s Mission<br />
For more than two decades, <strong>Lehman</strong> has embraced its work within the community as a vital part of its mission and<br />
continually expanded its reach to include schools at every level, from pre-k through high school, businesses, healthcare<br />
facilities, and many other kinds of institutions and organizations affecting the life of the borough and region.<br />
On campus alone, the <strong>College</strong>’s cultural and athletic facilities—as well as the <strong>College</strong> Now program for high school<br />
students—attract 400,000 visitors each year. Here is just one example of the work that was underway in 2010.<br />
Program at Bronx High School Focuses on Freshmen<br />
An after-school program started by <strong>Lehman</strong> at the<br />
Pelham Preparatory Academy is helping eighty<br />
freshmen stay on track for college. The Transition<br />
to High School program is funded under the<br />
Out-of-School-Time initiative of the City’s Department<br />
of Youth and Community Development and<br />
is based at the school, located on the Christopher<br />
Columbus Campus.<br />
“These are students we want to track throughout<br />
their high school career to prepare them<br />
for college,” says Traci Palmieri, director of the<br />
after-school program, who works in the Center for<br />
School/<strong>College</strong> Collaboratives at <strong>Lehman</strong>.<br />
Students attend the program after school, Monday<br />
through Thursday, for two-and-a-half hours a day, taking part in<br />
Homework Help, where they work with tutors in subjects such as<br />
math and science. They also get advice from a pair of counselor/<br />
advocates about adjusting to high school, preparing for college,<br />
and other issues. By maintaining good grades and a serious approach<br />
to their academics, students can earn extra credit toward<br />
their high school diplomas. About a dozen students also attend<br />
twice-a-week Hip-Hop classes, where they work on moves they<br />
demonstrate at the high school’s talent show.<br />
“When they called me and told me about the program, the first<br />
thing I said was, ‘Where do I sign up?’” said Jane Aronoff, principal<br />
A hip-hop class prepares for the<br />
school’s talent show.<br />
of the Pelham Preparatory Academy. “I absolutely<br />
love this program because it’s helping my<br />
students.”<br />
The program actually began over the summer. For<br />
four weeks in July, sixty-five incoming high school<br />
freshmen attended a bridge program at Preparatory<br />
Academy, where they had the opportunity to<br />
earn up to three high school credits. In the fall,<br />
they came to <strong>Lehman</strong> each Saturday for all-day<br />
classes. Besides enjoying a free breakfast and<br />
lunch, they took courses in personal finance, public<br />
speaking, and nutrition. The goal of the program is<br />
100 percent promotion of program participants to<br />
tenth grade.<br />
“The Transition to High School program is unique because it focuses<br />
on individual progress and academic achievement, and includes<br />
a role for a counselor/advocate,” said Jeanne B. Mullgrav, commissioner<br />
of the Department of Youth and Community Development,<br />
when she visited the school in December. “Early results show that<br />
this program, which targets freshmen—who are shown in national<br />
research to be at the greatest risk for dropping out—and with its<br />
cohort structure, is working. We are seeing grade promotion and<br />
credit accumulation at higher rates for program participants than<br />
their peers at the same school.” <br />
Awards (continued from page 37)<br />
The Bronx SBDC: Helping the<br />
Borough’s Businesses<br />
Bronx Small Business Development Center<br />
Director Clarence Stanley (right) was<br />
recognized last year for the Center’s work<br />
in helping to drive economic success in<br />
the borough. From 2000 through 2010,<br />
the Center, which is located on the<br />
<strong>Lehman</strong> campus, counseled 7,413 clients and conducted<br />
419 workshops or seminars with 9,495 attendees, helping to<br />
invest over $80 million in the area’s economy, which resulted<br />
in 2,489 jobs being saved or created. The recognition was<br />
part of the First Annual Business Luncheon sponsored by the<br />
Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.<br />
CUNY-TV’s Nueva York, co-hosted by Professor Patricio<br />
Lerzundi (Journalism, Communication, and Theatre) was<br />
recognized with three New York Emmy Awards. This is the third<br />
year in a row the program has been recognized.<br />
Professor Miguel Pérez (Journalism, Communication, and<br />
Theatre) was awarded a Campeones de Nuestra Communidad<br />
Lifetime Achievement Award from Latinos in Information Sciences<br />
and Technology Association.<br />
Professor Gerardo Piña-Rosales (Languages and Literatures)<br />
received two awards at the annual Latino/Hispanic Book Fair in<br />
New York City: a commendation from the New York State Senate<br />
and the renaming of a school auditorium in his honor.<br />
Senior Eric Reyes was named Student of the Year at the New<br />
York State Social Work Education Association’s annual conference<br />
in Saratoga <strong>Spring</strong>s. <br />
<strong>Lehman</strong> Today/<strong>Spring</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 39