Education

NYC “Vaccine for All Corps” is Hiring to Help with Local Vaccination Roll-Out Efforts

By SÍLE MOLONEY
In his recent State of the City address, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the creation of “Vaccine for All Corps,” an initiative that aimed to create jobs for 2,000 New Yorkers, by supporting vaccination efforts across the five boroughs. On March 10, the City announced that it is now hiring for the first of these positions via nyc.gov/vaccinejobs.   Recruitment for the “Vaccine for All Corps” jobs is being led by the Workforce1 Career Center System operated by the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), and is targeting candidates from those communities hardest hit by COVID-19.


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Student Filmmakers Sought for 3rd Annual NYC Public School Film Festival – Deadline March 16

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) and NYC Department of Education (DOE) announced on March 10 that they are calling on DOE student filmmakers to conduct on-camera interviews with leading film industry professionals, as part of the 3rd Annual New York City Public School Film Festival taking place May 6, 2021. The interviews, designed to inspire young people across the city to consider careers in media and entertainment, will be available online following the festival.   Representing five distinct leadership roles in the filmmaking process, the professionals to be interviewed by student filmmakers include: Kristan Sprague, award-winning editor


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Lehman College’s Turnbull Speaker Series Resonates during Women’s History Month

Some Americans may not know it, but they have a woman to thank for the N95 medical masks that have become indispensable during the pandemic. Sara Little Turnbull, one of the nation’s first female industrial designers, inspired an early prototype after noticing how frequently medical facility staff needed to adjust flimsier face masks. She reimagined her previous design for molded bra cups to conceptualize a mask that fit better—one of many inventions she’d be linked to throughout her career.   Sixty years later, a new generation of women designers is driving the innovations consumers have come to rely on. That includes


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Espaillat Calls on District 13 High School Students to Enter Congressional Art Competition

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who represents New York’s 13th congressional district (NY-13), released a statement on Thursday, March 4, to encourage high school students throughout New York’s 13th congressional district to submit entries to this year’s Congressional Art Competition.   The national contest is open to high school students from around the district to showcase their artistic talents and provides an opportunity for students to display their winning art in the United States Capitol for up to one year.   Espaillat serves as a national co-host of this year’s art competition, which is open to high school students from around the nation. The


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Update: New Schools Chancellor Offers Hope to Second-Chance Students

By SÍLE MOLONEY
The following article is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.   Shanti Sledge was 24 when he took the courageous step to return to education after a seven-year absence, attempting, once more, to obtain his high school diploma, having dropped out of public school in his mid-teens. “I feel like the first time around, I wasn’t as motivated or felt like I really paid attention,” he said. “I was just all over the place. I had dropped out of high school and I went to Job Corps to pursue my trade, my career.


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Bronx CB7 Tackles Vaccine Concerns

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  On the pandemic front, the good news is that COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death rates are all decreasing statewide. In addition, the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson has been approved by the FDA, which now provides a third immunization option beyond Pfizer and Moderna, and one which requires just one vaccination dose rather than two.   The bad news, however, is that throughout the country and especially within the boundaries of Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7), vaccination rates are alarmingly low.   At the latest meeting of CB7’s Health & Human Services Committee on Feb.22, committee members looked


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Op-Ed: Child Abuse, A Public Health Crisis

By RENÉE BARRETT
  Like many mothers, my heart broke as I watched the video footage of a grown man pummeling two young children at the Fordham Road train station in the Bronx on January 22. The video footage is enraging and their screams continue to haunt me.   Child Abuse is a public health crisis. In addition, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) regards child abuse and maltreatment as economic burdens to society due to the extremely high hospitalization and treatment costs they generate (estimated at $585 billion in 2008). According to the CDC, at least one in seven children has experienced


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Update: New York Yankees Community Council Youth Leadership Award Winners Announced

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  The winners of the New York Yankees Community Council Leadership Awards for Community Board 7 were announced in April and they are Diana Rosario, Rafael Class, Shaheed Ganie, Christy Nguyen and Amelia Lobo-Jost.   The program provides a number of deserving local youth with the opportunity to receive the Youth Leadership Award, providing a $750 stipend to five youth leaders nominated by each Bronx community board. In addition, the youth leaders are recognized on-field during a pre-game ceremony at Yankee Stadium in 2021 on their respective Bronx Community Board’s Day (where applicable).   The awards were first discussed at


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Teddy Car Dealers Awards Music Grant to Bronx House School of Performing Arts

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Teddy Cars, a car dealership in Nissans and Volkswagens based on Boston Road in the Bronx, is continuing its monthly commitment, which began in 2020, of awarding $20,000 to various music education programs in the Bronx, as part of the Teddy Cars Bronx Music Grant Program.   This month, the recipient is Bronx House School for Performing Arts. Teddy Cars General Manager, Julio Batista, visited Bronx House in December 2019 to see the program in action, first-hand (see the video). “It’s an excellent program,” he said. “At Teddy Cars, we feel strongly about doing things to help the community and


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