My Hero

A great worker in Education

I give honor to a brilliant woman who most of her life working in education system in the United States. Mary L. Fifield, during all her carrier doesn’t work only for one category of social Class, but he allows me today as an immigrant and a part timer to have facility to go to college. As President of Bunker hill Community college since 1992, she said some words very significant to me who really interested in education system since the beginning. Community Colleges target students between Elementary School and High School, as she announced: “Community Colleges are a uniquely American invention. From their start as junior colleges in the early 1900s, these two-year institutions signaled a dramatic change that expanded educational opportunity from the affluent to the poorest and most disadvantaged among us. With the basic philosophy that everyone deserves the chance to go to college, immediately following World War II two-year colleges proliferated and made real the Truman Commission’s concept of a community college geographically accessible to all.” You can feel in her speech that the three words I bold came from her heart because until now, she still working to built Bunker Hill’s education better accessible to everybody.

If we did a retrospective on her pass, we will realize most of the time she worked for the community’s education. She was President of Harrisburg area Community College in Pennsylvania. She is a former member of the board and executive committee of the American Association of Community College. She was on the board of directors for the institute for Community College development, a state University of New York and Cornell University partnership. She also has several publications and articles about Community College, global workforce needs, and the value of diversities.

I don’t even need to mention all her carrier in private education, her service in Community College already proves how this fabulous woman cares about education. She gave all her heart and time working on, not only for herself or her family, but she gives the opportunity to everybody to get access. In her testimony on March 20, 2006, based on low income students, she explained some issues and the recommendations:

Issue

“According to the Education Commission of the States (ECS), more than 12 percent of the population lives below the poverty line…nearly 34 million people. These and other low income people have a little more than a 20 percent chance of going to college. For African-Americans and Latinos the percentage is lower. For low income students, the availability of financial aid becomes the deciding factor affecting college attendance. Yet increasingly, both static amounts of aid, such as the four year freeze of Pell Grants, and the policies governing eligibility of grants, such as the new Academic Competitiveness Grant, serve as disincentives to low-income students.”

Recommendations

“Break the four year freeze on funding for Pell Grants. Create Pell Grant eligibility for stand alone ESL programs. Revise policies governing Pell Grants so that grants for college are committed to students while they are still in middle and high school (the latter recommendation is a BHCC proposal only). Establish a sustained commitment to fund pre-college enrichment programs such as GEAR UP, Upward Bound and Talent Search. Provide incentives for dual enrollment programs to give high school students early familiarity with a college environment. Expand eligibility for the Academic Competitiveness Grant from exclusively full-time enrollment to include the two-thirds of community college students who are part-time.”

Issue

“Increasingly, federal grant opportunities for students are shifting from need-based to more exclusionary merit-based aid, while need-based aid such as Pell decreases in real value. The new

Academic Competitiveness Grants, for instance, require recipients to complete “a rigorous high

school program.” Many low income students don’t have the option of selecting their high school

and could be ineligible for this aid through no fault of their own. Similarly, the proposed PACE

Act provides four year competitive scholarships to students who obtain bachelors’ degrees in the

sciences, engineering or mathematics and concurrent certification as K-12 mathematics or

science teachers. These merit-based funds are to be awarded “on the basis of national

examinations”. In short, merit-based financial aid programs appear to help students who need

financial assistance least.”

Recommendation

“Establish a federal policy that makes need-based grants the primary aid for low income students and expand need-based grant opportunities.”

Based on her efforts, her capacity, her courage, we need more Mary L. Fifield to work in education in Boston Public School area. Not some people to identify the dilemma but to contribute on the struggle to position Elementary School and High School in a highest level.

Early Education

Early Education

Early education is the engine of children brain. When you start reading with your child as birth, the brain will inspire to receive and maintain words easier. On this principle, Sarah Mountcaslle and her co-worker Heloissa work so hard to help children to have a better orientation in education. “Raising A Reader” is a program for children from zero to five years old which Sarah is the coordinator, her office is located at Downtown right near the Park street T stop (9 B Hamilton place 3^rd floor) Her email is sarah@raisingareaderma.org. This program is to help the parents read with their children as soon as possible. It is work with Day care, community child care, Teachers etc… When your child is participating, he or she will have a red bag with books every week. After a week, your child return the bag with the books to get another bag in order to order children can use them. This program was before in English and Heloissa translate in Portuguese. From now on, to help the Haitian Community read with their child, I help them as volunteer to translate all their documents in Haitian Creole which I already started. I already translate “The Parents Handout, which explains better how to enroll in this program and The Tips for Parents as the first child’s teacher. Five points of How to Share Books with your Child, The Brain’s Function, and Have you told a Story to your Child” It is very important to get early education with the children because education is life. Besides the office or the e-mail address, to get more orientation about where you can find this program in your area, you can contact Sarah at (617)292BOOk, she will be happy to guide you. In sum, give a chance to your child to have an educated beginning.

Education Success

      Education is the beginning and the end of life. In order word, it is the best part of the real life. More deucated people in a country is equal more progress and a stable economy. As we can realize, the level of education in Boston public School declines at the lowest point. Many media, Principals and teachers claim for more money. However, money is not the major part of the solution to this situation. The boston Public School need a better structures and more materials on one hand, and incorporate other programs within the teaching procedure on the other hand. The Department of education's point of view is "No Child Left Behind". That's the reason my first suggestion is " The Private School and the Public School must have same program"  In a private School, the percentage in MCAS or the exam for Boston Latin is always better than the public school. Next, what I mean by including other program. Most of the children in public school do not know why they go to school? What are their values in the society? What they represent in the future of this country? That's the reason why tyhose children need the teachers to talk to them about human behaviour in the society, classification of job and prestige. In other word, include some sociology programs since elementary School. The teachers must play a role in children life to make them ambitious to succeed. They have to know since the beginning, they can work in nonskilled job area for reaching a better Education but not for life. When we imagine, who frequent public School? First, immigrants' children, children of the less educated people and  children of parents who work as unskilled job. Those categories of children sometimes raise by themselves because tyheir parents must have two unskilled jobs to makes and meet. According to me, I give the responsability to the teachers to wash their mind, to teach them to do better than their parents. It is very important sometimes for the teachers to separate boys and girls and do sexual Education. They have to know, have a child under age can affect all their life. Teach them about the effects of smoking and alcohool even their parents do that. In sum, it is the School's responsability to prepare and to send Chuildren in the community of less educated parents. When we reduce the number of children who drop school, when we eliminate the number of girls who get pregnant in High School, the public education will make a great step, there will be more student college and there will have an adjustable economy.