On his first day teaching at Coronado Elementary School in
Richmond, Calif., students threw rocks at Jean-Gabrielle Larochette, pretending
he was a police officer. He spent fifteen minutes of every class calming down a
handful of kids in this low-income-neighborhood public school who wouldn't
follow directions or behave.
Larochette began practicing meditation and mindfulness to
cope with his own stresses of teaching and supporting traumatized kids. He
believed the breathing techniques that helped calm his fears might work for his
students too, so he founded the Mindful Life
"Before we can teach a kid how to academically excel in
school, we need to teach him how to have stillness, pay attention, stay on task,
regulate, make good choices," said Larochette. "We tell kids be quiet, calm
yourself down, be still. We tell them all these things they need in the
classroom, but we're not teaching them how to do that."
"When we look at low performing schools it's not that these children are
unable to learn, it's that very often they are unavailable to learn."
"My hour of lost teaching time because of behavior problems
went down to about 15 minutes a day -that meant almost a whole other day of
teaching," Larochette said. "I had to figure out what I could do to bring this
to the rest of the schools in our area."
Studies of mindfulness programs in schools have found that
regular practice - even just a few minutes per day - improves student self-control and increases their classroom
participation, respect for others, happiness, optimism, and self-acceptance
levels. It can help reduce absenteeism and suspensions too. A mindfulness
practice helps reduce activity in the amygdala, the brain's emotional center
responsible for fear and stress reactions.
Star Project Encourages Community Banking and Youth Bank Accounts with the
The Black Star Project
African Night and Young
People Organizing for Progress on
Saturday, February 1,
6:00 pm to 11:00
K.L.E.O. Center - 119
North Chicago High
works to boost
By Judy Masterson
January 17, 2014
North Chicago High School
The Chicago-based Black Star
Project arrived last fall at North Chicago High School, where it is working to
improve academic achievement among the school's largely low-income, minority
While the non-profit operates in 90 schools in Chicago and
the south and west suburbs, NCHS represents its first partnership with a school
in Lake County. Black Star recently drew more than 100 adults to a Parent
"Getting parents to be more constructively engaged with
their children's education − that's the real work," said Phillip Jackson,
Black Star founder and executive director. "That's the magic that's really going
to transform education in any community."
Black Star, which is also offering a restorative justice
program and a Saturday University, in addition to daily mentoring and tutoring,
is just one of a number of efforts being put in place by the school to boost
achievement and increase a graduation rate that currently stands at 63
A Freshman Academy, which will open next school year,
according to Principal Krystal Thomas, will place freshman, now scattered
throughout the 750-student building, in the same wing, with the same
"Students in poverty sometimes don't have aspirations," Thomas said.
"Success often scares them more than failure. I'm super passionate about
creating pathways for our students."
IN NEW YORK CITY,
CARMEN FARIÑA'S EIGHTH-GRADE CHALLENGE
January 21, 2014
New York City's Chancellor of Education Carmen
New York City
Mayor Bill de Blasio's new chancellor, Carmen Fariña, has gone on record saying
that she would prefer retirement to leading the nation's largest traditional
district. But she has accepted responsibility for running the institution that,
along with the criminal justice system and the economic system, one of the Big
Apple's three pillars of inequality. And she has a lot to do.
There isn't much debate to be had about how de Blasio's
predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, and his chancellors, improved achievement for
the city's fourth-graders. Graduation rates have also improved. But the real
measure of district and school success lies in how well children are doing by
Eighth grade achievement also matters because the teaching, curricula,
and academic services districts provide can (and should) have mitigated any
effects that come from as a result of families and socioeconomic background.
Children who graduate from high school reading below grade level aren't likely
to succeed after leaving school.
So how well is New York City doing with its eighth-graders,
especially for its black and Latino students? Based on data from the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal exam of student achievement, not
Nearly 90 percent of young black men in eighth grade attending New York
City's schools are reading at or below Basic levels of proficiency; in short,
just 10 percent of young black men are reading at or above grade level. This is
a situation that has not significantly improved within the past
You cannot fix the
problems of young Black men if they don't have constructive
Churches can change
In times of economic strain, our whole community
suffers from the complications of unemployment. In an effort to develop a new
model of community outreach and economic sustainability, The Black Star
Project is launching the 1 Church, 1 Job, 1 Young Black Man Working
These are the employment facts for young Black men
Young Black men have the highest unemployment rate of any group
in the country.
Unofficially, some academics believe that only 8 out of 100 young
Black men have jobs.
White adult felons are more likely to have jobs than young Black men
without criminal records.
Upper-middle class Black youth are less likely to have jobs than
low-income White youth.
Black Star Project is offering the opportunity for your church or faith
organization to participate in this program.
Each church or faith organization can:
Take up a special collection of $100.00 per
Hired a young, African American male to work in
the church, temple synagogue or mosque for 10 hours per week, or
Refer the young man to a local not-for-profit or
business to work
Pay the young man minimum wage to $10.00 per hour
for 10 hours per week
Ensure that each young man gains valuable work
Ensure that each young man has valuable mentoring
get your church involved in 1 Church, 1 Job, 1 Young Black Man Working or for
more information about this program, please call 773.285.9600.
Young women 4- to 14-years
old are invited to dress up and show their fathers a good time at The Black Star Project's
5th Annual Daddy Daughter Dance. Cost $30.00 per couple and $5.00 per extra
Please call 773.285.9600 to register your couple or to get a free organizing kit to bring the
Daughter Dance to your city. This event is sponsored by The Black Star Project's
Million Fathers Club. Attire: Dress To Impress
Music - Dancing -
Food - Fun - Crafts -