Tuesday, September 23
The days when I have open office hour days are often long but SO great. My day on Tuesday was particularly long — I started at a 7:30 a.m. breakfast at which I was honored by The Young Womens’ Leadership Academy, an all girls’ school in Harlem, with their “Man We Love” award. This incredble public school and the organization that founded it have now launched schools all around the country with phenomenal results. The young women from the school who spoke blew me and the rest of the audience away — there were not a lot of dry eyes in the house. I am a supporter of single-sex education and would love to see such a school open in Newark — and will encourage the leaders of the school to do so! The Young Women’s Leadership Academy has a host of powerful women supporters from around the region — ranging from CEOs to people in entertainment. I believe they are starting a small movement and I want Newark to be part of it.
Speaking of great schools, I held Tuesday’s office hours at Arts High School. The staff there is fantastic and I am really proud of the work they are doing with our kids.
I arrived at the school around 2:30 p.m. and left at almost 10:00 p.m. I spoke to approximately 75 constituents — and many of those who came, came to offer help. It was a bit challenging because there were some people (probably 6-8) who came who weren’t Newark residents – this is a service for our residents - but almost all of them came to offer some type of support.
I was so encouraged by many of our residents who came with great ideas. One woman from the South Ward, the owner of a construction/home rehabilitiation business, had me most excited. She came with a small team of others because they want to start a program for ex-offenders – here was a local small business, female headed, who has a vision for helping ex-offenders and at risk youth. What could be more inspiring – these are the kind of people who keep me charged up in my work.
Other folks came to help too — from a resident in senior housing who who wants to help with the Obama campaign and any other initiatives that will empower our City to two Arts High graduates, now working in the entertainment industry who wrote a great book for high schoolers (I bought 10 copies).
A lot of people came for help too — the majority of them looking for work. We had our Newark Works team there with lots of information about jobs — it seems like most of the people who came may be placed in a training program or directly into an interview for a job.
All in all it was a great night.