Community Call Summer 2017

FALL

16

//

SPRING

COMMUNITY

CALL

LEARN. PLAY. DO.

COMMUNITY HACKATHON

17

Catalyzing Truth in Action in Urban Education: Think, Question, Discover Georgia State University College of Law October 28th-29th 2017 Online Proposal Submissions due by June 2, 2017 For More information please visit sies.gsu.edu/sources

contents Fall 2016 // Spring 2017

6 28TH ANNUAL BENJAMIN E. MAYS LECTURE Recap what we learned from Noma LeMoine at this year's lecture about Standard English acquisition and learning.

10 HACKATHON Kids take over as they learn to design, code, and present their own innovative apps at our first ever Hackathon.

16 CATHY LOVING Meet Mrs. Cathy Loving, a hidden gem who educated us on the history of Atlanta and Dr. Benjamin E. Mays' life.

18 PROGRAM UPDATES Find out what some of our programs have been doing and where they are going this summer and beyond. Also included are the Jumpstart and Early College Graduates!

22 AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS Highlighting our staff and their accomplishments!

24 MEET THE INTERNS Meet the interns that assist with the duties needed for the Crim Center's success and the creation of this newsletter.

ON THE COVER Students attending the Learn. Play. Do. Hackathon get serious with coding.

COVER AND THIS PAGE PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABRIELA MCNICOLL

COMMUNITYCALL 03

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK

Welcome to the Community Call, the official newsletter of the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence in the College of Education and Human Development at Georgia State University.

It has been an exciting academic year for the Crim Center and we are looking forward to an equally engaging summer session. In this issue you will read updates from many of our programs such as Jumpstart! Atlanta, Georgia State University Early College Program, and T.E.E.M.S AmeriCorps. You will find stories on the 28th Annual Benjamin E. Mays Lecture, our first Hackathon and staff and student highlights. Also, we are happy to announce two very special upcoming events.

First, the Crim Center will be hosting its second Hackathon.

This time however, we are working with incarcerated youth and tying in Hackathon’s intergenerational experience of thinking and designing with code.

This event is designed to encourage participants to begin

04

COMMUNITYCALL

thinking as innovators and inventors; not just dreaming but also doing the work.

Second, we are happy to announce the 12th annual Sources of Urban Education Excellence Conference will be held on October 28th and 29th.

We are currently looking for exciting and engaging presentations for the conference. You can find the call for proposals at http://sites.gsu.edu/sources/ The conference theme for this year’s Sources Conference is “Truth Through Action in Urban Education: Think, Question, Discover.” Of course, we hope you will engage in the conference as well as the preconference activities.

This has been a wonderful year for the Crim Center. It has been full of innovation and exciting opportunities to create solutions for our children, schools, and communities. We look forward to you joining us in our work and becoming part of the Community of Believers. So, any day feel free to get connected and do the work.

Sincerely, Brian Williams, Ph.D. Director

Crim Center Sponsors and Partners

05

COMMUNITYCALL

2017 BENJAMIN E. MAYS LECTURE

LeMoine shines light on Standard English Learners at Mays Lecture Story by Claire Miller

Noma LeMoine began the 2017 Benjamin E. Mays Lecture with a distressing statistic: According to recent data, 75-80 percent of African-American students in the United States are demonstrating below levels of proficiency in English/language arts, reading and mathematics.

But LeMoine, whose 35-year career in education includes serving 20 years as director of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Academic English Mastery Program and 10 years as director of the district’s Closing the Achievement Gap Branch, believes educators can reverse this decadeslong trend.

She suggests educators consider how they perceive African-American, Native American and other students who have been traditionally subordinated in the U.S., citing Nigerian-American anthropologist John Ogbu’s research on the differences in school performance between minorityand dominant-group students.

“Attitude and perception relative to students of color plays a huge part in determining their success within American educational institutions – much larger than many of us

07

COMMUNITYCALL

08

COMMUNITYCALL

recognize,” said LeMoine, who spoke to faculty, staff and students at the 28th Annual Mays Lecture. “How we perceive students, what we believe about them in terms of their capacity to learn is the largest component of why many of our students of color are not successful in American schools.”

This same consideration can be applied to children who have spent their formative years learning variants of English at home – Hawaiian English, African-American English, Native American English – that don’t quite match up with the Standard

19

Dr. LeMoine speaks at the Mays Lecture

"We can't say they're using incorrect language. That's not true. They're using it correctly according to the model at home."

English educators teach in their classrooms and expect students to understand.

They have a linguistic competence in place; the problem These students, known as Standard English Learners, begin

is the competence they have does not match the

preschool and kindergarten demonstrating mastery of the

competence teachers expect to hear.”

language their families modeled. But schools often view them as having a language deficit.

To combat this problem, LeMoine believes teacher preparation programs should incorporate Standard English

“We can’t say they’re using incorrect language. That’s not true.

acquisition teaching strategies into their curriculum. In

They’re using it correctly according to the model at home,”

addition, she encourages educators to find professional

LeMoine explains. “We’re constantly testing their ability to

development opportunities like the Academic English

speak, read and write in Standard American English but

Mastery Program LeMoine oversaw in Los Angeles, which

we have no systemic programs to facilitate the acquisition of

trained more than 5,000 teachers in 81 schools on how to

that language.

teach Standard English to students.

Crim Center staff and faculty pictured with Dr. Noma Lemoine “The Academic English Mastery Program was a comprehensive, ongoing professional development program, which is really key,” she said. “You can’t just have a six-month program or a three-month program – this program actually went on for 20 years. We began to see a tremendous change in written language and language arts in those schools where teachers went through the training and

Pictures and information on Dr. Benjamin E. Mays provided by Cathy Loving

incorporated those methodologies in the classroom.”

The annual Mays Lecture, hosted by the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence, encourages the discussion of issues facing urban educational leaders, promotes a philosophy of excellence in the education of those typically least well served by larger society, and honors the memory of Benjamin E. Mays, an educator and social activist who was president of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education and supervised the desegregation of Atlanta’s public schools.

Left to right: Dr. Paul Alberto, Dr. Gwendolyn Benson, Dr. Noma LeMoine, Dr. Joyce King, Dr. Walter Thompson, and Dr. Brian Williams

09

COMMUNITYCALL

KIDS TAKE CHARGE At the Learn Play Do Hackathon kids hacked for change

STORY BY CLAIRE MILLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABRIELA MCNICOLL

HACKATHON How can educators encourage young children’s interest in coding and app development?

The College of Education & Human Development’s Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence faced this question head on when it hosted the Learn Play Do Hackathon, a two-day event that brought together local elementary school students, their teachers, STEAM-focused community programs, and college students with varying degrees of coding expertise to design music-related apps.

A Jumpstart volunteer facilitates app development with his team of hackathon participants

“We wanted to design an intergenerational experience so students from kindergarten to college could be included in connected-learning activities,” said Dana E. Salter, Crim Center associate director who coordinated the event.

“It’s not just about learning to code; it’s about learning how to think and design with coding and other tech skills, new hard and soft skills, learning how to come up with new ideas and having those conversations between different age and affinity groups. Before the end of the hackathon, all the students were taking on the identities of innovators, creators, coders and mentors.”

A T.E.E.M.S AmeriCorps member assists hackathon participants coding music

12

COMMUNITYCALL

Volunteers from Jumpstart and TEEMS AmeriCorps – serviceoriented organizations housed in the Crim Center – and Panther Hackers, a Georgia State student group dedicated to teaching people how to code, helped children from Woodson Park

Academy, Usher Elementary and Orange You Glad We’re Kids homeschool program brainstorm ideas for musicrelated apps. “I wanted them to start with Post-It notes and pencils because anyone – any parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, teacher or friend – can grab pen and paper and start thinking about design,” Salter said.

Then, the coding began.

Students and volunteers worked together to make the ideas from their brainstorming session into apps someone could use on their mobile devices. The Panther Hackers, TEEMS AmeriCorps and Jumpstart volunteers led the students through the planning and design thinking phase for their app development.

Hackathon participants learn hands-on how a computer operates

In between coding their music apps and learning the different parts that make up a computer, students had the opportunity to learn more about music and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects. Sam Daniel, CEHD PC systems specialist lead, gave each group of students the opportunity to look at various computer parts to see how the hardware and software work together to make a computer work properly. And Georgia Teach doctoral researcher Douglas Edwards gave the students access to Ear Sketch, Dr. Brian Williams (also known as Dr. Science) shows hackathon participants how to make music a web-based application that with household objects allows students to create their own music from a library of sounds while learning to code.

Crim Center Director Brian Williams – also known as Dr. Science (bottom) – and Ryan Kilgore, founder of the Kilgore Music Foundation and saxophonist for Stevie Wonder, showed students how to create instruments with simple, everyday objects and explored music terminology or “codes” – such as vibration, tone and pitch – using PVC pipe and tuning forks.

While their students were coding and learning about music, the teachers attended a simultaneous hackathon experience. Representatives from GoodieNation led teachers through design thinking principles and helped them learn how to apply them to create their own app to address an issue they see in their work.

13

COMMUNITYCALL

On the hackathon’s second day, each group “pitched” or described their apps in detail and demonstrated how they worked. “You can type in any song or artist and it’ll tell you more information,” said nine-year-old Aiden Goforth about the app his group created. “And you can play a game that gives you one minute to guess the song.”

Students also participated in hands-on activities with the STE(A)M Truck, a mobile innovation lab that brings a combination of STEM and arts activities to local schools and programs. Here (top right photo) students had to fold construction paper into a shape that would allow it to fly from the bottom of the wind tunnel to the top.

“The kids who came learned about public speaking, working as a team and problem solving,” said Giovannti Hale (bottom right), a freshman computer science major and AmeriCorps member who volunteered at the hackathon. “The best part was seeing them come up with creative ideas and incorporating something they can use in their everyday lives.”

Left: Goodnation representative speaks to teachers. about design and code.

Top Middle: Panther Hacker and hackathon participants present their app.

Top Right: Hackathon participants float their paper designs in a STE(A)M Truck wind tunnel.

Bottom Right: T.E.E.M.S Americorps and his hackathon team prepare to present their app.

14

COMMUNITYCALL

The Crim Center is planning two more hackathons this year – one in June and October – to build on the success of the first one and give more students experience with coding.

“The goal of the hackathon series is to focus on groups that are not usually at the table for these kinds of experiences and connect them to the many resources – volunteers and programs in the metro Atlanta area – so that all involved can learn, play and do,” she said.

Hackathon’s funders and sponsors:

Hackathon’s incredible volunteers/supporters: Vanessa Pérez-Topczewski and TEEMS AmeriCorps Volunteers

EarSketch/Douglas Edwards

Nishona Curry and JumpStart Atlanta Core Members

X. Eyeé

Dream Multimedia Group/Aric Thompson

Ryan Kilgore Foundation/Ryan Kilgore

GoodieNation/Joey Womack

Dr. Science/Brian Williams

PantherHackers

Eduardo Jose Paco Mateo

TEEMS AmeriCorp

Sian Morson and friends

JumpStart

Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence Interns

Kerry Abner/INTECOO GROUP

STE(A)M Truck

15

COMMUNITYCALL

“A husband a wife a child brought to life a boy a girl must conquer the world Recognize this space? I belong to what race?

Black, white, or yellow? Woman or fellow.

I’m a human being not a toy or a thing I’d love to sing I’d love to dance if other worlds would take a glance I can see though I’m not born free but we’re the same you and me You may be black I may be white but who is wrong and who is right?

We started life the very same the only difference is our name A husband a wife a child brought to life a boy a girl must conquer the world.”

New Beginnings

by Cathy Loving

"WHY DIDN'T YOU COME FIND ME?" Story by Daniel Copeland

Cathy Loving posed this question when we [Crim Center staff] met her. For the past five years we have been trying to uncover the largely untold legacy of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays.

Little did we know that Mrs. Loving, his longtime personal assistant, was just down the street waiting to tell his story.

Before the 28th Annual Benjamin E. Mays Lecture she blessed the Alonzo A. Crim Center with incredible, personal stories about Dr. Mays, Dr. Crim, Atlanta, and her own life. Currently the Crim Center is capturing Mrs. Loving's life in a documentary.

This film will highlight her story and the ways she has impacted Atlanta. Visit the crim center's website to hear our interview with her at bit.ly/cathyloving

17

COMMUNITYCALL

PROGRAM UPDATES

T.E.E.M.S Americorps

TEEMS (Technology, Engineering, Environment, Math & Science) AmeriCorps is a corps of mathematics and science majors trained in “Best Practices in Urban Education,” which includes effective tutoring and mentoring.

This spring T.E.E.M.S. served at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta for the 2017 Super Hero Science Night and the Georgia State University 2017 Discovery Day. They also partnered with the Atlanta Science Festival to coordinate and facilitated ‘random acts of science’ throughout Atlanta in addition to their weekly service in schools and community learning centers.

Update from Vanessa Perez-Topczewski, T.E.E.M.S. Program Director 18

COMMUNITYCALL

T.E.E.M.S. AmeriCorps members lead various activities at Super Hero Science Night

Jumpstart kids working on creative projects

Jumpstart!

Atlanta Artwork from some of the kids assisted in the Jumpstart program

“This year I am very excited to say that Jumpstart will be partnering with a step program in Renaissance Early Learning center. A step program is basically for children who went through pre-k or did not have access to pre-k and still did not obtain the skills they actually needed. What we will be doing. This curriculum is a little more rigorous, a little more intense.

Usually when children go through a step program it is about 4 hours of instruction and 3-4 hours of play. In actuality, what we are doing to do is this summer will be more intensive because it will be 6 hours of instruction and 2 hours of play. They will have 3 master pre-k teachers that will be working alongside the Jumpstart! core members.

What we are hoping is that these students will actually leave kindergarten ready. The population is coming from Dunbar Elementary, Gideons Elementary, Benteen Elementary, and Thomasville Heights Elementary. That is what we’ll be doing over the summer. The program kicks off the last week of May, it will be 10 weeks.

Jumpstart! Core members record 300 volunteer hours during the summer. That is 300 unpaid, volunteer hours alongside their summer jobs.”

-Nishona Curry, Jumpstart! Atlanta at Georgia State University, Executive Project Director

19

COMMUNITYCALL

Program Graduates Early College Program

Jumpstart Graduates

Carver High School Zi'Neshia Ajuzie

Ayana House

Jayda Quarles

Doris Tennis

Demartrea Arnold Maya Bailey

Carlos Jemison

Tiye' Ridley

Analia Rodriguez

Erynn Jones

Samayyah Sayyad

Emmanuel Ayawi

Tyrese Baines

Kiarah Kearse

Erika Soriano

Shanise Rich

Corniyah Bradley

Vernard Kennedy

Natassjeana Spencer

Alfredo Garcia

Alexis Buenrostro

Joi Lester Â

Jhae Springs

Nurun Chowdry

Carmia Chisolm

Aryonne Link

Deshauna Swinney

Lydia Dang

Erico Corbett

Dontavious Martin

Jasmaine Tinsley

Quintalya Eaden

Kenyatta Davis

Malik Miles

Jermaine TInsley

KeAmber Moses

Genesis Dean

Jared Miller

Fatima Torres

Imani Peters Shannon Pipkin

Dajuana Elder

Tyeon Miller

Jakila Walker

Angel Evans

Jasmine Nelson

Dorian Watkins

Adrian Douglas

Francis Fataki

Jenny Nguyen

Andreris Williams

Sareka Bushrod

Jabari Gay

Diamond Owens

Sasha Williams

Jeremy Williams

Majoie Gerard

Adrian Pizano

Zion Williams

Ameeka Harvey

Ralph Powell

Chaide Wynn

G'maan Hodges

Janet Pulliam

Jalon Zilliamon

Drew Charter School Kendall Bean Kierra Dennis Yvette Pines Samuel Ridley Solomon Simmons Jakayla Rachel

Washington High School

20

Aubreyona Brown

Zakiya Thomas

Ayana Graham

Cammari McDowell

Benjamin Leverrete

Rashaard Sheats

Chasity Drake

Jocelyn Reynolds

Jarica Williams

Iemah Chavies

La'Kesiya Pearson-Banks

Blake Jones

Lauryn Taylor

Xavier Jackson

Rickessiyah Mason

Kalveion Heard

Thomas Taylor

Kenya Williams

Troytoria Wade

Dorsey Moesha

COMMUNITYCALL

Crim Center Graduates

Vernique Thompson (right), a Jumpstart core member, graduated with her Bachelors degree and was the Birth Through Five Student of the Year

Dr. Anthony Outler (left), a Good Neighbor Program graduate research assistant, received his PhD

Alfredo Garcia, a Jumpstart core member, graduated with his Bachelors of Arts in Psychology 21

COMMUNITYCALL

Blake Williams (left), a Good Neighbor Program graduate research assistant, graduated with his Masters of Science in Statistics from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Ivie Osaghae, a Crim Center intern, graduated with her Bachelors of Arts in Antropology

Daniel Copeland, a Crim Center intern, graduated with his Bachelors of Arts in Sociology

Crim Center Awards and Recognitions Shaila Philpot (left), the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence Business Manager, was recognized for 10 years of service at GSU.

Dr. Brian Williams (right), director of the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence, received Carl V. Patton President’s Awards for Community Service and Social Action Outstanding Faculty of Staff Award He will be donating the $500 award to the Crim Center.

Dana Salter (left), the Interim Associate Director at the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence, received the 2016 College of Education and Human Development Staff Innovation Award. She donated the $250 award to the CUEE.

Amna Tariq (right), a T.E.E.M.S graduate research assistant, received her Masters in Public Health and was the 2017 Commencement speaker.

22

COMMUNITYCALL

M

y name is Elizabeth Tennies, and I am a selfless, determined, and resilient immigrant. I am originally from Peru and currently live in the Atlanta area with my child. As a single mother, I have worked very hard to improve our family’s financial situation, overcome our many challenges, and become a productive citizen and future educator.

I started my academic career at Chattahoochee Technical College as a non-traditional firstgeneration college student before transferring to Georgia State University in 2013. In addition to academia, I have had several volunteer experiences within the Education field, and currently I volunteer with the Jumpstart Program at the Renaissance Learning Center in downtown Atlanta. This spring 2017, I will be graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish.

The Alonzo A. and Gwen Crim Scholarship Award will help me finish my degree and start a graduate program in Education. I am humbled and very appreciative of being selected as the recipient of this scholarship.

As an aspiring teacher, I’m dedicated to helping and motivating my students to raise their natural curiosity and develop their love for learning.

Thank you very much for your generous gift that will make a big difference in my child’s life and mine. - Elizabeth Tennies

Elizabeth Tennies 2017 Alonzo A. and Gwendolyn Crim Scholarship Recipient Elizabeth Tennies is the first ever recipient of the Alonzo A. and Gwnedolyn Crim Scholarship. Utilizing Dr. Crim’s idea of the Community of Believers, the selected student contributes to the development of solutions to pressing issues in urban communities which also serves as a bridge between the university and greater community.

Photo by Ivie Osaghae 21

COMMUNITYCALL

MEET THE CRIM CENTER INTERNS

Ivie Osaghae just graduated with her bachelors in Anthropology with a minor in African American Studies. Ivie has been put on a myriad of projects including flipping the website and podcast mixing. One day she hopes to create a curriculum or program for students that teaches them the true histories of those around them.

Brandon Harris is a Marketing major with interests in film, video, and photography. At the Crim Center Brandon edits videos and assists with publishing and following up with comments and likes on social media.Â

24

COMMUNITYCALL

Gayla Tillman is a third year English and African American Studies major. They write narratives that center marginalized voices to empower people and make people feel heard, including other genderfluid people of color. At the Crim Center, Gayla helps our director with scheduling, creative projects, and social media.

Gayla's pronouns: She/They

Daniel Copeland is a dual degree student who just graduated with his BA in Sociology and begins graduate school in August to obtain a MA in Sociology. He enjoys researching cultural/social capital in education. At the Crim Center, Daniel supports research, edits podcasts, and facilitates social media alongside the other interns. As he enters graduate school he looks forward to potentially conducting his own research.

Shaidah Ehehosi is a Middle-Level Education major that wants to teach social studies full time after she graduates. She serves as the Community Outreach Chair of the Black Student Alliance at Georgia State. At the Center, she helps facilitate social media, build community relations, and assist with creative projects.

About the Crim Center Internship: CUEE Internship Program is uniquely situated to give Georgia State University undergraduates a first hand on-the-ground look at urban education, writ large. Interns work closely with the Center’s staff to support and expand the internal processes and structures of the center such as supporting the development and implementation of Center related innovative educational programming. This past year the interns have taken leadership in projects such as formulating this newsletter, organizing the hackathon, creating podcasts, editing the website, and (currently) filming a documentary on Cathy Loving. The Crim Center interns are largely responsible for the creation of this newsletter.

25

COMMUNITYCALL

Founded in 1996, the Alonzo A. Crim Center is an interdisciplinary hub that works to ensure that no person is alienated from or by education within urban communities.

Through partnerships, donations and support we are proud to offer programs that benefit our school communities. Volunteerism allows us to offer over 38,000 volunteer hours to the community each year.

This magazine and all of the life-changing work our programs do would not be possible without the support of our wonderful Community of Believers. For more information on how you can contribute your time, talent and resources to the Center please visit:

http://bit.ly/BuildingTheCommunity This magazine was designed and formulated by Crim Center interns: Ivie Osaghae, Daniel Copeland, Gayla Tillman, Shaidah Ehehosi and Brandon Harris