Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Today is the final entry in our guest series from Unity Charter School, and it seems only fitting that we end it with thoughts from a student – Morgan Goldberg (pictured below in the middle of the photo) who is an 8th grader at Unity.

By Morgan Goldberg
8th grade student

The 2010-2011 school year is only my second at Unity, but I, like most of my classmates, feel like I have been going here for much longer. At Unity Charter School, community is something highly valued, and it is clear from walking in the door that our school is a unique place. The principles of sustainability and “positive discipline” are widely known and upheld, and this shows throughout an average day at Unity.

I am in 8th grade, in a class with 7th and 8th graders, but I regularly talk to and spend time with students of all grades, particularly in the first few minutes of the day when we all take part of what is referred to as “Morning Meeting.” Our entire school gathers in the our multi-purpose room for announcements and acknowledgments before we break apart for class meetings which are a more targeted version of our large meetings. I think this sets our day off on a positive note.

Throughout the day, we learn in new and inventive ways. The principles of sustainability – our “mission” – are enforced throughout the day when we do things such as learn about alternative energy in Science class, discuss current events in Social Studies, and help out in our newly thriving garden. As our school grows, this is expanding as well. For example, our new SmartBoard and science lab help our Educating for Sustainability (EfS) program to grow.

At Unity, we have a unique relationship with our teachers in that they value our opinions and listen to us. They are understanding, patient and approachable. We have respect for them because of who they are, not merely because we “should.”

I also love that, at Unity, there are so many ways to be involved. Democratic Governance, our Student Council, is at the heart of our school and I have been a part of it since I’ve been attending Unity. We have central officers, and representatives from each class from Kindergarten through 8th grade, and have two student council meetings a month, along with a “Democratic Governance Meeting” to share the summary with the school. There are also student-led “interest groups,” peer mediation programs and committees to be involved in. There is a big focus on finding, developing, and using students’ voices, and I think we all benefit from this.

However, I can honestly say I have fun here. Although we do focus on academics and leadership, we do things such as our highly anticipated field trips (which are approvingly frequent) both local and not, after-school events, and Middle School dances. Even throughout the day, I can work with younger students, have daily recess, and see my friends.

Though I am excited to be attending high school next year, I can honestly say I will miss Unity and all of the people who work and attend here.  From the beginning of the school day to the end, we are valued as more than just students. We have a great balance of academics, socialization and just plain fun. The relationships, the ability to speak and be heard, and community here is what keeps every day moving as smoothly as it (most of the time) does. And I can honestly say I am going to leave Unity much happier,  than I was when I came. •

Special thanks to Morgan and to all of our guest writers from Unity Charter School. In case you missed any of the previous entries in this series, you can find the links here:

Part 1 – Unity Charter School: With Room To Grow
Part 2 – Unity Charter School: A Teacher’s Perspective
Part 3 – “I feel like I died and went to school heaven”
part 4 – The Importance of Volunteering

Images: Unity Charter School

Today is the final installment in our guest series from the New Jersey Academy for Aquatic Sciences (NJAAS). Throughout this month, we’ve heard directly from the students in the CAUSE program and what it has meant to them. Today, we hear a parent’s perspective on how the program transformed her daughter from a shy girl into a confident leader who looks forward to college and a lifetime of meaningful work.

By Annette Cabrera
Parent of Alexis S., 4th year student in CAUSE Program

Before my daughter started in the CAUSE program, she was very shy, had low self esteem, covered her face with her hair, and did not care about her appearance. She did not interact or talk with many teens her age. Today, she holds her head high, face free of hair, has high self esteem, can speak with anyone of any age, and takes the time to dress in the morning. This transformation has to do with her participation in the CAUSE program.

The program as a whole has encouraged her to come out of her shell. The weekly meetings that address personal and professional life skills, CAUSE camp, and other programming has helped her to be the outgoing and passionate young woman she is today. To me, she has shown tremendous growth in her overall character. She likes teaching me what she learns about in the program, enjoys writing more than she ever has, and now has no issues being in the forefront, and continues to give back to the community.

Because the program is about giving back to the community, she has returned year after year because she knows that spending time with others and giving back can help someone get through a rough time. She now visits many homeless and domestic abuse shelters with CAUSE and on her own. She has also volunteered to plant trees with Bon Jovi, and do community service clean-ups for Camden. Alexis told me that seeing children without homes or mothers that have been battered, reminded her of her childhood and past. Life has been difficult for us at times, to say the least. It made her happy to see the children and moms smile as a result of her being able to take them to a mental place (the beach, the ocean) and teach them something cool and awesome, if only for a short time.

During her first year, she learned that science can be fun, interactive, and hands-on. She didn’t see science like that before. Now she continues to show a love and passion for the subject, especially aquatic science. She talks to many people about her aquatic science knowledge—anyone that will listen, even her peers at school. Alexis is now anxious to graduate from high school and move on to college. She wants to work with children in some capacity. She feels that her decision to attend college is a direct result of the program. They have encouraged her to stay in school, study hard, and look to a bright and successful future.

All in all, it the support that she gets from the program that has enabled Alexis to focus for the future. They are her cheerleaders in a way.

I feel lucky that the program came into our lives; as a result we have been able to learn about each other (mother and daughter) and have great dialogue. I wish that all the youth in Camden get to experience this program, because they can learn about aquatic sciences, interact with other teenagers, enhance their self-esteem and prepare themselves to go to college. The CAUSE program is so important for the youth it prepares them for future education and employment.•

Special thanks to the staff of NJAAS and the students in the CAUSE program as well as Annette Cabrera for joining us this month on the Dodge blog. For more information, please see the NJAAS website and find them on Facebook too.

Part 1: Connecting with the Community Through Science
Part 2: Science is Alive! Thanks to Mister Doctor Professor Doc
Part 3: Expressing Science and Yourself Through Creativity

Images: NJAAS

The next in our guest series from Unity Charter School: today we hear from Peter Munde, a member of Unity’s Board of Trustees, who sheds some light on complicated charter school finances and the satisfaction of volunteering in Unity’s unique lunchroom.

By Peter Munde

With our child attending Unity Charter School, volunteering affords a unique look at how Unity Charter School makes do with limited resources.

As a member of the UCS Board of Trustees, one of the things I do is chair the Finance Committee.  While charter schools are supposed to be funded at 90% of mainstream public school funding, in practice, they often receive less money than that. Unity’s students, for example, come from approximately 35 sending districts in addition to the Morris School District.  Not only does each district have different per-pupil school expenditures, the mix of sending districts varies from year to year too, which makes it difficult to plan Unity’s budget.

Moreover, facilities costs drive up a charter school’s fixed costs.  Where a mainstream school district budgets approximately two percent of its total annual expenses for facilities, 20% to 25% of a charter school’s annual budget goes toward building and maintenance.  That’s a big chunk of money that impairs our ability to pay for other necessities!  Yet, somehow each year, we manage.

Because of these financial factors, charter schools depend more on volunteers than a regular school does.  School director Carolyn Mungo functions both as school principal and as superintendent of a one-school, self-contained district.  She makes do with one administrative assistant.

To meet the school’s needs, parent volunteers help extensively.  A dedicated volunteer team located the new building at One Evergreen Place. This was more than a few phone calls on a weekday afternoon: it was countless hours of scouring the neighborhood for a suitable building; going before town planning boards; being available for meetings and building inspections, and so much more. If we had had to pay someone for this time, we could not have afforded the move.

Others support the school’s award-winning lunch program, helping to prepare the food, serve meals and wash laundry. For the last two years, I’ve been fortunate to devote one day each week to working in the school’s kitchen.

In our house, a nice family dinner is the most important part of the day.  It’s not easy to prepare a meal from scratch after a long workday, but putting good food on the table is priceless to me.  So volunteering in the Unity kitchen was a no-brainer.

I derive visceral satisfaction in completing basic tasks like cleaning and cutting fruit and vegetables, preparing salad dressing or tomato sauce, and generally assisting our wonderful chef. Yeah sure, washing the dishes provides no satisfaction, but it’s absolutely necessary.

And I love serving my child, and all the other kids, a homemade lunch each time I work there.

This series concludes next Tuesday, after the Memorial Day holiday.

Part 1 – Unity Charter School: With Room To Grow
Part 2 – Unity Charter School: A Teacher’s Perspective
Part 3 – “I feel like I died and went to school heaven”

Images: Unity Charter School

Welcome back to our guest series with the New Jersey Academy for Aquatic Sciences, a nonprofit based in Camden which promotes the understanding, appreciation and protection of aquatic life and habitats through research, education and youth development programs. Over the last two weeks, we’ve explored different perspectives from participants in their CAUSE program, which works with high school students and 8th graders who, in turn, teach a range of science concepts to younger kids during the summer.

Today, we hear from 4th year intern Alexis on the power of art as a transformative teaching tool:

By Alexis S.

A lot of people disregard art as something that can only be for people who are extremely talented, gifted or just have the money to pay for expensive classes to build their skills. However, it’s fair to say, from my perspective, that this is absolutely false. Art is for everyone. I have grown through my art, because it is not just pretty pictures, it is expression and creativity. That’s the key word: creativity. Without it, you’re life will be immensely boring. I have never been very open with my creativity, I have hidden it, ashamed of people critiquing me and putting me down. I was the shyest girl with the lowest of low self esteem. Of course, life gives us these funny chances that, if we choose wisely to take them, we can break out of our shells.

In my freshman year of high school, I had the opportunity to interview for a job at the New Jersey Academy for Aquatic Sciences, a youth development program for local teens attending Camden City high schools. I was accepted into the CAUSE Program and had to deal with a fifteen to twenty week program of marine biology. I really wanted to quit during that time because I was definitely not science person. Yet, some infinite force told me to stay with it, and so I hung on, waiting what could be next after training. What was next? Curriculum writing. I had found my calling in my job. Ok, so writing the long backgrounds about specific science topics was a bit much for me, but after writing this, I was given the task of creating activities for that background material.

When camp finally came around, I really realized why I was there. The activities I helped create were my own, made through my own creativity, and I shared them with my students in grades k-2. To see the children express themselves and not care if their art and crafts weren’t award-winning pieces, was like floating back to being a kid myself. The next year of curriculum writing, I put more effort into creating activities, however, I relied less on what I could find on the internet and more on my own mind. It was much easier than I thought, because I realized that art played a huge role. Creating something meant putting thought and your whole self into it. During that same time, I had been dealing with a lot of depression and had started seeing an art therapist. It was a struggle dealing with work and problems at home.

In my third year I did a complete turnaround from the previous year. Art therapy had been proving to help me and I was more focused at work. I gave writing activities my all, and I realized I began applying art therapy methods into activity development. That year in camp, the kids began to become more open with me, speaking about their problems and how much fun they had at camp during the summer. I saw myself in those kids, those little ones who were hanging onto their childhood like a rope, trying to ignore all the negativity around them. I was there to help. I knew what it was like to be them, and I wanted to be there for them a hundred percent.

Now as a fourth year, I include creativity into everything I do, not just camp, but when we do outreach programs. Creativity can be anything. It can be creating a skit from the top of your head to make a lesson much more fun and intriguing. It can be creating masks and costumes and showing the kids what it is like to be an animal or an explorer for a day. It can be a drawing of how you plan to make the world better, and it can be anything you want it to be. Through my four years at my job, I realized art is much more than what it seems. It is the creativity to inspire those around you, and with this creativity, I want to become an art therapist and never ever stop helping kids. •

This series continues next Wednesday

Part 1: Connecting with the Community Through Science
Part 2: Science is Alive! Thanks to Mister Doctor Professor Doc

Images: NJAAS

If you are a parent of school aged children, you know that sending your kids to a school that helps them learn and thrive is one of your top priorities. Ronni Arno Blaisdell, who moved to Morristown, New Jersey from Pennsylvania in 2009, could not believe her good fortune upon discovering Unity Charter School. (Paritally) organic vegetarian lunches? Individualized instruction? World languages, a science lab and performing arts? At a public school?! Yes.

Today, we hear from Ronni – a parent’s perspective – on how her two daughters are, indeed, learning and thriving at Unity Charter School:

By Ronni Arno Blaisdell

Our family moved to Morristown in the fall of 2009, when my kids were in second and fourth grades. Coming from Bucks County, PA, Morristown was a big change for us. There were pros (we could walk to town and don’t have to drive everywhere!) and cons (when we do have to drive, the traffic is unbelievable!)

But the best part about our move, without a doubt, was enrolling at Unity Charter School.

I heard about Unity shortly after settling into the area. An acquaintance, whom knew I was vegetarian, told me about a charter school that served partially organic vegetarian lunches. My jaw dropped. She then told me that they also encouraged sustainability, and my jaw dropped further. I couldn’t believe such a school existed. I had to learn more.

I raced to my computer and googled “Unity Charter School.” Sure enough, there it was: The mission of Unity Charter School is “to teach the importance of protecting and improving the environment by educating our students on the principles of sustainability, ecology, and diversity in a way that celebrates and honors this planet and all its inhabitants.”

When I looked further, I found that Unity isn’t only about protecting the environment and healthy lunches. Unity’s small class size and close-knit community allows teachers the opportunity to identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses. Students are evaluated using various assessments, and instructors then develop individual lessons plans that suit each student’s needs. In my world, this meant that my kids wouldn’t necessarily be treated just like everyone else. They would be treated like individuals. They would be given the opportunity to soar with their strengths and improve on their weaknesses.

I felt like I died and went to school heaven.

Needless to say, we visited the school immediately and applied for the following year. We were all ecstatic for September to begin. As the school year approached, I secretly hoped that Unity would live up to my inflated expectations.

I wasn’t disappointed.

Not only did Unity live up to my expectations, it exceeded them. My children walked into a brand-new 20,000 square-foot facility, complete with a World Language room, a Science lab, a Performing Arts room, and a full commercial grade kitchen. Outside was a garden, ready for the students to start nurturing and cultivating.

The multi-age classrooms were big and bright, and the students welcomed my daughters with open arms. I think they had more true friends in the first day there than they’d had in all their previous school years. The teachers are second-to-none. Not only are they top-notch educators, but they actively involve the parents, keep us updated on progress and issues, and encourage us to become involved with our children’s education.

Academically, my children are thriving. My oldest daughter has always been an independent worker who is very academically motivated. Her teacher provides her with special assignments, and she and her classmates collaborate on creative projects such as writing plays, choreographing dance routines for the school talent show, or putting together a presentation on recycling. My youngest daughter sometimes needs to be reminded to check her work carefully, and her teacher works with her on improving those skills in addition to teaching the regular curriculum.

Lunch was everything I dreamed it would be! Not only was I comfortable that my kids were getting a nutritious lunch every day, but I didn’t have to make it every day. My cooking skills leave a little to be desired, so I was thrilled when my younger daughter told me that “Chef Judy is the best cook ever.” She even ate all her vegetables! Any food that isn’t eaten gets composted, so it goes back to the soil, which ultimately helps the garden grow. The food grown in the garden is often used as part of the lunch program, and the entire process teaches children an extremely important lesson about where their food comes from.

My kids participate in Student Council, so they have a voice in school. In fact, all the teachers at Unity concur that students are part of the process of learning. The children are treated as partners, and that partnership empowers the students to be more invested in their educations. What’s more, the sense of inclusion at Unity means that the students don’t tease each other for their strengths or weaknesses. They students understand that they all work at different levels, and they are taught to help each other in the learning process.

Unity Charter School is one of the best decisions my family has made. I’m grateful that my children have the opportunity to attend Unity. And I’m grateful that I get to be part of such a caring community, where people take responsibility not only for themselves, but also for the world around them. •

This series continues next Monday.

Part 1 – Unity Charter School: With Room To Grow
Part 2 – Unity Charter School: A Teacher’s Perspective

Images: Unity Charter School