Mount Vernon SchoolTalkSchools, Open

Below is the transcript of the speech I delivered at the commencement exercises of Mount Vernon High School.  The event was held at the Westchester County Center on June 24, 2009 at 1:00 PM.

—————-Beginning of Transcript—————–

Good afternoon everybody.  It’s my great pleasure and honor to be here today.  First of all I’d like to thank Mr. Rutter and Dr. Sawyer for having me here today, parents, family, friends and of course the young people of the Mount Vernon High School graduating class of 2009.  On behalf of the Mount Vernon Board of Education I’d like to say how proud I am of your accomplishments.

On the school board we spend all our time thinking about what this day will look like.  This is the proverbial outcome that we are all planning for, hoping for, and to actually see the caps and gowns is just a beautiful, beautiful sight.  YOU made that happen, and this is your day.

I’d like to roll the clock back to an earlier day in your life.  The day you were born, it doesn’t matter where you were born, if you were born in a hospital anywhere in the United States of America, the first 5 minutes of your life went exactly like this:  You were weighed, measured and then you took the first state mandated test of your life.  It was call an APGAR test. The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by a physician at New York Hospital as a simple and repeatable method to quickly pinpoint the health of newborn children immediately after childbirth.   You received a score between 1 and 10 based on five criteria (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, how you moved and how well you could breath).  You passed the test, I know so, because you’re here today.  Your APGAR score defined you at that moment and determined where you went next.

And so began a life of state assessments.  You’ve taken IQ tests, diagnostic reading and math tests, state mandated tests in every subject under the sun, RCT, SAT and Regents tests every step of the way right through this very week.  So, 17 years later you are still being weighed, measured and tested.

Only now, you have finally can have more control over the results.  At this critical juncture you are somewhere in the middle between who you were and who you are about to become.  When you received your APGAR score and even when you took the 8th grade New York State math assessment, you didn’t have the control over the world that you do now as a grown-up.

Use that power to define your world as you wish it to be.  Life is far more profound than a score on an exam.  It’s time to make your world bigger.

How large is Mount Vernon?  That’s right – 4 square miles.  Young people, I love Mount Vernon.  I believe many of you love Mount Vernon.  If you love Mount Vernon then I hope you will consider my solemn advice.  LEAVE MOUNT VERNON. If you’re not bound by family obligations, then find a way to live someplace else.  If you’re going to work after graduation, get a job somewhere else.  One young man I spoke to said he would soon take the test (another test) to become a fireman.  Excellent!  Be a fireman in Yonkers or White Plains.  If you’re fortunate enough to go to college, and I hope every single one of you will at some point soon, then go to college in another state, if you can.  If you go to Westchester Community College, go to the one in Valhalla, not the one on Gramatan Avenue.  Make your world bigger.

Look at what the A-list people have done – P-Diddy hasn’t lived in Mount Vernon for a very long time.  He grew up there, and then made a life for himself on a much larger stage.  President Obama grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia, but he left those places to build his life in New York, Boston and Chicago.  You have to go somewhere if you want to grow.

So get a job, start a career, fall in love, maybe start a family, start a business, whatever. Live.  After you’ve had some of these experiences return to Mount Vernon and bring it on.   Bring it all back, use all that life experience to make Mount Vernon bigger and better.  Make your world bigger.

From the APGAR test to the last Regents exam, you’ve just come through with flying colors.  Your school board is proud of you, and so am I.   Good luck graduates.

(c) 2009 Charles Stern

—————-End of Transcript—————–

I received several hundred copies of the same letter from the Pennington Elementary PTA late last week, expressing concerns about that school and the impact of the 2009-10 budget.

The subject of the letter was discussed extensively at last night’s school board meeting, in public.  In short, the need for a reading specialist at Pennington can and should be addressed by having the school’s Assistant Principal serve at its reading specialist.  It is my understanding that the AP is credentialed to do so.  Pennington’s enrollment of 380 makes it among the district’s smallest schools and it is not receiving Title I funding, a stream that is intended for the needs of free and reduced lunch eligible children.  To its credit, Pennington has an extremely low number of children scoring at level 1 and 2 on the state assessments.  Therefore, it would seem viable for the AP to address this staffing gap.

For the sake of clarity, in 2010 there will be 16 reading specialists in the elementary schools, all funded under Title I.  The district is simply not in a financial position to fund reading teachers from its general fund.

Further, the matter of funding a librarian, or media specialist for Pennington was discussed.  It is logical to expect that a part-time resource somehow be made available, even if it means splitting the time of someone who is working in another building.  The board asked the Superintendent to review this possible solution.

Music and art teachers and media specialists are program choices that have been placed in the hands of principals.  In the course of last night’s discussion I learned that other small elementary schools, Traphagen among them, have made to make similar choices.

Finally, the district is facing profound financial challenges brought on by multiple causes over many years.  We’re trying diligently to meet the pressing needs of the entire program, but at times it is an exercise in triage.  I know the board cares deeply about the eminently reasonable concerns of the parents at Pennington school.  I would only ask that we all keep a cool head as we try to parse out the facts and find the best solution for everybody, and please, assume goodwill.       Charlie