Accepting a challenge to better the schools
September 21, 2023 at 3:47 a.m.
When Dr. Aurelia Henriquez stepped into her role as superintendent of the Port Chester Schools, she was unsure why the district had yet to join the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) community but was already aware that it was a natural fit.
The Port Chester Board of Education unanimously authorized the district to become a My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge member at its monthly meeting on Thursday, Sept. 14, allowing the district to formally begin the process of accepting the challenge.
The MBK Challenge was started in 2014 by the President Barack Obama administration, becoming a federal effort to address the gaps faced by young men of color and help them reach their full potential. Despite the name, the initiative is not limited to that demographic.
In April 2016, New York became the first state to implement it with more of a local focus, adjusting its budget to include a $20 million investment into MBK. Henriquez is looking forward to joining the community.
“MBK’s goals are based on the fundamental idea or belief that it takes a village, like the African proverb says, to raise or educate a child,” she said. “And that’s a belief that we have here in the Port Chester School District.”
Referencing the district goals, Henriquez said that the MBK community will align, and assist, with several of their directives. “There are academic components, communication and community engagement, and there’s planning that goes into an initiative like this,” she said.
While the program will provide the district with access to a variety of resources and grants, joining the community will take some effort Board of Education member George Ford expressed concerns about, describing the requirements as “a big lift.”
Yet, after a healthy debate, he was convinced to join his colleagues in supporting the program, seeing it in the positive light the administration presented.
According to the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) webpage on MBK, once a community begins the process of joining the program by sending a letter co-written by the superintendent and the mayor to the Office of Access, Equity, and Community Engagement Services, a time limit takes effect.
Within 45 days, a “Local Action Summit” must take place—a meeting where the district identifies its needs, assets, and priorities. Then, in a three-month window, a report must be generated with recommendations for action on how the district will reach both the national and state goals of MBK.
Lastly, inside a six-month window, the district will publicly launch a plan of action based on the previous policy reviews. Though it seems like a herculean effort, the program has shown results in other areas.
According to a report released by NYSED, the program has given students access to high-quality STEM programs in Yonkers, built bridges among students and families of color and the school community in Elmira City, empowered parents to become leaders in schools in Rochester, among other accomplishments throughout the state. With the green light from the Port Chester Board of Education to begin the process, Henriquez is keen to get started.
“Mayor (Luis) Marino has been so supportive of the initiatives that we currently have in place as well as the MBK initiative,” she stated regarding her soon-to-be collaborative letter with the mayor to NYSED. And though the other time-restricted requirements will take effort from faculty, Henriquez is confident that the Port Chester administration will make it happen.
“With any grant or any new initiative, there are heavy lifts. I don’t see this being any more challenging than the many other things that we’re looking to do and improve upon,” Henriquez said. And while the district may not see any grant money initially, as the application window for the MBK grant has already closed, joining the community will still give Henriquez opportunities to connect students with local groups.
“I am currently speaking with Greenwich Hospital about the possibility of having paid internships for students who are interested in pursuing careers under the medical umbrella,” she said, and noted that she has had conversations with members of the community alongside middle school teacher Allison Fasano on how they can work more closely together.
“There’s more for us to gain from the MBK connections than anything else right now,” she said on how the program will help grow her efforts to collaborate with the Port Chester community.
As the program was enacted in New York State years ago, Henriquez couldn’t speak to the district’s reasoning on forgoing the opportunity to join, but she thinks it’s obvious that joining will only better the district and its students as a whole.
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