Administrators of the New Town Success Zone Initiative, JCC’s Family Involvement (FI) staff members, recently engaged and interviewed approximately 500 New Town residents. They were  assisted by 10 William M. Raines High School students, also known as SOLDIERS. The SOLDIERS were inspired by Duval County School Board Member Betty Burney, District 5, to serve as leaders on their school campus and within their surrounding community.

Interviews and focus groups with New Town residents are designed to learn more about the needs of families. FI staff members were  paired with Raines SOLDIERS. They were charged with talking with residents at their homes, visit barber/ beauty shops, and go to places of worship.

Following the community engagement process, JCC will worked with other funding organizations and non-profit providers to intentionally link services that insulate families living in the New Town neighborhood (i.e., Census Tract 28.02). Services are offered to families from the time a child is conceived until they complete college and/or enter the workforce.

If you are interested signing up a young male age 14-18 that is currently enrolled in high school and on the verge of failing or at-risk of drop out, please complete the form below and one of our representatives will be in contact with you.

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Three years ago, Betty Seabrook Burney took on the job of finding mentors for jailed juveniles.

But one day, Burney realized they needed more than mentors to guide them. They needed their voices to be heard — and understood.

“I was at court one day, and this kid was trying to get his point across to the [assistant] state attorney,” said Burney. “But he couldn’t express himself well… all the while, the chains he had on were clanging.”

That gave Burney, now a member of the Duval County School Board, the idea to find a way for more of the troubled youths to express how they allowed criminal behavior to stunt their progress before their lives even got off to a real start. She did that by visiting them in the Duval County jail and chronicling their stories in a self-published book titled If These Chains Could Talk.

The book is a compilation of stories from teenage felons discussing the conditions and attitudes that contributed to their drift toward criminality. It also includes their advice to youths, parents and others, and space for readers to write down ideas to deal with the problem.

Full story – If These Chains Could Talk

Purpose:

It is the mission of the Black Educators’ Alliance of Massachusetts to provide support to Black Educators and to improve academic performance of all children, but particularly, students of color. Through various professional development opportunities, BEAM promotes excellence in teaching, leading and in student academic proficiency by sharing and modeling best practices in education.

This conference “Eliminating the Achievement Gap: Education is a Civil Right” is designed to remind us of the crucial role that education has and continues to play in our progress and advancement as African Americans and how much sacrifice was made by our forefathers and mothers to ensure we had equal access to a quality education. It is also intended to inspire us to dream bigger and achieve more at this historic moment in our history as we witnessed the swearing in of our country’s first Black president, Barack Obama. But most importantly, we want conference participants to be spurred on to take what they learn and act on behalf of Black and Hispanic students to eliminate the inequities that perpetuate the gap between them and their White and Asian peers. Conference presenters will challenge us to abandon deficit ways of thinking about student capabilities and provide historical perspectives and insights and strategies for using students’ cultural and linguistic assets as foundations upon which to strengthen their literacy skills.

Building on last year’s theme, conference presenters will also highlight effective data practices that both inform instruction and help teachers know whether student achievement is improving. Ultimately, our hope is that conference participants will emerge from these thought-provoking, culturally relevant and engaging workshops motivated and armed with effective classroom and school strategies that will yield better results for their students.

Click below for Conference Program >

http://www.beamass.org/2009ConferenceProgram.pdf

The Jacksonville Urban League, in collaboration with Duval County School Board member Betty Burney, will host a program titled “If These Chains Could Talk” at 6 p.m. today at Second Missionary Baptist Church, 954 Kings Road.

A free reception and book signing will follow the program at the Jacksonville Urban League at 903 W. Union St.

This program is for children and families and is based on Burney’s book of the same title in which juveniles try to motivate, educate and prevent their peers from making bad decisions.

For information about the program and registration, call Erik Dawkins at the Urban League at (904) 366-6484 or call (904) 366-6481.

School Superintendent Joseph Wise said he wants Burney’s book made a part of the curriculum for eighth- and ninth-graders “because they are the ones facing a slippery slope” in their development. “It starts with being late for school, then skipping school, then failing in school and turning to crime,” Wise said. He called the book a powerful tool to keep students “on the high rise” in their lives.

When Burney began her mentoring program at the jail, she got the offenders to write letters to students who were truants, telling how they got into trouble and painting a true picture of what life was like behind bars.

The most common advice given by the offenders was “listen to your parents,” Burney said.

“This is all about empowerment,” Burney said, “to help kids make better choices.”

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As I was reading a bulletin on MySpace titled “Ribault’s School Grade ‘06-’07 is …,” I noticed that several students noted how “nice” and “involved” School Board member Betty Burney is. It amazes me that my peers keep track of elected officials who represent our schools.

I’m impressed with Burney because she wrote If these Chains Could Talk. I’m sure this book has inspired many youth throughout Jacksonville. I was thrilled to hear that eighth-graders in Duval County would receive a free copy of this book.

Burney, along with State Sen. Tony Hill, has proposed a new mentoring program for young black males.

Also, she has shown her commitment to incarcerated youth in Duval County by serving as a volunteer motivational mentor at the jail.

She recently attended the Boys 2Men retreat at the Main Library. Also, she has attended several community meetings and school events at the various schools she represents throughout the school year.

This is the definition of what a School Board member is and should be.

Hats off to Burney for being an outstanding and involved School Board member.

BRADFORD HALL, Ribault High School, Jacksonville

On Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. the Jacksonville Chapter of Continental Societies, Inc. hosted their first Legacy Celebration. Over 300 guests attended the dinner at the University Center on the campus of the University of North Florida. Each honoree was recognized for her outstanding commitment to volunteerism throughout the community.

In 1972, Continental Societies, Inc. initiated its National program “Operation Awareness: HEER, Health, Education, Employment and Recreation”. Each component was chosen because of its significance in the lives of all young people and the need to provide projects and activities in these areas to enhance the lives of our youth. In 1977, a fifth component, Arts and Humanities was added.

This year’s fundraiser, A Legacy Celebration honors women and youth community volunteers who exemplify the true spirit of “Giving Back” to the community. All honorees were selected based on their commitment and dedication to volunteering in the area identified in Continental Societies’ National HEER program.

Betty S. Burney - Legacy Award