Pride Robotics Teams Win Awards

Pride Academy Robotics Teams presented at the 2011 NY/NJ RoboCupJunior Regional competition in Orange on April 10th and earned our congratulations for their hard work, leadership, and determination.
All of our participants demonstrated initiative, courage, and cooperation as they interviewed with judges and presented their Robot Dance Performances.

Two of our teams won awards. The Dance Demons, mentored by Mrs Torres, won in the category for Best Choreography. Their performance displayed a high level of coordination between multiple robots that they had programmed to dance in unison to the rhythm of music edited and arranged by the students.

The Star Power team, mentored by Ms Becker, won in the Best Teamwork category for their robot dance exhibition that included student dance performances and a sound track with live guitar accompaniment.

RoboCupJunior is an international robotics program that is focused on technology education for elementary, middle and high school students. The competition in Orange included teams from New York, New Jersey, and Canada.

Our robotics program was offered as an after school program at Pride this year and was supported through a grant from The Community Foundation of New Jersey. Teachers at Pride worked with Dr. Amy Eguchi, assistant professor of education at Bloomfield College to create a program that encouraged students to pursue studies in math, science, technology, and engineering in college.

We are grateful to Mrs Torres, Ms Becker and Mr Torres for their determination, leadership, teaching, patience, encouragement, and support of our students throughout the entire Robotics program. We are also grateful for the support of the many parents who attended the competition.

Mrs Thomas Awarded Charter School Administrator of the Year!

Pride Academy principal and co-founder, Mrs Fiona Thomas,  was awarded “Charter School Administrator of the Year” at the New Jersey Charter Schools Association (NJCSA) Annual Conference in Princeton on April 8th, 2011.

The two-day conference in Princeton, attended by more than 600 hundred educators, parents and supporters of New Jersey’s growing charter school movement, spotlighted the many achievements of the state’s 73 charter schools and featured discussions among state and national leaders about how charter schools are transforming public education.

“I am honored to be able to accept this award on behalf of our whole school community, our parents and our staff,” Mrs Thomas said. “There is an urgency in what we do. We need to stop and celebrate the joy because it matters and it counts.”

Mrs Thomas was among a select group of educators to receive the Cultivating Quality Education Awards for their contributions in 2010. Mrs Thomas shared the “Administrator of the Year” award with Ms Rahshene Davis of University Heights Charter School in Newark. The awards were judged by a panel of three independent education experts.

“Fiona reflects the strong commitment, involvement and passion that makes charter schools successful,” said Carlos Perez, president and CEO of the NJCSA. “This award honors Fiona for doing her part to enhance public education and helping ensure that all public schools are quality schools.”

In presenting the award to Mrs Thomas, Ken Zimmerman, an attorney and member of the NJCSA board, stressed the importance of having a clear vision as a Charter School leader. However, he stated that Mrs Thomas' success was not only having that vision for her school but in transforming that vision into execution.

In a panel discussion following the award, Mrs Thomas was asked what aspect of founding and leading a Charter School had been the greatest surprise. She replied that it was how quickly she has been able to see transformation in students, even in the first founding year of the school. She explained that Pride Scholars respond to the peaceful and positive environment of a school community where teachers and staff  unconditionally believe in them, treat them with respect, and hold them accountable to high expectations for academic success and leadership.

Celebrate African History and Culture

African Dance Classes

Brother Jerome Hunter will be leading free african dance classes for any students, parents, teachers, and members of the Pride Academy community.

Classes will begin on Wednesdays from 5pm to 6pm, starting on Wednesday, March 3rd.

We invite everyone to come out and learn about the richness and beauty of African culture!!!

African Dance Performance

In Honor of Black History Month, Pride Academy will be hosting a special performance of African dance by The Seventh Principle in Bantaba.

Through their fusion of dance, story and drama, the artist-educators of Seventh Principle teach about both African dance and culture and the history and origins of African-based culture in America. The high-energy of the dancers is contagious and encourages students to pay close attention to what is happening on stage.

Throughout the program, the members of Seventh Principle explain why the people of Africa dance, why they use costumes, and why music is so important to what they do.

We will have two performances, and parents are welcome to attend either performance. The performances will be held on:

Monday, February 28th. 

5th and 6th Grade Performance - 1:40pm

7th and 8th Grade Performance - 2:40pm

Career Day

Our first Pride Academy Career Day was an amazing success, due in large part to support from our Pride parents! Mr. Bowers, Ms. Cajuste, Ms. Gore, Ms. Ferguson, Ms. McMillan, Ms. Barber, and Ms Fuller were seven of our presenters. As they and other professionals shared about the careers they love and the steps they took to accomplish their success, our students were encouraged to think about how good choices made in middle school can have a positive effect on their future educational and employment opportunities.

Some of the twenty-six professions represented during Career Day included the following: a senior correction officer, a real estate broker, a personal trainer, a sports events promoter, a Bank of America banking center manager, a Chief Judge at the Newark Municipal Court, a director of operations-Seven in One Professional, a probation officer/criminal investigator, a PSE&G forecasting analyst, a US Marshal, a children’s author, an East Orange fire chief, an ICU pediatrician, a Bed Bath and Beyond payroll processor, and a Yahoo marketing manager.

Thank you to the parents and professionals who participated in our first Career Day. The students and faculty truly enjoyed your contributions

By Mrs. Knoepffler and Ms Sica

Robotics Comes to Pride

Through a grant from The Community Foundation of New Jersey, the Young Creators project will be offered as an after school program at Pride this year. The program will encourage Pride scholars to work collaboratively in math and science while creating projects that will be entered in the New York/New Jersey RoboCupJunior competition.

Teachers at Pride will work with Dr. Amy Eguchi, assistant professor of education at Bloomfield College to create a program that will encourage students to pursue studies in math, science, technology, and engineering  in college.

Bloomfield College Vice President for academic affairs, Marion Terenzio, described the program in this way:

"Providing students with the opportunity to create is one of the most effective forms of learning. Students are natural born creators and this program will provide the platform for them to do what they do best."

The program comes to Pride through the efforts of our 5th grade Math teacher, Mrs. Torres. As a junior at Bloomfield College, Mrs Torres received a Minority Academic Careers fellowship to pursue research into the connection between robotics and mathematics education. She presented the results of her research at the annual MAC convention and co-authored an article titled “Engage and Motivate Non-Computer Science Major Undergraduates Using Educational Robotics,” which she presented at the 2008 Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference in Las Vegas.

In her senior year, Mrs. Torres carried out her student teaching at The School at Columbia University where she worked with a LEGO Mindstorm student robotics team as part of an after-school program. Students from the school competed at the RoboCup junior competitions in New Jersey and in Singapore.

Mrs. Torres is very excited about the great opportunity to introduce robotics to PRIDE and to observe the impact it has on student learning, and the development of critical thinking skills:

"Through this grant we will receive all the resources necessary to begin a competitive robotics team at Pride. It will be an excellent opportunity for our students to experience a completely different learning tool."

More information about the new program can be found on the Bloomfield College website.

Pride Scholars at Kean University!

On May 1st students in our MVP program embarked on a college tour of Kean University. Kean University is located in Union, NJ, ten minutes away from Pride Academy Charter School. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, NJ as the Newark Normal School. It later became known as the Newark Teachers College and in 1958, it moved from Newark to Union.

The trip to Kean gave the students an opportunity to gain insight into the life of a college student. Our students were given a tour of the University by a Kean ambassador. They were introduced to various sights within the University such as the Center for Academic Success, Kean’s Administration Building, Harwood Arena, and a Dormitory.

The MVP program began on April 17th in order to focus on developing self-growth in our male students and is conducted by teacher/mentors within the school. Students in the program meet on Saturdays and participate in workshops and activities that are interactive, engaging, and informative. During MVP’s first meeting, students participated in a workshop focusing on our core value of Respect. Students discussed the value of respect and how it shapes their lives on a daily basis. Students were engaged in various physical activities that focused on this theme and involved them in working with others to successfully reach a goal. In this session, students also came up with the program’s motto, which they called, “Respect,
No Excuses.”

In upcoming sessions, the MVP Program will be focused on leadership, drug awareness, and an end of the year trip with Project U.S.E. Through these experiences, the mentors hope to build upon key characteristics of leadership, respect, self-motivation, communication skills, and goal-setting that will help our young men succeed in their future endeavors. The program has also hosted guest speakers such as a councilman and an attorney from our wider East Orange community, who gave the students further insight into these important life skills.

The founders of the program, Mr. Altamirano, Mr. Simon, and Mr. Dinzey, hope to continue to provide opportunities and instill values that will help the young men in the program develop and exercise their talents in leadership, service, and scholarship.

By Mr. Dinzey, Mr. Altamirano and Mr. Simon

Genetics Expo

On April 21, 2010, the seventh graders hosted the 2nd Annual Genetics Expo. Prior to the formal presentations at the Exposition, the students were engaged in the study of heredity and genetics. Through the course of their studies, they encountered some of the genetic disorders that exist and affect many people. Working in teams, students embarked upon an in depth research project where they gathered information about a particular genetic disorder or disease. Some of the conditions researched included; Neurofibromatosis, Diabetes, Down Syndrome, Follicular Lymphoma, and Sickle Cell Anemia. Once all of the information was obtained, students organized Power Point presentations to communicate their findings with our school community. This year, we were honored to have several members of the community share their knowledge with us. Mrs. Judy Bellina from the ARC of Essex in Newark, joined us and addressed the community about Down Syndrome and further educated us about some of the services that are provided to individuals affected by this disorder. In addition, students had the opportunity to listen to the sister of a fellow classmate, as she spoke about living with diabetes. Another student, Abdul Ibn-Malik was joined by his mother during his presentation, and the duo shared information about a condition that was close to heart for both of them.

The Expo provided a wonderful platform for students to share their work with other students, parents, teachers, and other members of our community. It was an experience that enabled the students to develop their critical thinking skills, oral presentation skills, and most importantly, it was an opportunity for students to uphold the core value of empathy in a new light. Many presentations included video documentaries of individuals afflicted with the disorders and it was remarkable to observe the respect and admiration our students felt for them. The students would like to thank all of their teachers and parents for their support, as well as Mrs. Thomas for allowing them to arrive to school professionally dressed and giving them the opportunity to showcase their findings. It was an incredible learning opportunity and an experience that will
remain with them for a long time.