The Education Issue

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Neighborhood Voices, Citywide Power October 2007

Issue #9 Volume 1

What’s Inside: New England College Students Investigate New Orleans page 14

United Teachers of New Orleans Speak out page 12

Creating a Culture of Respect: A Photo Story about Langston Huges Elementary page 10

NPN provides an inclusive and collaborative city-wide framework to empower neighborhood groups in New Orleans Find out more at NPNnola.com Musicians Union Hall, 2401 Esplanade Ave. New Orleans, LA 70119 • Office 504-940-2207, Fax 504-940-2208 • thetrumpet@npnnola.com

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NPN’s The Trumpet

October 2007

Letter From The Editors Welcome. This October issue of the Trumpet addresses one of the most complicated and challenging issues in not only New Orleans, but America today: Education. It was our goal when planning this issue to compile a collection of diverse views on contemporary education from the different administrators, teachers and students in the city. Regardless of whether you have a child in one of these schools or cannot tell the difference between a Charter and an RSD, NPN and the Trumpet hope that this issue will teach you something new.

W.E.B. Dubois once said, “There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not know.” KRS-ONE followed that nearly a century later by warning his listeners that, “ the force of knowledge . . . reigned supreme/The ignorant ripped to smithereens.” In the interests of the progress of New Orleans and America, we offer you the broad spectrum of men and women who work in the New Orleans educational system. Share your feelings and reactions and help us to learn from you, just as all of us learn from your children.

Write early, write often.

Ted Hornick and Alethia Picciola Managing Editors Max Goldstein Assistant to the Editors Emily Zeanah Editorial Services Gill Benedek Community Programs Manager Editors Ted Hornick and Alethia Picciola brainstorm ideas for the next issue.

NEIGHBOR HOO DS

PARTNERSHIP NETWORK

NPN provides an inclusive and collaborative city-wide framework to empower neighborhood groups in New Orleans.

Find out more at NPNnola.com EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Timolynn Sams

Third Party Submission Issues Physical submissions on paper, CD, etc. cannot be returned unless an arrangement is made. Submissions may be edited and may be published or otherwise reused in any medium.

By submitting any notes, information or material, or otherwise providing any material for publication in the newspaper, you are representing that you are the owner of the material, or are making your submission

with the consent of the owner of the material, all information you provide is true, accurate, current and complete.

Non-Liability Disclaimers The Trumpet may contain facts, views, opinions, statements and recommendations of third party individuals and organizations.

The Trumpet does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information in the publication and use of or reliance on such advice, opinion, statement or other Cover Photo by Alethia Picciola: Fourth Grades at Langston Huges Elementary line up for lunch in front of their classroom.

The school tries to enforce discipline throughout the day with simple tasks such as making their students walk in silent, straight lines through the hallway.

information is at your own risk.

Copyright Copyright 2007 Neighborhoods Partnership

Corrections:

In our list of NPN board members, we stated that Julius Lee is President of the Pine Timbers Neighborhood Association when he is actually president of of Real Timbers Property Owners Association, Inc. We apologize this mistake.

Network. All Rights Reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of Neighborhoods Partnership Network is expressly prohibited.

AMERICORPS VISTA Jules Goins BUSINESS MANAGER Mario Perkins FOUNDING BOARD MEMBERS Phil Costa, Board Chair City Park Neighborhood Association Patricia Jones, Board Treasurer Executive Director, NENA Lower 9th Ward Deborah Langhoff Steering Committee District 5 Lakeview, Lake Vista Neighborhood Association Amy Lafont Mid-City Neighborhood Association Latoya Cantrell President, Broadmoor Improvement Association Lynn Aline Baronne Street Neighborhood Association Dorian Hastings Project Manager, Central City Renaissance Julius Lee Real Timbers Property Owners Association, Inc. Victor Gordon Pontilly Neighborhood Association Kim Henry Oak Park Neighborhood Association

NPN’s The Trumpet

Letter to the Editor

Poetry

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In the end, when payment was due, the piper got his in goldan array of jewels that sparkled like fairy-dust on the evening horizon.

I was there, a fair-haired child with wide curious eyes, milking the scene for great insights that only fade into vague recollections of something, somewhere I had once seen.

Life, thereafter, was a proletarian brown fall that fell to snooze button remedies of flashing panic – waking when I should’ve, could’ve, would’ve been awake some time before.

But some time before, I was lost, though not in the way I am now, the way that says in crazy dreams things aren’t what they seem.

A listless punch-clock of blurred reality; an electro-hum thunder glow that resonates from below and within but then has nowhere to go until it is too late: Late as a measure of guilt, a practice of imposition of one’s will over another until victory prevails as timeliness and order and then…

Businesses can be established, militia formed, interest sparked, peaked & maintaineda steady drum rhythm that makes man stand upright a little more easy.

Time becomes the measure of the man and not his soul – the practical, tried and true, red, white and blue estuarial estate of everything the pink man says is great.

And that’s great and all, but when the wall comes down, whether at once or brick by brick, the nature of the man is the one that will stick in the innermost confines of the observing mind.

What I’ve observed is that when a ravage howl cries in the night, it is the civilized man that cries first in fright, is first in flight and first to cry Heaven’s mercy at blight.

I’ve been to Point Pleasant in the early dawn, when the stench of Death was Hell’s yawn, and sat down by the riverside where it’s best to decide from whence the current comesthe soiled stains of an undergarment numbed and warm, somber in the sun, while flies play catch the flesh marmalade and go away disease-ridden and free.

- an excerpt of “Life After the Storm

by Mike Dingler see more at http://nolarising.blogspot.com

Write, Submit, Share Your Story!

Event, Poem, Neighborhood Update, Opinion, or Advertisement

Contact us with submissions or comments Email: thetrumpet@npnnola.com or call 504-940-2207 Write to us at: The Trumpet, 2401 Esplanade Ave. New Orleans, LA 70119

Submission Guidelines: An article in doc, txt, html or any other format.

Any photos and credits of photographer.

Contact information such as name, telephone #, e-mail, neighborhood, organization.

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NPN’s The Trumpet

October 2007

New Orleans Kid Camera Project This is the first in a monthly series of photographs taken by New Orleans children.

Artist:

LaʼShay age 13, from Gert Town

New Orleans’ TRANSIENT BLUES Shana L. Dukes Broadmoor Writer/Poet

I

t takes a near-unbreakable spirit to report on post-Katrina life in New Orleans and the surrounding area.

Let’s face it: Sometimes it’s like the Magic Eight ball in this city is stuck on “Outlook not so good.” Never mind that the fact that city corruption and infrastructure issues provide us with enough embittering material to keep us writing for decades. Never mind that the rest of the country is telling us to move on already. Just write.

So, when I opened up my Sunday

edition of the Times-Picayune last month, I was reminded that we at the Trumpet are not lone rangers in this wild westlike territory where we fight for truth.

NolaFugees, the famed internet-blogging, post-Katrina reporting pioneers, will be releasing in October their second book since Katrina hit. This one, Life in the Wake: An Anthology of Post Katrina Fiction, gives voice to Nola’s creative spirit and its ability to transform

destruction into creation. But more than that, NolaFugees have provided me with the needed inspiration to continue the journalistic and literary pursuit of telling the stories of New Orleans’ hurricane survivors and our fight for justice. I mean, anyone can document the sadness, anger and frustration of so many local residents; but how many can do it with a sense of humor? Two years into our “recovery” and we could

use the comic relief.

So thanks, NolaFugees, for blazing a trail for the rest of us. Because it takes all of the style and grace that a writer can muster at times to not only report the facts, but to take the extra step and refine the satire in situations facing residents to this day. I am looking forward to checking out your upcoming fiction; however, I am willing to bet that the truth will still be stranger.

...Anyone can document the sadness, anger and frustration of so many local residents; but how many can do it with a sense of humor?

NPN’s The Trumpet

Teacher’s Stop: An Educational Experience Nicholas A. Poggioli staylocal.org

C

hristy Williams has a concise but

the laminations, and was more than able to purchase the other materials I had selected.

The next day, I shared my good fortune with other teachers in the faculty lounge.”

Best of all, rather than having to drive to Metairie to pay more for less, del Corral was able to make her purchases less than a mile from where she lives. “Here’s to rebuilding New Orleans one purchase at a time!” she said.

No New Orleans business story is complete without a Katrina saga, and Williams certainly has one. Katrina put four feet of water in the store and, as she puts it, “peeled the roof off like a sardine can.”

She persevered and traveled to trade shows where she told people her store “had a natural skylight.” She kept the business going by operating without a storefront. Some of the customer base she had developed since 1996 remained intact and called her personally with their requests for supplies. She would order items and deliver them personally. However, she knew this was not a permanent solution.

In January of 2007, Williams applied for a small business recovery grant from the Louisiana Economic Development Department (LEDD?). First word she got back was that her application had been lost. Then, in March 2007 the intermediary assigned to her told her that her application had been found and that she was approved to receive the money. She’s still waiting for her check.

customers need, she is reluctant to advertise her return too widely for fear of disappointing customers who arrive expecting her to have everything in stock. Her business recovery grant, once she gets it, is earmarked for filling out the inventory, she says.

One thing that has definitely survived the storm is Williams’s devotion to helping customers. Williams’s dedication to her business extends beyond regular business hours, as she explains, “If I’m not at the store, I’m still doing something for it.” She is dedicated to the success of both her store and, more importantly, the students, parents and teachers of New Orleans.

street in the summer of 1997. She eventually realized that she needed to move again. It took some time before a move became financially viable, but in July of 1999,

a wasted day.” Twenty years ago, she said it

Teacher’s Stop moved to its present location

was her motto. If you want to verify that, just

on Bienville. Williams now has 6000 square

check her high school yearbook. Much has

feet of space at her disposal, though she uses

changed since then, but ask any of Willams’

slightly less. In just three years the business

customers, and you’ll find that she remains

increased its space more than tenfold.

steadfast in her devotion to helping others.

Teacher’s Stop is a combination of

Today, Williams owns and operates

Williams’ personal philosophy of helping

Teacher’s Stop, Inc., her Mid-City business,

people and a savvy entrepreneurialism that

at 4315 Bienville Avenue. There, teachers,

identifies and takes advantage of opportunities

parents, and students can find all the

when they arise. She also has a “delicious”

educational supplies they need.

power of description: “Business is like chicken,” she says, smiling. “My business is

taught at various grade levels in the Orleans

baked chicken: You season it, watch it, you

Parish public school system. She has a

take care of it. Others are fried chicken: You

Masters of Education in Curriculum and

just dump it in!”

Williams wants to help people make

leaving Lafayette Elementary School,

the right purchases, as she believes that the

Williams noticed the teachers’ supply store

educational community deserves service

was going out of business and wondered how

that understands its needs. Her years as a

people would buy supplies once it closed.

teacher and her graduate studies taught her

This concern led her to suggest to a coworker

about education, and she evaluates each

that they open a school supply store, and

customer’s needs individually. She knows

though the coworker never followed through,

that teachers have tight budgets, and that

Williams used her savings to open Teacher’s Stop

they often subsidize those budgets with their

in the 100 block of North Broad Street in 1996.

own money. Williams works hard to make

This first location was about 400 square feet.

sure teachers stretch their dollars as far as possible and will even steer them away from unnecessary purchases. She asks teachers what grades they teach and whether or not their schools might provide any materials for them.

Convinced that a smart, knowledgeable saleswoman will create repeat customers, Williams sees individual service as essential to the long-term health of both her business and New Orleans education. New customer Shannon del Corral, an English and music teacher at Ursulines Academy on Nashville Avenue is proof that she’s right. On a recent Saturday, del Corral stopped in for the first time after hearing about Teacher’s Stop from another teacher.

Christy Williams, owner of Teacher’s Stop, Inc., stands in her shop which is surrounded by school supplies. Photos courtesy of Nicholas A. Poggioli.

Williams did not sit idly waiting for her business recovery grant to show up. Knowing how critical the fall season is in the education supply business, she applied for and received a small grant from a local business assistance agency so she could open in time for the Fall 2007 back-to-school rush without taking on additional debt. Once again, Williams’s selfsufficiency and creative problem-solving won the day.

Yet, even now, two years after the storm, Teacher’s Stop is not back to its former status. Inventory is less comprehensive, and though Williams can order anything her

The business did well and outgrew the

someone. A day without helping someone is

Instruction from UNO. One day, while

laminated,” says del Corral. “When I went in with my posters, Christy was great! Other places often laminate without testing and assume little or no responsibility for the outcome. Christy didn’t just laminate the posters. Since the poster paper was thin and glossy, she took the time to test the machine using similar paper. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated this type of service and attention to detail. One poster alone cost $25! . . . I could not contain myself when I heard that the total cost to laminate five large posters was under eight dollars,” says del Corral. “I was expecting to only afford

small space, so Williams moved up the

powerful philosophy: “Each day I try to help

Before opening Teacher’s Stop, Williams

5

“Several posters had arrived for my music classroom, and I needed to have them

“I miss the classroom,” she says, standing behind the cash register and surrounded by colorful posters and school supplies, “but I feel like this is my classroom, too.” If you’re looking for first-rate advice on educational supplies, or to finally learn how to use one of those misnamed EZ-Graders, Teacher’s Stop and Christy Williams are the only store and teacher you’ll ever need.

Teacher’s Stop is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. through 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, at 4315 Bienville Avenue. You can reach her by phone at 504-483-7687.

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October 2007

IN THE

NPN’s The Trumpet

SPOTLIGHT

Holy Cross Neighborhood

Local Organization Helps Lower Ninth Grow Charles Allen and Pam Dashiell Holy Cross Neighborhood Association

In January of 2007, Holy Cross

Neighborhood Association (HCNA) received funding from Mercy Corps and the Blue Moon Fund, in-kind support from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Sierra Club ( the Darryl Malek-Wiley in particular) and Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research and help from a host of supporters to establish a community-based center to stimulate sustainable recovery, rebuilding and civic engagement in the Holy Cross and Lower Ninth Ward neighborhoods of New Orleans.

The Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED) works on a daily basis to help the Lower Ninth realize a vision for sustainable post-levee breaks recovery as articulated in the planning document, Sustainable Restoration: Holy Cross Historic District and Lower 9th Ward (June 2006). This plan, developed and adopted through spring 2006, lays out a comprehensive strategy for recovery with specific projects that residents wish to see developed in the community. Repopulating, restoring and sustaining natural systems, preserving resources, assuring strong storm protection and assisting community leadership are all functions of the CSED. Through donations and bulk purchasing and coordination with our partners, we help residents acquire sustainable energy-efficient rebuilding materials, provide training on energyefficient technologies and materials and facilitate access to resources. We work with a variety of organizations to stimulate appropriate development, land use and historic preservation.

Another focus of the CSED is the restoration of Bayou Bienvenue, the northern border of the Lower Ninth Ward.

This degraded cypress tupelo swamp once offered the region critical storm surge protection and a host of ecosystem services and amenities. Protection, connection, education, environmental justice and economic development for the Lower Ninth are all outcomes of the restoration of this great natural resource as residents have embraced and pushed for the implementation of this project.

Facilitating civic engagement is critical to help with the enormous recovery that is still before this community. The CSED’s ultimate objective is, through working closely with other Lower Ninth Ward groups, to push for accountability from all levels of government and promote civil discourse, community involvement and strategic actions.

Located at 5130 Chartres Street in the back of Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, the CSED is staffed by long-time Lower Ninth Ward residents.

Warrenetta Banks is our Office Manager and Kathy Muse is our Program Coordinator. Courtesy of the Tulane/ Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Charles Allen and Pam Dashiell, cultivate resources and direct operations with the support of the membership and board of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association.

The CSED initiatives have provided energy efficiency services/materials, training, opportunities for engagement and access to resources for more than 200 Lower Ninth Ward residents since January 2007. Some partners include: Alliance for Affordable Energy, Global Green USA, Make it Right, Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, University of Colorado,

University of Wisconsin, Tulane University,

CRI, NTHP, Sharp Solar International, John C. Williams Architects, Southern Illinois University, Lower Ninth Ward Stakeholders Coalition among many

others. For more information on the CSED or to visit or donate, please contact Warrenetta, Kathy, Charles or Pam at 504-324-9955 or write to sustainthe9@gmail.com.

Holy Cross Neighborhood has made real efforts to get their neighborhood back on its feet since Hurricane Katrina.

With the help of several supporters, they are establishing a community-based center to stimulate sustainable recovery, rebuilding and civic engagement in the Holy Cross and Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhoods of New Orleans.

Photos by Max Goldstein.

Neighborhood Voices The Opinions of New Orleans

45

NPN’s The Trumpet

7

The Trumpet has no responsibility for the views, opinions and information communicated here. Each articles’ contributor(s) is fully responsible for content. In addition, the views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the The Trumpet.

Things

Little Teachers, Parents, and Others Can Do to Improve Learning desperately stalk the latest fads or quickest fixes.

Folwell Dunbar Holy Cross Neighborhood Association

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), Project-Based Learning (PBL), Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) and other assorted research-

W

hen it comes to education, politicians

tend to go for the jugular. They pounce on high profile and often-controversial initiatives. From

derived “Best Practice” acronyms are called upon to save the day. Principals not only vow to succeed, they take aim for most of the credit.

As anyone who has ever been a student

the National Defense Education Act, which

(hopefully everyone reading this - don’t forget

came as a response to the Soviet Sputnik launch,

to thank the appropriate people) would attest,

to No Child Left Behind (or untested), from

it’s the little things – things teachers and parents

vouchers to technology to standards, they hem

do on a daily or even hourly basis that matter

and holler about anything and everything that

most. While bold initiatives sound good, look

might garner a vote. They take something as

pretty, and usually garner all the press, it’s the

infinitely complex as education and whittle it

unheralded acts that, in the end, deliver the

down to a single, pungent sound bite.

results that New Orleans schools need now more

Meanwhile, school administrators turn

than ever. The following are a few of the many

to big-ticket items as well. Under fire to

things teachers and parents can do to improve

make AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), they

student learning.

1. Serve kids a good, healthy breakfast. Before you do, check out the latest version of the USDA food graph.

2. Find out what your kids like and then find a way to incorporate these interests into your instruction.

Note on BIG things:

The right big things can have a profound impact on both teaching and learning.

If I were wearing Secretary Spelling’s stilettos, I would pursue the following:

• Federalize funding for public education. A child should never be penalized for growing up in a poor state, district, or neighborhood.

• Speaking of spending, make sure that 70 cents or more on the dollar finds its way into the classroom. Currently, just over 60 percent of funding directly supports student learning.

• Adopt year-round schooling. Make teaching a full-time profession with full-time pay! Today, our students (and teachers) are prisoners of an outdated calendar.

• Adopt national standards and standardized grading. You know what they say about “a house divided against itself…”

• Design a curriculum geared toward the future. Take into consideration the global economy and our increasingly small, flat world.

21. Use mnemonic devices and other learning “tricks.”

22. Read with your child for at least fifteen minutes every night, if not more.

23. Discuss, question and debate what you read.

24. Read and write just for fun.

3. Allow kids to explore their own topics – those that really matter to them.

25. Keep pets and plants at home and in the classroom.

4. Use big, humongous words (and encourage kids to do the same).

26. Eliminate unnecessary distractions during the school day.

5. Ask tough questions – ones that involve more than one word per response.

27. Constantly relate what is being taught to what is going on in the real world.

6. Give kids time to answer hard questions, and make it more than the average one and a half seconds.

28. Listen to books on tape, CD, or MP3 player in and out of the car.

7. Discuss paintings, films, books or plays.

8. In your discussions, expect more than “It was awesome!” or “That sucked.”

9. When watching television, turn on the closed captioning.

29. Allow kids time to reflect on what they learn.

30. Provide positive reinforcement whenever possible.

31. Call on students in an equitable manner (popsicle sticks, playing cards, etc.).

10. Make TV interactive by discussing the shows you watch.

32. Find, bookmark and visit great educational websites like pbs.org, smithsonian.edu, and nationalgeographic.com.

11. Post the names of the books you’re reading in your classroom or at home: kids need

33. Explore your backyard, a nearby park, a local museum, an antique shop, etc.

to know that adults enjoy reading too!

12. Celebrate learning frequently (on the school website, over the intercom, in the newsletter, during parent-teacher conferences, on your refrigerator, etc.).

13. Create quiet and comfortable learning areas throughout campus and at home.

14. Get rid of the red ink. Provide feedback using positive colors and, better yet, do it in person.

15. Assign homework that is both meaningful and engaging. Don’t allow it to squelch a child’s love of learning!

16. Encourage kids to keep journals and write in them every day.

17. Tell and listen to stories often.

18. Be consistent with discipline, as children flourish when they know their boundaries.

19. Listen to and discuss all kinds of music. Karaoke is a fun way to practice reading!

20. Display student work, and the criteria used to evaluate it, everywhere.

34. Play intellectually challenging games like Scrabble, Chess and Sudoku.

35. Take an interest in what your children are learning, by asking them, “What did you discover today?” and encouraging them to tell you about it.

36. Eat well-rounded, healthy meals and snacks.

37. Have real conversations while dining. (Foreign Language tables can be fun!)

38. Don’t stress – it’s not good for your health or your teaching.

39. Exercise (you and your kids) on a regular basis.

40. Play organized (and unorganized) sports.

41. Don’t complain – it rarely does any good.

42. Set high standards, for yourself and your kids. Expect success.

43. Travel. Go to far-flung places that challenge the way you and your children view the world.

44. Make sure your kids (and you) get a good night’s sleep.

45. Practice what you teach (that’s actually a big thing!).

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NPN’s The Trumpet

October 2007

Six in Jena, Countless Beyond Shawn Chollette NPN Government Liasons

Sept. 20th, I was in Jena. The

experience is one that will remain etched in my memory until I can’t remember anything.

I imagine decades from now, when I’m old, gray and hunched over, I will tell my grandchildren about a time when thousands upon thousands of people – young and old; black and white; poor and rich – descended

on a rural town from all across the country to peacefully protest perceived injustices. The experience was almost what I imagine the marches and protests of the Civil Rights era that I read about in high school to be.

Traveling to Jena was important for me because I believe there is something wrong with the judicial reasoning behind the cases involving the six young men, who were initially charged with attempted murder for an after-school fight. I will continue to rally on their behalf until justice has been extended to all parties involved. I will not use this platform to recapitulate the story that I am sure you have heard a thousand times by now. Many of you have a television or an Internet connection, so you can follow the case and draw your own conclusions on the matter.

However, I will use this space to share with you the underlying theme of the rally in Jena: the Jena 6 are everywhere. They just happen to have different names and circumstances, and fall prey to different injustices.

Consider Leatha Herring in New Orleans, a former resident of the B.W. Cooper Housing development. She is now trapped in Houston because she cannot afford the hiked-up rental rates,

which have increased about 30 percent since Katrina.

Remember Virginia Morris, a 50-year resident of New Orleans who could not return after the storm because of inadequate medical facilities. She died a few weeks ago in a Baton Rouge hospital.

Charles Stone, a 17-year-old who moved back to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was placed on a waiting list for enrollment in a public school. He never returned to the classroom and has been in and out of jail at least four times in the last year.

There are 60,000 people still living in FEMA trailers, even though it’s been established that the temporary structures leak cancer-causing formaldehyde.

We can’t forget the increasing multitudes of homeless. Once confined to underpasses and alleyways, many now rest their heads within yards of City Hall.

The movement in Jena was a beautiful thing, but we must remember that the rally was less about those six young men, and more about people suffering in general.

The New Orleans thousands need your help. When do we start rallying to save them?

NPN’s The Trumpet

The People in your Neighborhood

9

The Queen of the Ball

The new snowball shop on Oak Street offers sweets with style in pink with black polka-dotted decore.

Photos by Mike Dingler.

Orissa Arend Uptown Writer

N

orma Bridges is living proof that broken dreams can be repaired. Before Hurricane Katrina, she owned a vintage clothing, accessory and jewelry boutique.

After the roof fell in and all those collectibles were ruined, she did not have the heart to re-establish her shop. “I knew that I wasn’t dressing up and going out to movies and operas,” she says. “People are still too Katrina-fied . . . People are buying every-day clothes and necessities.”

That’s when she got on the phone with her friends and brainstormed a mountain of business ideas and developed the idea of a snowball parlor. She took a little, rundown spot of just 500 square feet in the first block off of Carrollton Avenue and created a whimsical space. The parlor is painted

pink and black with squiggles, polka dots and mirrors, red ceiling fans, curvy chairs, tables and bar stools. From May until August of 2006, Norma and her husband James constructed it with their own hands and their own money, often working until three in the morning.

Now, Norma spends ten to twelve hours a day there, seven days a week, serving traditional and invented snowballs. She dreamed up some, like the Blue Kangaroo.

The parlor, Queen of the Ball (James named it), also serves treats like fresh lemonade and hot chocolate. Old fashioned jars of candy line the walls. From her tiny kingdom on Oak Street, Norma Bridges does not just serve – she holds court and reigns.

Pink is Norma’s favorite color and she wanted the parlor to be an environment that she would enjoy. She proudly says, “It came out exactly how I envisioned it would.”

James, Norma, her brother and her granddaughter weathered the storm together on Plum Street. Her granddaughter, Arielle

Evans, is “the girl” in Chris Rose’s column (Times-Picayune Aug. 5, 2007) who spends her school year in Texas with her mother and her summer with Norma.

Norma remembers how the storm brought out the best and the worst in people. She explains that it was so dark the night her family drove out of town that she couldn’t see three men in front of her house asking if she needed help. She and her family drove to Mississippi with the dog and the birds in the pitch black where they owned some land and a trailer.

Rescue boats got James’ mother out of her Mid City house after the storm, and she spent three days on the Interstate. Norma’s sister was evacuated from Methodist Hospital where her daughter had taken her for chest pains.

She was so disoriented she couldn’t even tell people her name. It took three weeks for the Red Cross to locate her in Nashville. “We saw her in a newspaper photo at the airport on a gurney,” Norma recalls. “There she was in her hospital gown with her little paralyzed hand.

It was such a lonely-looking feeling.” But in Nashville, people bought her new clothes and a cell phone with minutes. She got good medical care.

Norma’s son (Arielle’s father) ended up in the Superdome and was air-vacced to Fort Smith Arkansas where he has a great job and new friends. He decided to stay. James has a 19-year-old in the military. He was assigned to guard the Superdome and though Norma thinks no one should have had to pull that duty, she says he did it well. James came back in October to teach and coach in the Jefferson Parish public school system. Norma, who had always been a block captain with the Merchant’s Association, came to Oak Street to begin her new dream.

LIFE ON OAK STREET “I have a certain passion for Oak Street,” she says. “I love things that are old and have history.” What Norma likes about Oak Street is that business owners (she is one of about four black owners) cheer each other on “almost like a small family.” Mr. Buddy, who knocks on the window as we talk, is the 80something neighborhood historian who has taken Norma under his wing.

Sometimes she hangs up her “Back Shortly” sign and goes visiting. “It’s the neighborly thing to do. That’s how we do it on Oak Street. We all patronize each other.”

When one merchant had a baby shower, all the gifts came from Haase’s. “We want to keep our money on Oak Street.” Queen of the Ball doesn’t feel competitive with the Gelato across the street, as they don’t charge each other’s kids. Sometimes a neighbor will

bring Norma a big bag of lemons or limes, explaining, “My tree is loaded.”

There’s plenty of whimsy and humor in the snowball parlor as well. To spin off of the “Got Milk?” ad, Norma created a “Got Balls?” T-shirt. The small print explains, “snowballs, that is.” She thought the T-shirt would be a guy thing, but maintains that girls love it.

Miss Norma has a tough side, too. She’s developed a “certain rapport” with what she calls “the crud of the crud.” Sometimes someone will come in demanding money.

Norma responds, “I’m not giving you money . . . I do have it, but I’m not giving it to you.

I’ve been here since six this morning. Get your ass a job. That’s what you do. And right now, you’re getting out of my place, because I’m calling 911.”

James is retired military and wants Norma to keep a gun, but Norma vows that she is “not going to be intimidated,” Norma. “I’m not going to start giving out a dollar here and there. You gotta stand up to these thugs.” She takes it a step further with, “the element.”

“I’ll give them $10 and tell them to bring me a bag of ice from Rite Aid. They always come back with the ice and every penny in change.

There’s a psychology involved. Now we’re at a different trust level. You cannot betray that trust level . . . I could have sat here and been afraid of these people. But instead I took the fear and turned it around and turned it into a mutual respect . . . And they’ll come in and just sit and talk to me. Don’t have a penny to spend. Sometimes I’ll give them a snowball and sometimes I won’t because I don’t want to make it habitual or predictable.”

And in that talk, she dispenses more than a little wisdom. She’ll chastise one that hasn’t been around for awhile. “You been locked up?” she’ll ask. “Yeah,” comes the reply.

“We don’t dwell on it,” she tells me. But I can imagine the look she might give.

Norma is not sure whether she’ll retire to Mississippi as she had planned to do before the storm. Rather than think that far ahead, she is wondering whether the East or the Lower Nine might need a place like Queen of the Ball. “It’s been so fun – a happy atmosphere. I wanted to do something that would bring joy.”

Orissa Arend is a mediator, psychotherapist, and community organizer in New Orleans. You can reach her at arendsaxer@aol.com.

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October 2007

Creating a Culture of Respect Langston Hughes RSD Charter School:

Photostory by Alethia Picciola

Langston Hughes

Students earn their recesses and special school shirts through good behavior andwalk to class and eat lunch is complete silence. They are held an extra hour after their nine-hour school day if they have not completed homework, so that they may have a teacher’s help.

Elementary is one of the many schools in the Recovery School District to re-develop its system of teaching since re-opening after the storm.

John Alford, a Harvard Business Administration graduate, runs the Charter School with the idea that discipline facilitates freedom in the classroom. He believes that students should respect themselves enough to take pride in their work. In order to create that respect, teachers show the children that they can accomplish the tasks at hand by sitting down and engaging with them and their assignments. Teachers also instill self-respect in their students by rewarding them when they complete simple tasks such as walking to class in a straight line and reprimanding them when they do not.

Below: I spent a few hours shadowing Kwame Floyd’s fourth grade class, observing how the class was run and how the children would react to having a photographer in the room. Mr. Floyd, recent graduate of Penn State, is one of the new Teach for America recruits. He not only had impressive control of his class, but he also had a little fun with them – if they earned it.

Left and Bottom: Here Mr. Floyd leads his class through a rap song he wrote where the children recite their multiplication tables.

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October 2007

United Teachers of New Orleans

Coming Back Stronger than Ever of 2005, days after Governor Kathleen Blanco signed a law that allowed the state to take over the vast majority of public schools, Randels and all other im Randels has been a teacher in employees in the public school system New Orleans for more than twenty years. were told they would be fired. Multiple His soft-spoken, patient demeanor lawsuits delayed the firing until late contrasts the intensity with which he March of 2006, and on August 31st approaches his work. For decades Randels testified about these experiences Randels has been teaching English and developing an innovative creative writing program for New Orleans public schools, including some of the lowestperforming schools in the state. He explains, “We teach students to see their education not only as something for their personal betterment, but for the betterment of society as a whole.”

Randels is an executive board member of United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO), the union which represents the vast majority of teachers, para-educators and clerical workers in New Orleans schools. Its predecessor organization was founded in 1937 on the platform of equal pay for Black teachers.

Before the storm UTNO was not only the largest local of any union in the state but historically had been a force for social justice and educational equity.

The disaster of Hurricane Katrina for Randels was not limited to levee failures but included other acts of government. Randels was also one of the 7,500 employees of the New Orleans Public School system left without support after the hurricane. First, less before the International Tribunal than a month after the storm, the school on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “I board announced that Randels and his considered it an insult, as did many of colleagues would be put on “disaster my colleagues,” said Randels. “Not only leave” without pay. This left them in were we not invited back, but the process an economic limbo - they could apply of termination was somewhat brutal. for unemployment or other jobs, but had Those of us who knew New Orleans best no guarantees as to future jobs teaching were shut out of the system.” in New Orleans. Then, in November The new maze of schools is a balkanized system where returning parents have struggled to find education options for their children. In place of a single body governing Orleans Parish schools, Randels and other teachers returned to a city where

Christian Roselund

United Teachers of New Orleans

J

The new maze of schools is a balkanized system where returning parents have struggled to find education options for their children.

the school system had been carved up among multiple entities, competing for students and resources. Randels and other suffered as evacuees, living without jobs or health insurance. However, Jim Randels is teaching again at both Douglass High School, now an RSD school, and McMain High School, which has remained under the direction of the Orleans Parish School Board. Through UTNO he is working to make our schools better places for children to learn.

UTNO Today Today approximately two-thirds of the pre-storm public schools are open.

While many of the teachers who taught in them have been unable to return, many new teachers have moved to this city from around the country.

The majority of teachers in both OPSB and RSD schools have chosen to join United Teachers of New Orleans to gain a voice in decisions affecting their jobs and their students. In one recent week alone, UTNO signed up more than 500 members.

Additionally, UTNO is involved in a number of initiatives to improve the quality of education in New Orleans schools. Through our work with the Alliance for Quality Education in New Orleans, we have brought educational experts such as Dr. Lisa Delpit of the Center for Urban Education and Innovation at Florida International University and others from around the country to the city to share strategies that work for African-American majority inner-city districts such as New Orleans.

As part of our work to make schools better places for children, we brought down dozens of our union brothers and sisters from around the country this

summer to paint and renovate New Orleans schools.

We have also been working to address the mental health needs of children in New Orleans who were traumatized by the storm and subsequent displacement. On September 22nd, UTNO sponsored a workshop facilitated by local social workers to strategize with parents on helping children heal after disaster. We have also arranged the assistance of mental health experts from New York who worked with survivors of the September 11th tragedy, including June Feder of the New York State Psychological Association who led workshops in both June and August.

“We’re very concerned about the aftermath reactions … we know … here was physical destruction but what often gets neglected is the psychological components of a disaster,” Feder explained.

Finally, United Teachers of New Orleans has also been an advocate for better teaching and learning conditions in New Orleans schools.

We are continuing our monitoring program with community partners in organizations such as ACORN and the Downtown Neighborhood Improvement Association to make sure that the improvements promised to our children are realized.

“UTNO is growing stronger every day and we are looking forward to a great year working with the RSD and OPSB to make our schools better places for children to learn,” says Dr. Brenda Mitchell of UTNO. “It’s going to take all of us- not only administrators and teachers, but parent and community involvement to make our schools places that are worthy of our children.”

“Those of us who knew New Orleans best were shut out of the system.”

- Jim Randals, New Orleans Public School Teacher

NPN’s The Trumpet

Kids Heal through Art

Ted Hornick da Editor

T

he New Orleans Museum of Art hosts pieces from some of history’s greatest artists. Through December 31, 2007, the Museum will also display an exciting and emotional selection of images from New Orleans youth. “Katrina through the Eyes of Children” is a collection of art pieces submitted by local children who have been working with art therapists since October of 2005 to illustrate their feelings about the

storm and its aftermath.

Art therapist Karla Leopold, one of the organizers of the project, describes it as the children’s “collective story.” She champions the final exhibit at NOMA as exactly what the organizers “wanted it to be.” Regarding the children and their own goals with the exhibit, she explains the healing power of the work: “they don’t talk about it [the storm] - they can’t, but they can draw about it.”

One of the children, seventeen-yearold Cheryl Potter, fondly reflected on her experiences as an artist, explaining that her work ”showed me that it takes time to

Directly Above: Karla Leopold, and art therapist discusses a piece of artwork with the child artist.

Far Above: This drawing done by an anonymus child artist is one of several pieces of artwork that is being shown at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Photos Courtesy of Bonamy Associates.

make things happen . . . I’m a young adult and I want to show people that . . . you can make an effort and stay in New Orleans.”

Despite initial anticipation, Cheryl is now happy that she participated, advising others that “they should make the effort to do it if, when and how they want to.”

Leo Bonamy, a volunteer and contributing designer for the display, explains that the original exhibit was a larger and more ambitious “immersive Steven Spielberg-type production.” Time and work with the students allowed the workers to simultaneously make it more personal and profound. By expanding it into a sequence based around four stages: “Hurricane, Rescue, Relocation and Recovery,” the work was suddenly an affective way to both chronicle the storm’s aftermath and the response, acknowledging the actual suffering of a smaller demographic and their specific needs. He continues, “Art is about response and asking questions - art is about history and historical perspective. Katrina is not just a story of catastrophe.”

The art itself is a diverse combination

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of familiar colors and images, restaged in ways that can be unknowingly confrontational because of their presumed simplicity. Almost everyone is familiar with the images of drowning and the storm damage, but the children’s responses are haunting in how matter-of-factly they present the tragedy. While great art is often measured in terms of both presentation and the range of responses it can elicit, this exhibit provides a new perspective and a strange encouragement to observers. The artists are helping us realize the extent of not only the hurricane’s effects, but how we can and must grow from it.

Leopold discusses the project’s success by measuring the emotional outpouring of the children in terms of the physical supplies used to make their pieces. She says, “I’ve never gone through so many markers and materials . . . to this day, it’s drawing and displaying this work that’s allowing these kids to communicate.” She summarizes the emotional impact of the whole experience with a small reflection about one of the students, a boy who told her “I know you love me because you keep coming back.”

Learn more at www.katrinaexhibit.org

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October 2007

NEW ENGLAND/NEW ORLEANS Massachusetts College Collaborates with Broadmoor Improvement Association Margaret Hornick Ted’s Mom

Bard College at Simon’s Rock

seems an unlikely place for a course entitled “New Orleans/Katrina/ New Orleans?” to be offered. The college sits at 760 feet above sea level, nestled in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, where serious weather usually means snow, not Category 3 hurricanes. But Professors Chris Coggins, of the College’s Geography Department, and Philip Mabry, a Sociologist, had an idea for an interdisciplinary, learning experience. As they describe the course, it “examines the intertwining histories of the people of New Orleans, the river upon whose banks they dwell, and how the wetlands and river channels of Southern Louisiana have both given

the city its life and now threaten to take it away.” Part of what the course’s thirteen students - some as young as 16, as Simon’s Rock is the nation’s only “early college” which routinely admits students after their second year of high school - signed on for, in addition to readings on geographical and environmental history, is service-learning. This will take place October 7th - 13th when, in collaboration with the Broadmoor Improvement Association, the students will design and implement an urban garden prototype, which must provide a replicable model in a publicly accessible space.

On September 14th, the class and interested community members listened as guest-lecturer Mark Fischetti, a journalist and editor at Scientific American, spoke on “The Katrina Solution: Preventing the Next Disaster,” Fischetti gained sudden

prominence shortly after Katrina struck when an enterprising CNN reporter unearthed a 2001 Scientific �������������������������� American article by Fischetti entitled ������������������� “Drowning New Orleans.” The article documented that, contrary to ������������������ official pronouncements by the Bush Administration, a storm of Katrina’s �������������� magnitude, following its devastating path, had been predicted nearly a ������������������������ decade before. Fischetti’s article reported the work of LSU scientists who, as early as 1996, had created computer models of possible storm paths and their consequences; he also reported that the State of Louisiana had proposed Coast 2050, its first �� ��� ��� large-scale attempt at restoration of the wetlands which buffer the ��� coast, in 1998. That night, his lecture included satellite photographs which dramatized the loss of wetlands and barrier islands in the Gulf Coast, the failure of levees, and the damage which remains unrepaired. But it also provided possible solutions, ��� including – the one Fischetti favors – an extended series of gates and rebuilt barrier islands ��� along the disintegrating coastline.

He emphasized that engineering solutions do exist, and cited the example of the Netherlands, which committed twenty-five years and billions of dollars to building such gates after the country was inundated in the 1950s. But, he cautioned, a unified approach among the affected areas and sustained political will are essential to the achievement of ������� ���� ��������� lasting solutions. ������ ���������� Meanwhile, Mabry and Coggins ������� who grew up in Florida and did his own graduate work at LSU are preparing their class to join one of the many impromptu partnerships ���������������� of neighborhood organizations, migrant labor, student volunteers, church service groups, and others �������������������� who engage in the daily work of rebuilding. They come from all walks of life and all parts of the country, and they are drawn together by the still-palpable magic of a source: The State of Public Education in once-great city and the everyday New Orleans June 2007 heroism of its determined citizens. www.gnoef.org

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New Orleans Outreach & New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School:

Bringing the Community into the Schools that catered to students interested in expanding their educations in science and math. After the storm, the administration realized the desperate icture students flowing in and need for full time high schools and out constantly. Some handing in opened SciHigh as a full-day program applications, others making requests in the spring of 2006. With a new for different programs, and a few just population of students from all over stopping by to say hello to Ms. Rainey, the city and a wide range of needs and the School Outreach Coordinator, and interests, the school needed support. grab a piece of candy. This is a typical New Orleans Outreach partnered scene in the New Orleans Outreach with SciHigh from the beginning of its office at New Orleans Charter Science full-day program to run the “Second and Mathematics High School.

School” elective program. During the New Orleans Outreach, which day, Outreach brings in volunteers started in 1993 out of James Lewis to assist teachers in classrooms and Extension School, is a nonprofit to work with students individually. organization with the mission of After school, Outreach runs a program improving public education by linking that offers a wide range of activities volunteers and other community including dance, robotics, spoken word, resources with staff and students basketball and theatre as well as classes through programs that respond to taught by community collaborative the particular needs of each school. partners such as YA/YA (Young Artists/ Outreach serves six New Orleans public Young Aspirations), Crossroads, and schools: Joseph A. Craig Elementary NOLA Fund.

School, KIPP McDonogh 15 School for The volunteers that work in the the Creative Arts, New Orleans Charter school come from all parts of the city Middle School, Samuel J. Green and include retired teachers, local Charter School, Sophie B. Wright artists, university students and nearby Charter School and New Orleans Charter neighborhood residents. They dedicate Science and Mathematics High School. as little as an hour a week to as much Before Hurricane Katrina, as teaching twice a week.

New Orleans Charter Science and The most amazing accomplishment Mathematics High School, also known for Outreach is combine the students’ as SciHigh, was a half-day program passions with the volunteers’. This fall

Jenny Durkin

New Orleans Outreach

P

The SciHigh Robotics Team at the first robotics competition in Atlanta, Ga.

Photo courtesy of New Orleans Outreach

Artwork done by SciHigh students part of the afterschool YA/YA class.

Photo courtesy of New Orleans Outreach

at SciHigh they were able to pair a student who really wanted to learn how to play piano with a volunteer who had many years experience with the instrument: For the first few weeks of school Richard, a SciHigh student, asked Ms. Rainey if there could be a piano class in the afterschool program. With no teachers to take on the class, Ms. Rainey came to me, the volunteer coordinator. I looked at the volunteer database and came across a new volunteer who wrote down “music, especially the piano,” under her interests. I immediately called the volunteer and asked if she would be willing to mentor Richard once or twice a week. She said she would be delighted, but asked if there were any other students who might also be interested. Ms. Rainey did some investigating and now the pairing has blossomed into a class of four eager students.

Sometimes we can even make connections between our participating schools. About a week

into school, Derek, a well-known SciHigh student, came to me and said, “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all week.

I’m sick of teaching the freshmen. I want to do something more. Can’t we go into one of your other schools and get younger kids excited about robotics?”

I immediately thought of Sophie B. Wright, who was trying to expand their afterschool program. On his own, Derek got together a group of his fellow teammates and the funding to make it happen.

I am pleased to say that this fall members from the robotics team at SciHigh will spend every Monday and Wednesday at Sophie B. Wright Charter School working with a group of 8th grade students to start the schools very first “Lego League!”

For more information about New Orleans Outreach or how to volunteer please contact Jenny Durkin at 504-6541060 or email volunteer@nooutreach.org.

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October 2007

Hill School Offers Teaching Alternatives Laurie Molnar

Ed. Board of Directors Hill School

L

earning the fundamentals of mathematics and reading in the elementary school setting is often described in curriculum as a “spiraling process,” introducing elements in each grade, repeating the same concepts at gradually increasing levels of complexity to achieve mastery. Abstract concepts of science and social studies target lower level thinking skills and introduce higher level skills as children’s intellectual development increases. Hands-on materials are touted as the best way to introduce and practice concepts such as place value, math facts and letter recognition. At the same time, significant energy is directed towardsthe development of literature appreciation, understanding of grammatical structures and the ability to develop effective listening skills and interpretative skills in all areas.

In many cases, the industrialized factory based format of educational programming, while useful in terms of grouping children in peer groups according to age often fails to address what is known to be “best practices” in educational research as described above. While teachers recognize the difficulties they face in trying to meet these expectations in their classrooms, they are often stymied in their ability to meet the needs of their students within these idealistic parameters.

But there are places where these methods are used successfully from preschool through high school. These where the child’s mental, physical, emotional and developmental growth is respected, addressed through the curriculum, gently developed and nurtured are known worldwide as Waldorf Schools and have been in existence for nearly 100 years. Why is Waldorf still somewhat unknown despite being the fastest growing school movement in the world today.

According Ernest Boyer, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, “Those in the public school reform movement have important things to learn from what Waldorf educators

have been doing for many years. It’s an enormously impressive effort toward quality education, and schools would be well advised to familiarize themselves with the basic assumptions that underlie the Waldorf movement.”

Waldorf schools focus on the development of strong, creative individuals who can stand up as independent human beings displaying strong social concerns.

The programs emphasize creative play, integration of the arts and an appreciation of muliticulturalism throughout the curriculum, Waldorf education meets the needs of the next generation of children as it has for nearly a century.

Many people are familiar with concepts of a spiritual nature of the human being. Not only in religion,

of the owner. He was asked to develop a school for the children of the employees.

Steiner set four basic rules in place: the school must be open to all children, be coeduational, be a unified twelve year program and the teachers must have primary control over the school, with minimum interference from the state. With those conditions met, the first Waldorf School opened.

Today there are more than 600 Waldorf Schools in 32 countries. There are 33 full time Waldorf teacher training centers around the world, five of which are located in North America.

In a Waldorf school great care is taken to understand the emotional and developmental needs of children at each level of instruction. Research has found that pressuring children too early to learn academic skills- such as math and literacy skills- is often followed by learning difficulties. In the Waldorf program, children are allowed to grow gradually and with guidance within the beautiful, safe and nurturing environment of play and fantasy.

Waldorf curriculum is extremely rich in oral language development. Storytelling and listening skills are stressed from early childhood through the grades. Children learn and recite extensive poems, stories and songs. Dramatic performances, music and the arts are integral in the development of memory skills, self-awareness and confidence. These skills all transfer easily to academics as the child progresses through the curriculum.

Teachers Sarah Clarke helps her third grade students One major difference in the Waldorf make soup for the school’s Michalemas Festival.

Photos by Alethia Picciola program is the structure of the day. Most school programs use the factory modelbut with connections to the world as short bits of time identified by ringing bells a whole, our effects on each other, and changing of subjects. In a Waldorf the Earth, our growth into becoming school, each day has a rhythm of its own, more conscious beings on our travels with predictable patterns of activities. through our lives. Rudolph Steiner was Morning in the early childhood program a philosopher, researcher and great th is different from that of the grades, but thnker of the early 20 century. His still follows a ritual and pattern which philosophical branch of study called anthroposophy ( the study of the spiritual once familiar to the children helps them explore new territory within the safety of nature of the human being) is only now beginning to be recognized and heralded the known. Much has been written about the value of routine and ritual for the by our generation. development of security and willingness In 1919, Steiner visited the Waldorf to risk. Parents are often advised to set Astoria cigarette factory at the request

morning and evening rituals to help children deal with the unpredictability of daily life outside the hme. The school day should be just as predictable and safe. But in the Waldorf school, the morning block kis composed of a main lesson time, which focuses on one area of instruction. Rather than shifting every 30 – 40 mintues, students are allowed to marinate in the teacher-class discussion of a topic for the morning, for several weeks at a time. This allows a subject, for example, the geography of Europe, or the Roman conquests to be explored from many directions, allowing time for discussion, questions and research as well as completion of long term projects. Contrast this to the usual method of working in small bits and having one’s questions put off til tomorrow when your enthusiasm for the answer may be no longer as powerful.

The Hill School is the only Waldorf School in Louisiana. Begun by a determined group of parents who wanted the program for their children, the school has grown over the last several years. Poised for a jump in enrollment, and in the process of moving to a wonderful new facility in August 2005, our momentum was severely stunted by the effects of Katrina. However, the dedication of our faculty, the perseverance of many of our families, and the willingness of board members to continue to pursue the vision of creating a viable Waldorf program in New Orleans, we have survived and are back on our feet. We welcome you to visit us, learn about our school, join us for our seasonal festivals and bask in the beauty of our children’s’ joy as they come to school each day, ready to learn and grow into the confident citizens of our future.

References: Waldorf Education: A Family Guide. Fenner, P. Ed. Michelmas Press. 1992. http://www.whywaldorfworks.org http://thehillschool.net

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The Miseducation of the Lower Ninth Ward

Louis Armstrong Elementary is one of the five schools located in the Lower Ninth Ward to remain closed due to flooding during Hurricane Katrina. Photos Coutesy of Chantrice Banks.

Chantrice Banks

Lower Ninth Ward Writer

Once an area left heavily

damaged and virtually vacant by Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward is making an incredible comeback. More and more families are returning home everyday, but as the population grows, so does the need for resources. Just as vital as homes are the businesses, restaurants and schools that the area still needs.

Before Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward was home to seven schools: Louis Armstrong Elementary, Thomas A. Edison

Elementary, Joseph A. Hardin Elementary, Holy Cross, Martin Luther King Elementary, Martin Luther King Middle School and Alfred Lawless High School. All of the school buildings suffered great damage and many are still in states of disarray. Holy Cross has moved to another location and two other schools, Thurgood Marshall Middle School and George W. Carver High School, are temporarily using its facility.

However, on the corner of Caffin Avenue and North Claiborne, there is a bright ray of hope. On August 13, 2007, Principal Doris Hicks and her staff opened the doors of new charter Martin Luther King Jr. School to 559 students. Hicks

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School is “a bright ray of hope” in the Lower Ninth Ward as it was the first school to reopen in Holy Cross Neighborhood. The school opened it’s doors to 559 students in August.

said, “It was a collaborative effort . . . Common Ground helped with gutting, and we had help from the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Council, the staff and the parents.”

Now fully equipped with a library and a playground, the school is immaculate and shows no signs of the devastation it suffered from the storm or the many obstacles it had to overcome to reopen. Hicks explains that, “We’re still facing obstacles. It’s difficult to convince the large population that children of color should be educated in an appropriate environment like this.”

Being the first school in the neighborhood to re-open its doors, King Charter leads the way for the others. While it’s difficult to

gauge exactly what it will take to restore those schools, Many credit Principal Hicks and her leadership with re-opening the King charter school and cite her as an inspiration.

Hicks said, “We got the community and parents together and were very persistent. We went in demanding that the school be reopened.”

King Charter has made national headlines. Last month, the school received a visit from President George W. Bush and hosted the Tom Joyner Morning Show with guest the Reverend Al Sharpton. Though the school is fully functioning, there is still the need for help. If you would like to donate to King Charter, please contact them at 504-940-2243.

source: The State of Public Education in New Orleans June 2007, www.gnoef.org

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October 2007

NPN’s The Trumpet

Ask City Hall

Question: I live next door to an abandoned, flooded-out house. I’m not sure if the owners are returning, but the eyesore is dragging down my property value and making the neighborhood look bad. Who do I contact about getting blighted property cleaned up?

Answer: In post-Katrina New Orleans this might be a tricky matter, but for starters you can notify the New Orleans

Redevelopment Authority. NORA will inspect the property and determine the level of blight. In cases where the blight is overwhelming the city may recommend demolition if the property is beyond remediation. In the event that the city determines that the property can be rehabilitated, NORA will contact the owner to make the necessary repairs. If the owner does not take the necessary steps to remove the blight, NORA then offers to purchase the property at fair market value, and notifies the owner of impending take over by the city. So as you can see the process for remedying blighted property is fairly involved. If you are the owner of a property that has a property deemed as an imminent health threat and is slated for demolition or takeover by the city, you may contact the city’s Bureau of Code Enforcement at 504-658-4300 or 504-658-4200.

For further information about blighted properties, please contact the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority at (504) 658-4271.

Question: My property tax assessment is higher than it’s ever been so I’m thinking that a mistake might have been made.

What do I do about appealing my assessment?

Answer: Appeals for property tax assessments will take place between Sept. 17 and October 15. The appeals, which will

be held at the Louisiana Super Dome, should last no longer than 20 minutes. Property owners need not be present for an appeal to be reviewed. Documents needed for review should include pictures, appraisals, insurance policies, contractor estimates and/or evidence of demolition. Appealing taxpayers should receive letters detailing the appeals process, as well as the dates and times of their appointment.

If you cannot make your scheduled appointment, or have questions about your appeal, the easiest way to reschedule and/or get questions answered is to e-mail TaxAppeal@gardencitygroup.com. You may also call 1-800-918-1024 for rescheduling or questions. In the event that you’re not sure what your property tax assessment is, you’ll have to contact the assessor for your district.

Assessors, 1300 Perdido St., Room 4E01, New Orleans, LA 70112 1st Municipal District (Wards 1, 2 & 3) 2nd Municipal District (Wards 4, 5 & 6)

Darren Mire, CLA, Assessor Claude T. Mauberret, CLA

658-1310 658-1320

3rd Municipal District (Wards 7, 8 & 9)

Erroll Williams, CLA, Assessor

658-1330

4 Municipal District (Wards 10 & 11) 5th Municipal District (Ward 15)

Betty Jefferson, CLA, Assessor Thomas L. Arnold, CLA, Assessor

658-1340 658-1350 368-7642 368-7651 Fax

6th Municipal District (Wards 12, 13 & 14) 7th Municipal District (Wards 16 & 17)

Algiers Office 225 Morgan Street New Orleans, LA 70114 Janyce D. Degan, Assessor Henry F. Heaton, CLA, Assessor

th

658-1360 658-1370

District A City Hall, Room 2W80 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1010 Fax: (504) 658-1016 Email:SMidura@cityofno.com District B City Hall, Room 2W10 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658 -1020 Fax: (504) 658-1025 Email:SHead@cityofno.com District C City Hall, Room 2W70 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1030 Fax: (504) 658-1037 Email: JCarter@cityofno.com District D City Hall, Room 2W20 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1040 Fax: (504) 658-1048 CHMorrell@cityofno.com District E City Hall, Room 2W60 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1050 Fax: (504) 658-1058 CWLewis@cityofno.com

For more information, visit www.neworleanstaxappeal.com.

Question: My neighborhood has a community center we’re trying to jumpstart and we’d really like if our councilperson would attend one of our functions. What’s the best way to contact him/her?

Answer: As you know, council members have very hectic schedules, so you should try sending an invite at least two weeks

in advance of your event. Be sure to give the particulars of your event, and how you would like them to participate. I’m not sure who your councilperson is, so we’ll publish contact information for all districts (see right).

Have a Question for City Hall or need a particular concern addressed?

E-mail it to sean@npnnola.com, and the Trumpet will do its best to get an answer.

Council Member-At-Large City Hall, Room 2W40 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1060 Fax: (504) 658-1068 Email: AFielkow@cityofno.com Council Member-At-Large City Hall, Room 2W50 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1070 Fax: (504) 658-1077 E-mail:mdarnell@cityofno.com

Two Poems by Jessica Kinnison

NPN’s The Trumpet

More Poetry

Buckling

T h o s e B o r n B l ind

I built a house of words for you, we crawled under it. Words, then, were obfuscated, English was a language neither of us knew nor cared to learn. You unbuckled me,

I believe my room is beautiful and I believe what I want to believe.

The sea is beautiful, going out so far you lose sight of it.

Fish are beautiful in the belly of the world not connected, down dark.

Beauty is green, green as wet grass, m y m o t h e r s a y s my e y e s a r e g r e e n .

F o rg o t t e n s t o r i e s a r e b e a u t i f u l - - t h e y b e c o m e m y q u e s t i o n s , I a n s w e r c o n s t a n t l y.

To b u r n i s b e a u t i f u l , t h e f i r s t t i m e I t o u c h e d the hot stove, I was surprised to feel the pain last, from then I could smell the heat, i t s e x c e p t i o n a l i n te n s i t y, c o n f i r m a t i o n I could place my hand over the eye again, and, feeling the burn, connect to the other fish in the dark.

we spoke only in blood ringing a slow throng across our thighs. Buckling rain jewels and shoulders together we made succulent sounds that froze face and night--blood even.

We built words as succulent and silky as rainwater splashing on cold swings.

Words that could crawl on the walls, words that could hear. Around midnight, the rain was slapping against us. Our house was wet but, pants off, we heard only rain jewels and shoulders together buckling.

Neighborhood Meetings

Community Events

Bywater Neighborhood Association Meeting Tuesday, October 9, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Holy Angels Concert Hall, 3500 St. Claude Avenue

Gentilly

Tuesdays, 6 p.m., Sav-A-Center Second Floor 6600 Franklin Avenue.

(504)-943-0044, ext. 112.

Pontilly General Meeting Saturday, 11 a.m.

St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church

Gentilly Terrace and Gardens

October 13, Noon Greater Mt. Carmel 3721 N. Claiborne Ave

Wednesday, October 10th, 7 p.m.

Kirschman Hall, Room 137 University of New Orleans (504) 280-7120 or president@gentillyterrace.org

Carrollton United

Hollygrove

Bunny Friends

Saturdays, 8:30 a.m.

Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church 8616 Hickory Street

Saturdays, noon St. Peter AME Church 3424 Eagle Street

Central City Renaissance Alliance

Thursdays, 5 – 7 p.m.

Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 5130 Chartres Street

Saturdays, 2 p.m.

Ashe Cultural Arts Center 1712 O.C. Haley Blvd.

Central City Partnership Friday, October 26, 1 p.m.

2020 Jackson Avenue, second floor

Claiborne/University Neighborhood Association October 26, 7 p.m., Jewish Community Center 5342 Saint Charles Ave.

District 6 Community Council Every other Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.

UNO old Business Administrator Building, Room 211

Downtown Neighborhood Improvement Association Tuesday, October 9, 7 p.m.

Musician’s Union Hall, 2401 Esplanade Avenue, Upstairs

Faubourg St. John Monday, October 8, 7 p.m.

Fair Grinds Coffee House

19

Holy Cross

Lake Bullard Homeowners Association Saturdays, 3 p.m.

Cornerstone United Methodist Church 5276 Bullard Ave.

Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association Monday, October 15th 6:45 p.m.

St. Paul Lutheran Church 2624 Burgundy St.

Mid City Neighborhood Organization Monday, November 5th Grace Episcopal Church 6:30 p.m.

Holy Cross Community Meetings Thursday, October 11, 5 – 7 p.m.

Center for Sustainability, Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 5130 Chartres, Lizardi and Chartres

Events

Eracism Discussion Group Saturdays, 9 – 10 a.m.

3606 Magazine Street Call (504)-866-1163

Upper Ninth Ward Farmers Market Saturdays, 1 – 4 p.m.

Holy Angels Convent, St. Claude at Gallier

Lower Ninth Ward Farmers Market Sundays, 12 – 3 p.m.

St. David Church St. Claude at Lamanche

Sistas Making a Change Mondays and Thursdays, 5 – 7 p.m.

Ashe Cultural Center 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

An inner-city wellness and health project using culture to promote wellness and healthier lifestyle. All ages are welcome!

Call (504)-569-9070

At-Large City Council Election Forum October 4, 2007 7:00pm Nunemaker Auditorium, 3rd Floor of Monroe Hall, Loyola University Twelve of the thirteen candidates will be participating in the panel discussion.

Kids Theater Workshops and St. Anna’s Church Fri, Oct 12, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

1313 Esplanade Ave. In conjunction with NYU and Neighborhood Housing Services.

COPS 8 Block Party Saturday Oct 13 through Sunday October 14, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

400 block of Royal Street on the Supreme Court steps COPS 8 in conjunction with 8th District Police Officers is inviting everyone to come out

for our “SALUTE TO THE 8TH DISTRICT” Weekend Festival. All proceeds benefit the 8th District Station and Officers of the 8th District. For information contact: Lynnda Gerson Vice President COPS 8 at 866-4772 or lger2951@aol.com

18th Annual New Orleans Film Festival presented by Cox Communications and IFC October 11 – 18 at the Prytania Theatre, the Contemporary Arts Center and Landmark Theatres Canal Place Cinema. For more information, visit http://www.neworleansfilmfes t.com/ or call (504)-309-NOFF (6633)

The LEH Presents: A Night of Documentaries About Louisiana Politics Fri, Oct 19, 6pm - 8pm 938 Lafayette Street $5, free for members The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities celebrates the election season with two documentaries from the LEH vault: “Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics” and “Uncle Earl.” The films’ directors will be on-hand for discussion and refreshments will be served.

Call (504)-620-2632 for more.

Step Out to Fight Diabetes October 31, 2007 Register now for Step Out to Fight Diabetes Nearly 21 million Americans are living with diabetes and you can join the American Diabetes Association’s aggressive attack against the disease by walking with us to raise funds this fall. Gulfport, MS – Gulfport Sportsplex, Oct 6 New Orleans, LA - Audubon Park, Oct. 13 Thibodaux, LA – Peltier Park, Oct. 20 Baton Rouge, LA – Downtown, Oct. 27 Call 888-3422383 x 6072 for more information or Visit us at http://diabetes.org Check http://www.npnnola.com for exciting information about NPN’s forum on “Education and Community Participation” for October 24!

E-mail Mia@npnnola.com for more.

Mail in the Trumpet Survey, and you will be entered into a raffle contest to win TWO TICKETS to

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