On Wednesday, May 13, several students and staff, armed with signs and enthusiasm, traveled downtown to participate in the My School My Choice Rally at the Statehouse. The rally drew over 4,000 charter school and online school supporters from around the state! The immense turnout was in response to Governor Strickland’s budget proposal that would severely cut public charter school funding by 26 percent and e-school funding by 74 percent.
Rally participants gathered at Veterans Memorial before marching together up Broad Street to the Statehouse lawn chanting “My school, my choice!” Once there, the crowd heard remarks from key supporters. The speakers included State Senate President Bill Harris, Senate Education Committee Chair Gary Cates, Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools President Bill Simms and Black Alliance for Educational Options State Director Tracie Craft. Several times the speakers urged the crowd to turn to the Statehouse and yell “Save our school!” in an effort to show the Governor that charter schools are an important option for students to have. Currently, 80,000 students attend charter or online schools in Ohio. Please help Focus continue giving students a safe and enriching schooling alternative by telling others the importance of supporting charter schools and opposing Governor Strickland’s educational budget proposal!
On Thursday, May 7, CBI students had the opportunity to visit Power 107.5 and spend time with DJ City. In order to qualify, students had to write an essay on why they should be given the opportunity, have two staff recommendations and have no more than one discipline referral. Staff members from each school evaluated students’ essays and those with the highest scores were selected. The winners were Dexter Green from North, David Rodgers from Southwest, and Gracia Carpenter and Leondro Reyes from East.
During the visit, students had lunch with City and got to meet the station’s general manager, as well as one of the other radio personalities, Konata. Students talked with City about real-life issues and why they were determined to do well in school. Students also learned about the behind the scenes operations at the radio station and were allowed to record “shout outs” that aired on City’s show later that night.
The scholars at Focus East gained a newfound perspective for their future on Tuesday, April 28. Local celebrities and community leaders came and spoke to the students at the first ever Speaker Jam. The students heard from Misty Jordan, from the 107.5 Power Morning Crew; City, from the 107.5 City Show; Mike Thornton, educator and basketball coach; Leon Rodgers, professional basketball player in China; and Jerome DeCarlo, from the Huckleberry House.
The overall theme each speaker shared was that we all have a chance to make our own decisions and to guide our future and destiny in the right direction! Students were able to hear from each speaker for about 20 minutes. The speakers shared their personal stories of triumph and failure. They proved that no one is perfect—you just have to be determined to be the best at whatever you do!
This spring Focus East students were able to participate in a unique pilot program sponsored by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center within the Scioto Audubon Metro Park. Three students participated in this program, Matt Pathammavong, Sydatris Thompson and Elizabeth Valdez. The goal of the pilot study was to collect data about non-native or invasive species of plants present in the park. Each student was taught to use Trimble GPS units to target the species in the field and create maps of the area, highlighting areas where invasive species were most densely populated. The students earned a half credit of Environmental Technology for their tremendous efforts. The Scioto Metro Park will be using the students’ data to make resource management and ecosystem conservation decisions throughout the year.
