Kick off to Jordan High School's transformation

Transforming student achievement at a low-performing school is no easy task especially when the school is being split in two. Jordan High School is undergoing a major change for the better, and thanks to the new principal Sherri Williams the school will improve tremendously.

A few days ago, all of the Jordan teachers met at the Partnership for LA School’s offices to kick off the upcoming school year on a positive note. As I walked into the room I sensed a feeling of excitement and positive energy coming from all the teachers. Guest speaker, Eric Wheeler, gave a very inspirational speech about Jordan High School and all of the successful people who graduated from Jordan.

As Mr. Wheeler spoke, the teachers’ faces lit up with joy. I could almost imagine their thoughts about what successful careers their students’ will have running through their minds. It was a great idea to let all the teachers know that they are not alone; the Partnership will facilitate the changes that will occur in the next school year. I hope all the teachers are as excited to have the Partnership as an ally as the students are.

They continued the day with a tour of Watts in which all the teachers learned about the history of such a rich community. The 2011-2012 school year is going to be full of challenges because they all need to adjust, but with confidence and support all the teachers and staff members at Jordan High School will have an interesting new year

I am the FUTURE Coalition Launch!!!

Lauren Smith, Student at Mendez Learning Center

For the past four days, we have launched the "I Am The Future" coalition at Felicita and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center, Santee Educational Complex, and Roosevelt High School. Just to recap the Partnership is starting student based, student lead coalition called "I Am The Future." This coalition would act as a representative of the student voice at the school. We worked hard throughout the week to prepare for these meetings and I am proud to say that they were a tremendous success. We had a great turnout and the students were ecstatic to learn about the “I Am Future” coalition and what S.H.O.W has in store for them and their school. In total we had 16 students at Mendez, 23 students at Santee, and a whopping 58 students at Roosevelt. Our first big project is S.H.O.W (Students Helping Our World). S.H.O.W was started in Chicago in 2009 as a way to motivate student to improve attendance and academics. To accomplish this, they gave their schools certain guidelines to follow. At the end of the year, the students who reach that benchmark were treated with an exclusive concert. I was really happy that my peers were interested in working together on this project. Next week we will be at Jordan High School anticipating another great meeting.

Busy Days at Partnership, And I'm Loving it...

By Abigail Zambrana, Roosevelt High School Graduate

This experience keeps getting better and better. I am really excited about the blog and about sharing my experience and opinion on different matters with different students and community members. The following day I was assigned to find out how many students there are across all high schools with goals of providing an “I am the Future” shirt for all the students. This would be a really wonderful gift to give to all the students to remind them that they are the IMPORTANT ones. The entire staff of the Partnership, schools, and the district is working to serve the students.

Wednesday was a really fun day. Early in the morning, we were called in to help Principal Green at Ritter Elementary. Ms. Green has a wonderful spirit and is very sweet. We helped her organize all her files in alphabetical order and we fixed her bulletin. We decided to change it into the colors that surrounded the buildings of the school, which were orange, red, and yellow. When she first walked into the office and saw her bulletins board she was amazed and surprised as if it were one of the Make-over Episodes. We even recorded her reaction with my cell phone. It was truly inspiring to be back in the elementary school setting and remember what school for me was like in elementary.

Later that day, we went to Jordan High School and helped set up for the Bulldog Family BBQ. I had the opportunity to talk to students about S.H.O.W and parents about why they should send their students to the Jordan H.S the Partnership Academy of the Arts. It was really fun and I am looking forward to telling more students about S.H.O.W and the "I AM THE FUTURE Coalition". The following day, I had the pleasure to meeting with two staff member from the Public Counsel Law Center, as well as a group from City Heroes displaying their great success the past year at Gompers M.S. I really learn a lot from attending different meetings because I learn more about the Partnership and meeting different people that are interested in helping students.

This day continued as we met with large retail corporation about future funding they can provide to help the schools. It was definitely interesting to see their opinion about what they would fund. But I am sure as long as the Partnership continues to look for funding it will be found. We ended the day with an Intern meeting with Ryan in which we talked about many different ideas for August, and all I can say is I’m extremely excited.

Another Great Week at the Partnership

Joanna Martinez, Santee HS Grad

Being part of the Partnership has made an impact in my life by offering a voice for the thousands of students who feel desolate and don’t know who turn to. I was once one of those students who wanted to succeed but who didn’t know who to turn to for help. But because of my motivation and strong desire to become a student advocate, I am now making a difference one project at a time. I am the future and so are my peers and as long as I am part of this organization I will do everything in my power to help transform student achievement. Thanks to all these wonderful people here in the office my experience continues to be a learning experience.

Abigail Zambrana, Roosevelt HS Grad

Thursday, Marshall Tuck, the Partnership’s CEO, invited us to a few meetings with prominent foundations and corporations. I am excited about business leaders interested in the work the Partnership does and the opportunities they provide each school. I also had the opportunity to meet with Maria Contreras-Sweet, a banking executive. She is an inspiration and every time I meet with successful Latinas it motivates me to aim for the same level of success. It is my dream not only to be the best I can be, but to inspire other young Latinas.

On another note, the Partnership helped me ring in my 18^th birthday! I was extremely amazed by the celebratory surprise in the Lundquist and am very thankful for everyone who participated. Initially, I thought it would be like any other day but it was definitely memorable. On Friday, I worked on a flyer for the Instructional team and am so glad to have done so because I had the opportunity to be creative!

This week was another great week! I was extremely productive and learned more skills to carry myself with in the future. I am looking forward to continually working with the rest of the Partnership staff and learn more about what it takes to transform a low-performing school to become a high-performing school. Thank you for such a great opportunity.

Week One at the Partnership Office

Abigail Zambrana, Roosevelt High School Graduate

My first week as an intern at Partnership for Los Angeles Schools was really inspirational. My views on the Partnership and the work that come from it have completely changed.  I met with Monica Garcia and felt truly encouraged by the work that is being planned out to improve the education students are provided through LAUSD and the Partnership.  I am excited with what the Partnership can do to support our students and communities. I feel as if there is a lot of room for growth with the Partnership and all the schools. Interning here has inspired me to pursue a career closely knit to education. In the past, my view of the Partnership varied, but I am now glad that Roosevelt is one of the schools that are being transformed. I have seen first-hand that the Partnership cares about education and education reform for all schools, including Roosevelt. I strongly believe every students deserves a great education, but the process of transformation has been and will continue to be a great challenge to the different parties.

Joanna Martinez, Santee High School Graduate

I learned that the staff at Partnership for Los Angeles Schools is largely divided into three teams, with each focusing on a different area to improve the schools. At the Partnership everyone has the opportunity to provide input on projects that each team is working on. I also learned that the Partnership involves organizations that genuinely want to help the schools. Staff members are engaged in several meetings throughout the day and need to be prepared at all times.

Lauren Smith, Mendez High School Student

Over the course of the week, I learned the ropes about vital projects and programs used by my colleagues on a daily basis. I worked with a program called Survey Monkey, which enables the user to input data from surveys into the program and create a spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel is also a program I am trying my best to master, with little success as of yet. The project of the week would above all be the Jordan High School beautification project. It was an honor to help volunteers create a new environment for the incoming Jordan High School students. We are currently working on the S.H.O.W project. S.H.O.W is a project that targets low-performing schools and gives them a set academic goal, then at the end of the year, rewards students that achieved their goal with an exclusive concert.

Day of Service at Jordan H.S

Student interns along with Marshall Tuck and Ryan Smith pose for a picture after a long day of painting and reconstructing Jordan.