Diving Deep in the Zone
What Happens When Attendance Works?
by Anju J. Rupchandani, VP of Collective Impact Partnerships

When one thinks of the word attendance, two thoughts often come to mind: school and work. Students attend school everyday so that they can be ready and prepared for life. Be it college or career, attendance is a significant part of this. Through our Renewal Community School efforts at CS 111Q and Long Island City High School (Q450), we been working in collaboration with our schools to help increase attendance rates. While doing this work, Zone 126 began to dig deep and look at the attendance rates across all 10 of our schools. We are looking at various trends around our students' attendance and using these data points to bolster our efforts to support the schools around attendance. 

As we build successful attendance habits in students early on, we lay the foundation for positive college and career habits that translate into building empowered and successful individuals that contribute to our community. 

News from the Zone

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Cradle to Career Convening last week! We appreciate your support and input as part of the Astoria and Long Island City community.
 
For those unable to attend the convening, here are some handy links to learn about what we discussed + key takeaways.

The #ZoneElves Team has expanded as we head into the new school year. Read about our new full-time team members & 2016 - 2017 AmeriCorps Members here

(Pictured above: Zone 126 "Z" Team at Long Island City High School - Q450)
Planting Seeds of Power
by Anthony Lopez, Executive Director

These days, when I think of something as “ community-grown ” I tend to think of food grown in community gardens. Call it “ community or home-grown, ” it simply means “from within the community or ‘organic’.” And just like organic food, it’s good for you but sometimes the cosmetics of imperfect produce are not very appetizing. Don’t believe me? Look at the pageant of produce on display at your local supermarket. The point is not so much how it looks, but that it is good for you.

Read the rest of Tony's article on the Zone 126 blog.
Neighborhood Champion of the Month
Aiysha Mayfield, a long-time Astoria resident, is passionate about the arts and making lasting change for the youth in our neighborhood. She also looks out for the safety of our elementary school students in Astoria! 

Links

  • To Teach a Child How to Read, First Give Him Glasses - NY Times
  • All low-income high school students can now qualify for CUNY application fee-waivers for up to six CUNYs. Press Release here.

Funding Opportunities

  • Apply for the no-strings attached Awesome Foundation $1,000 grant from their NYC chapter! (Grantees chosen monthly)
  • Apply for the Queens Council for the Arts' 2017 Community Arts Grant ($1,000 - $5,000) -- limited to Queens community-based nonprofit organizations!

Know any CUNY college students who have work study? We are looking for interns