We want to send our gratitude to everyone that supported the family of DPSCD student, Ga'heime Griffin, an exceptional student leader at Pershing High School killed in a tragic automobile accident. Your generous donations assisted the family with expenses during this most difficult time. Ga’Heime was admired by many and made such an impact during his short life. He will be missed by his DPSCD family of teachers, fellow students and administrators. Thanks to you, the DPS Foundation is here for our families. |
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James Oliver Coffee Celebrates Detroit Alma Mater |
As Winter and the holidays settle in, please support James Oliver Coffee (it’s delicious!)—a Detroit-based business and incredibly, generous partner of the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, by purchasing the Detroit Alma Mater Blend at https://www.jamesolivercoffee.com/alma-mater/detroit.
James Oliver started his roasting company with wife Annie in New Hampshire in 1995. In 2019, he handed over the company to his daughter Miranda and son-in-law, David. They moved operations to Detroit’s east side, where they continue to roast to the highest standards.
David’s mother taught at the following DPS/DPSCD schools: Grayling Elementary, Wilkins Elementary-Middle, Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary-Middle, and Bow Elementary-Middle for over 20 years. Miranda is also a Detroit teacher. This family is passionate about excellent education and excellent coffee! In August 2018, David and Miranda reached out to the DPS Foundation, wanting to partner to celebrate David’s mother’s legacy and their commitment to education by developing a unique blend of coffee to support Detroit Public Schools Community District’s students, families, and educators! Months later, the Detroit Alma Mater Blend was born. Every sold bag of Detroit Alma Mater benefits our students. On October 24th, James Oliver served coffee and sold fresh bags of coffee at the Eastern Market. The event drew over 100 people. Thank you, Eastern Market!
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DPSCD Welcomes 60 new nurses |
A nurse now in every school!
Denise Cade, DPSCD's new Senior Director of Nursing, has been a community health nurse for 35 years. Most recently, she was Nursing Director for the Detroit Health Department, has a Master of Science in Nursing, and is currently working on her Ph.D. She believes strongly that physical and emotional health impact academic success, which speaks to the District's strategy of caring for the whole child.
In early 2020, there were 18 full-time equivalent (FTE) nurses with another 40 contracted through various agencies. The CARES Fund and Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds helped to hire 60 additional nurses, which allowed the District to put a nurse in every 110 of its schools Monday-Friday. Nurses are responsible for student COVID assessments, illnesses, injuries, and other health matters such as medication distribution (e.g., insulin to our diabetic students).
Nine of the 18 FTE nurses are outreach nurses and cover all of the schools. Each outreach nurse covers 9-10 schools. The other nine nurses are placed at schools with Exceptional Student Education, including Charles R. Drew Transition Center, Moses Field Center, and Diann Banks-Williamson Education Center. Some other schools with high one-to-one care students are also assigned a nurse.
Placing a nurse in every DPSCD school is a significant achievement and a much-needed investment as we continue to educate our children during a public health crisis. COVID-19 has compounded existing challenges around accessing both physical and behavioral health supports. For many of our students, these concerns have not been unaddressed. Our nurses are on the front line, ensuring that students and families are connected to appropriate supports and coordinating care with all health team members.
COVID has also magnified the challenges of primarily relying on a paper-based, manual system to document and track student health-related issues. The goal is to transition to an Electronic Health Record System that will assist school nurses and others on the school health care team to document and track chronic health issues. It will also allow the District to identify health trends, including school absences due to health-related problems, allowing for earlier interventions and potentially improved outcomes.
The Office of School Health and Wellness needs funding to support the new electronic health record system and computers for 35 nurses. Contact us to donate!
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Carhartt - Partner Praise! |
With two sewing machines and about five employees, Hamilton Carhartt, a salesman operating with a horse and wagon, founded the Carhartt Company in Detroit in 1889, manufacturing their first products out of duck and denim fabrics while the nation experienced an industrial boom. ‘Honest value for an honest dollar’ was their slogan. Today, Carhartt is still committed to Detroiters and in particular, our children. Carhartt has generously invested $10,000 towards Randolph Career Technical Center graduates electing to pursue permanent employment in Skilled Trades. Twenty-six 2020 Randolph Alumni are eligible to benefit from this Graduate Assistance program.
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Headquartered in Dearborn, Carhartt is a worldwide brand with some 800 products. On a recent visit to the Carhartt Workshop, hosted by Susie Craft in charge of Corporate Partnerships, we toured the community space on the second floor of the Cass Avenue/Midtown flagship store built by the original workwear company. This new footprint gives Carhartt partners access to meeting space and provides power and hand tools and landscaping equipment to kickstart their next Do It Yourself project.
Hamilton’s granddaughter is Gretchen Carhartt Valade, also involved in company operations and is best known in Detroit for her rescue of the Detroit Jazz Festival and owning both Mack Avenue Records and Dirty Dog Jazz Café; household names to world-renowned jazz artists. In recent years, Ms. Valade has fundraised for Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) jazz programs. She provides mentors and alumni musicians to work with educators to promote, sustain, and elevate jazz, ensuring that we continue to produce some of the world’s best jazz musicians.
We salute the Carhartt company and family for their long-term commitment and investment in the City of Detroit and especially for their DPS Foundation partnership, which supports DPSCD students, families, and educators!
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Giving Tuesday is on December 1, 2020! The Detroit Public Schools Foundation is participating and we encourage you to follow-us on social media and keep a lookout for some exciting give-a-ways and fundraising challenges. We need your donations to help support our students and families during these very uncertain times. |
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