 |  | Readers keen on enrollment data will recall that degree-student enrollment in our six-week summer session is about half the number of students of a typical, full semester. Not so over in ACE (Adult and Continuing Education). Our ESOL, College Prep, Summer Youth, and Workforce Training Programs have been bursting at the seams all summer long. (The need to learn new skills, get a job, or an overdue raise does not bend to academic calendars shaped by 19th century agrarian tradition.) Year-over-year data paint a full picture: During the year ending June 30, 2023, 2,120 students enrolled in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) – an increase of 18% over FY 2022. LaGuardia is now the largest provider of ESOL training in NYC. We enrolled more than 2,300 students in workforce training programs, most of them for positions in healthcare, technology, and building trades. LaGuardia is now the largest provider of workforce training in CUNY. Add in pre-college programs like GED Prep and our Summer Youth Employment Program and total ACE enrollment for FY 2023 climbs to just over 10,000 students, a 5.7% increase over 2022. Thank you to donors who have provided funds for ACE scholarships. In FY 2023 we awarded scholarships to 543 ACE students, at an average amount of $860 per student. Growing demand this year means funds are running low. If you want to help, please reach out to Jay Golan, Executive Director of the LaGuardia Foundation
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LaGuardia as Launchpad for Bengali Family
We like to think that LaGuardia offers students a familial environment, but sometimes the family comes to us. Consider Nadia Begum, Amena Shamia, and MD Siddique – two sisters and their brother who enrolled together last spring. The siblings arrived in New York City from Bangladesh in 2021 and settled in Jamaica, Queens, where there is a thriving Bengali community. They improved their English, earned high school equivalency diplomas, and then came to LaGuardia on the advice of friends. Nadia is studying Psychology and wants to become a therapist or social worker. Amena, a Biology major, wants to be a doctor. MD is a Computer Science major focusing on technology that supports medical research. All three made the Dean’s List in their first semester and are members of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) International Honor Society. Amena is a member of Honors Student Advisory Committee, an arm of the Honors Program, and the STEM Club, where she was vice president. MD is a member of the Red Hawk Engineering Club and the Bangladesh Club. According to Nadia, yes, there is a bit of healthy competition among them. We’re okay with that.
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LaGuardia Professors Score NEH Grant to Explore Maritime History of New York
Two LaGuardia professors recently received a grant of $189,986 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for an interdisciplinary project on the maritime history of New York City. Led Dr. Christopher Schmidt, professor of English, and Dr. Karen Miller, professor of history, “New York as Port City” will include visits to landmarks, including remains of Manhattan’s mercantile past, as well as museums of maritime and migration history. Explains Dr. Miller: “Through readings and discussions, walking tours, and four visiting scholar presentations, we will explore how the city’s waterfront has changed in response to shifting economic conditions and ecological crises. The city will serve as a learning lab as we explore the cultural shifts and ecological challenges that have transformed the original port into today’s vibrant and diverse global city.” Describing a series of workshops supported by the NEH grant, Professor Schmidt adds, “The topic is of clear relevance to maritime historians and scholars of New York Studies, but it will also appeal to teachers, researchers, and humanities professionals in other fields.” Miller reminds us, “While LaGuardia is the host institution for the grant, New York City will be our classroom."
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Rad Tech Students Exceed National Average on Licensing Exam
Radiologic Technology graduates from LaGuardia’s Class of 2022 achieved a 90% pass-rate on the licensure exam besting the national average of 83.5%. So informs us the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), the world’s largest organization offering credentials in medical imaging, interventional procedures, and radiation therapy. ARRT certifies and registers technologists in a range of disciplines by overseeing and administering education, ethics, and examination requirements. With their associate of applied science degrees from LaGuardia and passing the ARRT exam these recent grads are heading towards careers as licensed radiologic technologists. Next time you go for an MRI ask the technician where they went to college.
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LaGuardia Group Completes Installation of Wetland Frames in Blissville
LaGuardia professor Sarah Durand and several of her students recently partnered with Newton Creek Alliance (NCA) to complete the installation of twenty wetland frames at the Waste Management Review Avenue Facility in nearby Blissville, Queens. The suspended aluminum frames are filled with spartina alterniflora — a native salt marsh grass that was the basis for about 1,200 acres of wetlands that once surrounded Newtown Creek. (That’s the heavily polluted inlet that separates Long Island City, Queens from Greenpoint, Brooklyn – an EPA Superfund site, to be sure, and only an oil-can’s throw from campus.) The perennial grasses will help remove excessive nutrients and add dissolved oxygen into the creek. Dr. Durand first proposed the wetland frames back in 2010 and has collaborated with the Newtown Creek Alliance over the years to improve conditions of the waterway and provide students with hands-on experience in environmental science.
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Annual Golf Outing October 2
The 11th Annual Mark C. Healy Scholarship Fund Golf Outing is set to take place on Monday, October 2 at Indian Hills Country Club in Northport. This event is always a lot of fun. It’s never too late to sign up. Thanks, as always, to Mark for hosting our Golf Outing at his beautiful club. Remember – if golf’s not your game you can support the event – and the Foundation – without having to show up. We welcome, for example, hole and tee sponsors, gifts for the silent auction, and phantom foursomes (you pay for a foursome, and we give the tickets to faculty). Thanks to Mark’s generous underwriting support, every dollar raised directly benefits students at LaGuardia. Over the last ten years, the event has raised $390,000. Participants this year will bear witness to the impact of the CUNY policy that eliminated being a scratch golfer from presidential search requirements. For info, click here.
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