Blog

Dyrrell Moon Shares His International Experience

TCS Alum Dyrrell Moon joined the students for a Conversation on Friday. Dyrrell just got back from the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan where he was part of a monitoring team for recent national elections. This is part of the international work that Dyrrell has been doing since graduating from Howard University.

The students were especially interested because they are currently studying this part of the world as part of this year’s World Geography class.

It’s always a special occasion when TCS alumni come back to share their experiences with the current students. Thank you Dyrrell!

Liberia – United States Exchange!

We have formed a partnership with a youth organization in Liberia, on the West Coast of Africa, called B4YT – Burning Barriers Building Bridges Youth Theatre. Today we had our 2nd Zoom session where our students met with their young people. This session was focused on education where each group sharing both their personal experiences and the situation in our respective cities and countries. It was a meaningful and educational experience for all.

We deeply appreciate the young people of B4YT and their staff Mr. Silas and Ms. Hannah and our own staff liaison Ms. Janiah for co-ordinating this effort. We also want to recognize and thank JHU Center for Social Concern Director Dr. Jasmine Blanks Jones who introduced our two groups.

Guest Presenter in ASL Classes

New Wood Workshop Project Underway

The Women of Done Construction were back in the house yesterday! The students are each building, wiring and staining a lamp for their spring project.

The session started with a video of the folks from Done preparing the materials in their workshop so the students could see the project from the beginning. After a review of the tools and their proper usage was presented, the students were able to pick from a selection of types of wood from cedar to walnut to oak and even an exotic wood from Africa. Then, each got to work drilling, gluing, screwing and sanding their individual lamps. The project will take two more sessions to complete.

What an exciting project packed with skills! Thank you Beth Pointer, Sarah Elder, Catesby Taliaferro, Kristin Carbone and Sarah Michaels!

Field Trip and Conversation with Advance

We took our “Conversation with..” series on the road today. Jeff Elkin invited us to visit Advance, the successful business started by his parents more than a half century ago just blocks from our school. Starting off selling office supplies, Advance is now a major business solutions company including a very high tech IT operation that looks like it belongs at NASA!

After a generous lunch provided by Advance, we met with the entire Leadership Team of the company introduced by Mr. Elkin. They shared the company’s history, their philosophy regarding their service to customers and the value system that guides their staff relationships.

We were impressed with the number of folks in the leadership team who started as entry level technicians but were invested in by the company with opportunities and support. This fertile workplace culture was also evidenced by the length of time each person we met had been with the company.

The team took us on a tour of their facility where we learned about the many facets of their business and the careers available. The last stop was in their expansive meeting room where company Chief Operating Officer Joe Zito shared his personal story rising from challenging circumstances as a young person to his over 36 year career at Advance. Mr. Joe has shared his story before in a Conversation with another group of students at the school several years ago and inspired us once again as he retold it today. Joe also shared tips for success and a way of looking at the world that brings out the best in everyone and forges teams to make progress and reach goals together.

This visit is part of a series of field trips where we visit a variety of types of local businesses to learn about their work, career opportunities, and very importantly, their workplace culture. It exceeded our already high expectations!

We are very grateful to Jeff Elkin and the entire team at Advance for their generosity of time and kindness to our students.