Blog

All About Taxes – Financial Literacy Seminar

Taxes – sales tax, payroll taxes, capital gains, all this and more were on the table at this month’s Financial Literacy Seminar. Our thanks to Berman McAleer for this long running seminar and to Kathleen Gower who plans and facilitates all of the sessions. At this seminar BMc Partner and Financial Advisor Susan Mitchell. The session added so much to the students’ understanding of finances that they will face in the future. This seminar adds to the vital life skills that every student needs to be prepared for adulthood.

Thank you Kathleen, Susan and all of our friends at Berman McAleer.

Rhys & Quinn Win Awards from Dream Big at the Lyric

Every year The Lyric holds an event to lift up the creativity and ideas of young people through the Dream Big contest. This year’s prompt was: “What is the one thing you would change to make the world a better place?” This year 12th grade student Rhys Guilfoyle won in the Dreamers category. His essay was on the need for action on climate change and his concern that not enough is being done about it with the younger generation having to take action. Quinn Guilfoyle won in the Strivers category with a poem about the importance of everyone in society being appreciated and having a voice.

Winners were honored on stage at The Lyric tonight in a culture-filled program including music by Antonio Eyez, two amazing dance performances, and a lively youth Brass Band from the BSO.

The program included footage on the big screen of The Lyric program at TCS with interviews of our students.

Congratulations to Rhys and Quinn and to all those honored at tonight’s event and a special thanks to Denise Gantt, Ebony Evans and our friends at The Lyric for celebrating and amplifying youth voices.

Conversation with Dr. Alan Scott

Bird flu, US AID, measles, NIH, vaccinations are all terms we hear about a lot in the news these days.  They were on the minds of students in questions they asked today to Dr. Al Scott, our “Conversation with…”. guest. Dr. Scott has been a regular speaker at our school over many years.  He is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Each of the students had prepared a list of questions both from their studies and the news.  Dr. Scott answered each question with details that enabled everyone to understand and ask followup questions. Some of the deepest concerns had to do with the impact of diseases like measles returning.  It is one of the most contagious diseases with each infected person infecting 18 people on average, mostly in the days before any symptoms occur.  We also learned that the measles virus can live and stay in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves the room.

We appreciate Dr. Scott taking time from his busy schedule at the University to share time with us.

Conversation with Cheryl Waters-Hassan

We were honored to have Cheryl Waters-Hassan join us today for a “Conversation with…” the students. Cheryl and Mr. Tom have known each other for over 50 years and she has volunteered at the school tutoring.

Cheryl shared her early childhood experience including growing up in the Gilmor Homes projects and attending Baltimore City Public Schools She received her undergraduate degree from Coppin University and graduate degree from Goucher College. Cheryl was a lifelong special educator and shared her belief in every child. The students had a lot of questions about her life and views on education.

Cheryl set up the Anna V. Waters Scholarship to support African-American students with just average grades because she understands the promise and potential in this often overlooked group. She explained that she was a C student and two of her sons were also low C students in high school.  One of her sons, Menelik Coates, is now a Maryland attorney, and the other is the acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates.

We are deeply grateful to Cheryl Waters-Hassan for her generous sharing of time with us today.

Celebrating the Women’s Liberation Movement

As part of our celebration of Women’s History, we watched a documentary about the origins of the modern women’s liberation movement. She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry is an excellent source on thee various challenges that women faced as second class citizens in society and the steps taken to make change toward a more just society.

It not only exposed the students to this period in American history but also on how movements get started often with small numbers of people who have the courage and vision to stand up. After watching the film, the students commented on the impact it had on them and how the struggle for equality is an ongoing challenge.

Special Volunteer Day at TCS!

We kicked off our volunteer day in celebration of Neumann University with a special greeting by university President Dr. Chris Domes and his wife Mary. In line with its values, Neumann is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a pledge to perform 60,000 hours of service. Today, at the campus, volunteers set a goal of making 30,000 meals to distribute to the community while at TCS we had a project to create a pleasant seating area and flower gardens around the school.

The Community School has a relationship with Neumann University that goes back over 10 years, and we will forever be grateful for the support they have extended to our school and students.

Our thanks to the students, families, sponsors and alumni for lending a hand and especially Ruth Evelyn “Susie” Schmidt for co-ordinating the planting part of the project. Special thanks to Hillcrest Nursery for donating the flowers, Ms. Kathleen for donating a bench and to all of those who donated money, items and time to make this day successful.

Thank you family and sponsors Ms. Jenae, Ms. Penina, Mr. Gary & Ms. Linda, Ms. Jackie, Ms. Leslie, and Ms. Lisa; alumni Donald and Liv, and all of the students!

We are proud to be a part of this noble effort by Neumann University!