Blog

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!

Conversation with Jellema Stewart/JHU-CSC

We were honored to have Jellema Stewart come in for a Conversation today representing the Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Concern. Jellema is the newly appointed Associate Director for Community Engagement, but is no stranger to The Community School.

Jellema talked about her educational and career journey and shared her perspective on positive community engagement.  She intently listened to the students share their stories about issues from education to immigration to violence. It was an enlightening conversation for all.

Our school has had a relationship with the Center for Social Concern since its inception.  Currently,  they make it possible for Johns Hopkins students Maneeza and Haithem to support the school as part of the work study program.  We appreciate Jellema’s visit and the support we receive from JHU-CSC.