Coalition to Empower Irvington High Students Meets 5/17

Green Drinks Newark discusses how to empower Irvington HS Students
Coalition to Empower Irvington High Students meeting
Thursday, May 17 @ 6-7:30pm
Irvington Public Library
5 Civic Square, Irvington, NJ

Join the next strategy session on how Irvington high school students can become leaders of transformation and positive change in both their communities and their own lives. Parents, residents, those able to contribute as mentors or collaborators – and especially, Irvington High School students are welcome to attend.

Irvington High School students face challenges common to urban youth everywhere: starting on career paths, preparing for college, finding work, navigating changing relationships. Today, the uncertainties associated with emergence into adulthood are exacerbated, with New Jersey families facing high rates of home foreclosure, heads of household under- or unemployed and lack of jobs, training and recreational opportunities to support young people’s needs and development. Municipalities struggle to provide essential services to residents with less collectible tax dollars. There’s also the growing awareness that some serious environmental issues require society’s immediate attention.

The cusp of adulthood is a tough place to be at the best of times, so it makes sense that the pursuit of traditional education may seem pointless and irrelevant to today’s urban students. We must find ways to make education vibrant! To rework schools into institutions teaching students the facts, techniques, technologies and skills that will make them relevant in their families and communities, valuable to prospective employers and institutions of higher learning and prepared with the knowledge and resources to own and manage their own small businesses, should they choose that path to employment.

This initiative is being led by Kimi Wei, Sustainable Community Consultant, and Jordan Geffrard, Irvington High School graduate and is sponsored by Green Drinks Newark. We look forward to hearing your ideas and learning how you are able to lend a hand.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.