2007 Program Highlights
This year the Stand & Deliver curriculum was expanded to include training in how to develop solutions to complex social problems, such as youth violence, and how best to communicate policy ideas through advocacy efforts. Not only did address the problem of youth violence and the concepts of youth advocacy and peacemaking, but we also asked participants to identify tangible solutions to address this issue. We called this the Stand & Deliver Challenge – A Peacemaking Alternative. Stand & Deliver participants worked in small groups and communicated their findings to their peers and mentors in the Stand & Deliver program. They also were asked to produce “project papers” outlining their findings and recommendations (see the Communication Corner for samples of the work performed this year).
The 2007 Stand & Deliver Scholars
 Jonathan Vela |
 Ramon Pardo |
 Naomi Adjei |
 Tamara Williams |
- Jonathan Vela of East Side High School a freshman at George Mason University, majoring in History;
- Ramon Pardo of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Roselle Park attending DeVry University, majoring in Computer Engineering;
- Naomi Adjei of Weequahic High School a freshman at Cornell University as a Biological Sciences Major with a Pre-medicine concentration; and
- Tamara Williams of Science Park High School a freshman at Howard University with a 4.0 grade point average; she is majoring in Afro-American Studies and Secondary Education.
Students were also coached in civic engagement, and had the opportunity to present their solutions to youth violence at the Leadership All Stars competition on May 2, 2007. The team project Grand Prize Winners, West Side High School’s “The Time Squad” will appear on Caucus Educational Corporation’s television programming with Newark Police Director Gary McCarthy and Newark Mayor Cory Booker as potential guests with Steve Adubato as moderator.
In addition, we invited one of our Stand & Deliver students to appear on our highly proclaimed Caucus: NJ series, Promoting an Informed Public – A Culture of Violence. This special hour long program, hosted by Steve Adubato, featured Heaven Leigh Montgomery, a senior at Science Park High School; Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels; Dr. Duane Dyson of the Violence Prevention Institute in East Orange; and Capt. Barry Colicelli, Special Assistant to Mayor Palmer of the Mayor’s Office of Anti Gang Initiatives in Trenton, NJ. The panel examined the tremendous emotional toll felt by individuals living in urban areas who are besieged by the constant threat of violent crime in their neighborhoods. This program aired on Thirteen/WNET, NJN-Public Television, and CN-8 the Comcast Network.
Symposia and Special Events
The Stand & Deliver symposia gave students an opportunity to meet their peers from other workshop locations and to engage in question and answer sessions on such topics as leadership, race and identity, communication in a diverse society, non-violent communication and solutions to youth violence.
Symposium I
West Side High School Peacemaking Challenge Project Winners 2007 |
The first symposium, held on March 6, 2007, featured special guest speaker, Dr. Michael Fowlin, who performed his original and powerful presentation, “You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me,” the presentation was followed by an interactive discussion on race, identity and self image and brought the students a heightened awareness of the discrimination, violence prevention and personal identity while also suggesting solutions.
Symposium II
For the second symposium, held on March 19, 2007, we brought in Rodney Gilbert, a graduate of Arts High School who has returned to Newark, founder of Yendor Productions and Adjunct Professor of Theatre Arts, Drew University, who conducted his acclaimed “Non-Violent Communication” workshop. We feel strongly that Stand & Deliver participants must learn to communicate using non-violent methods and this workshop engaged the young people and helped them to identify some tangible actions that can be taken to create more peacemakers in our community. This symposium also brought together kids from all over the Greater Newark Area to work together on team building activities. Kids were separated and learned to interact with peers outside their “circle.”
Leadership All-Stars
The third symposium, “Leadership All-Stars” held on May 2, 2007, gave individual performers and student teams the opportunity to once again put into action the tools and techniques they learned from the Stand & Deliver program, while getting feedback from judges. Student teams presented in front of their peers and a panel of distinguished judges who included:
- Margarita Muniz, Newark Deputy Mayor of Neighbor Hood Engagement;
- Captain Amalio Nieves, New Jersey State Police;
- James Souder, Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs, NJ Dept. of the Treasury;
- Capt. Barry Colicelli, Trenton Mayor’s Office of Anti-Gang Initiatives;
- Sheena Dance, Violence Prevention Institute;
- Dr. Duane Dyson, Violence Prevention Institute;
- Keisha Kogan, MFA, Adjunct Professor of Theatre Arts, Kean University;
- Rodney Gilbert, Founder Yendor Productions, Adjunct Professor of Theatre Arts, Drew University;
- M. Sabur Guy, Legislative Aide to Newark Council President Mildred Crump;
- Keith H. Green, President/CEO pf the United Way of Essex and West Hudson.
Student teams were evaluated on the overall effectiveness of their presentations including delivery, eye contact and communication style, persuasiveness and ease of implementation. Individual performers gave oral presentations on Peacemaking and our theme – Action to Inspire. Stand & Deliver named seven individual performers and six teams as “Leadership All-Stars,” and were awarded cash prizes in the form of $50 Wachovia Debit Cards reinforcing our commitment to providing young adults with the communication and leadership tools they need to succeed.
| Individual Performance Winners* |
Team Project Winners (Top Six) *Night of Eloquence performers |
 Langston Kelly, St. Benedict's Prep - Original Composition, "Stand & Deliver" (Click for Video Clip) |
 Christopher White, Central High School - "Amathistic Rocks," inspired by and adapted from Saul Williams' "Amethyst Rocks" (Click for Video Clip) |
 Danielle Outlaw, West Side High School - Excerpt from "The Progress of Colored Women," by Mary Church Terrell (Click for Video Clip) |
 Khairaah Davis, West Side 9th Grade Success Academy - Original Composition, "Fat Girl" (Click for Video Clip) |
 Simon Clayton, St. Benedict's Prep - "The Land of Opportunity," by Z.a.c. Ryan (Click for Video Clip) |
 Elizabeth Boys & Girls Clubs - "A Second Chance: Job Opportunities for a Better Life" (Click for Video Clip) |
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 West Side 9th Grade Success Academy - "Open Arms Youth Center for Self Acceptance" (Click for Video Clip) |
At the close of the school year, Stand & Deliver held its eighth annual “Night of Eloquence”, in which selected individuals and teams (see above) were given the chance to “stand and deliver” before an audience of their peers, as well as influential community members from the Newark area. At this event we also awarded four scholarships to graduating seniors, Tamara Williams of Science Park High School, attending Howard University in the fall of 2007; Ramon Pardo of Roselle Park High School, attending DeVry University in the fall of 2007; Naomi Adjei of Weequahic High School, attending Cornell University in the fall 2007; and Jonathan Vela of East Side High School, attending George Mason University in the fall 2007. Highlights from the evening included over 325 attendees at Nanina’s in the Park – a standing room only audience of dignitaries (including Mayor Booker and his parents), students, supporters, parents and members of the media. Further, Stand & Deliver presented the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Leadership Award to Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo and Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker for their ongoing commitment to the future of Newark’s youth.
Since leadership is about moving people in a particular direction, our top team participants were given the opportunity to engage many of the adults charged with the responsibility of creating policies, programs and initiatives that affect their lives every day. Student teams from West Side High School, Weequahic High School and West Side Ninth Grade Success Academy presented their “Stand & Deliver Challenge – A Peacemaking Alternative” projects to Superintendent Marion Bolden’s Principals & Directors Meeting on June 13, 2007. They received standing ovations, having obviously impressed the room of over 125 adults. Superintendent Bolden asked Executive Director, Steve Adubato to introduce the teams, and he stressed the importance of the role the principals and other adults play in choosing youth leaders to enter the Stand & Deliver program.
Partnerships
In creating the new anti-violence component to our workshops, the Caucus Educational Corporation has pursued partnerships with numerous community groups with expertise in civic engagement, advocacy, anti-violence campaigns and community-building projects. Specifically, the Caucus Educational Corporation has developed partnerships with the following individuals/organizations, many of whom we already have strong relationships with, and have involved them in the Stand & Deliver program as well as the development of the anti-violence, advocacy and civic engagement curriculum and content for television programming.
- Deputy Mayor for Neighborhood Engagement for the City of Newark, Margarita Muniz
- The Newark Youth Connection Steering Committee
- Providing monthly “Communication Tolls for Tomorrow’s Leaders” seminars to the Youth Connection members
- Providing Program support and consultation
- Newark Police Director, Gary McCarthy
- The Newark Museum, Wanda Pendelton, Manager of Community Relations,
- The Newark Youth Leadership Project/Greater Newark Conservancy,
Robin Dougherty, Executive Director - United Way of Essex and West Hudson, Keith H. Green, Executive Director
- The Center for Civic Responsibility, Harry Pozycki, President
- Marion Bolden, Superintendent, Newark Public Schools
- Celia King, Executive Director, Leadership Newark
- Clement Price, Institute of Ethnicity and Culture
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Newark, Cynthia Banks, Senior Director
- Newark Public Schools Communities in Schools initiative, Lynette Noel
Stand & Deliver is also a proud partner of Bridges to Success through the United Way of Essex and West Hudson. Bridges to Success is a youth support initiative that targets children and teens as they progress through school by providing them with the skills needed to make a successful transition to higher education or the workplace. Through sharing resources and ideas, Stand & Deliver and Bridges to Success work together to attain a shared vision, which helps our young adults become more effective communicators and leaders within their communities while preparing them for the future.
If you would like to learn more about the Stand & Deliver program, please call the Project Director, at (973) 233-9890.
