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Activism
A few months ago I published an interview with Maria Ross of Ross Flags. Since then, they have made tremendous progress gaining sponsorships, building strategic partnerships, and spreading the word. Their flags will now be carried at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Museum in Atlanta, GA. Just thought I’d let all of you know. Check out their latest YouTube videos below.
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The following is a letter provided by good friend Alex Rutledge asking for the preservation of Olivewood Cemetary. He is an activist in his community and works to bring education and opportunity to the underserved populations of Houston.
I’m a supporter of Descendants of Olivewood, the group of volunteers and Board Members dedicated to the preservation of Olivewood Cemetery, a historic cemetery in Houston, Texas. I want to share with you a simple way for you to help support this organization. If you haven’t heard about Olivewood Cemetery, the following links to a recent article from the Houston Chronicle and Mini-documentary posted on Youtube, explain the history of Olivewood Cemetery:
Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7419890.html
Mini-documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM3lg_87aFQ
If you are interested in helping Olivewood achieve its goal of becoming a museum and educational center, you can download the GoodSearch — Descendants of Olivewood toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/descendants-of-olivewood
Each time you search the web with GoodSearch’s Yahoo-powered search engine, about a penny will go to the Descendants of Olivewood, the Board Members of Olivewood Cemtery. If you want to see how much money has been raised so far, you can always click on the “Amount Raised” button. So far, Olivewood has raised nearly $4.00 through 400 searches through Goodsearch.com. The Descendants of Olivewood aim to register at least 200 people before January 2012 to Goodsearch, which could potentially raise between $1,500 and $2,000 if each volunteer searched online two times a day. Also, every time you shop online at 2,000 participating stores including Amazon, eBay, Target, Apple, Staples, Expedia, etc., a percentage of your purchase will be donated for free! The site also has thousands of money-saving coupons!
There are many legal and logistical steps the Descendants of Olivewood must take before they can build a museum near the cemetery. The Descendants of Olivewood have applied for grants, sought donations, and held fundraisers, some of which have contributed to the goals set for the cemetery. However, the cemetery must be secure before any more donors will consider granting more money to build a museum at the cemetery. Currently, one of the top priorities of the Descendants of Olivewood are to hire an engineer to survey the land in order to build a fence, which will both secure the cemetery and legitimize the organization’s efforts and vision in applying for grants. Foundations and donors will be less likely to grant the Descendants of Olivewood if the cemetery is not secure and open to vandalism and theft.
Therefore, Goodsearch is the simplest and easiest means at the Descendants of Olivewood’s disposal of raising the necessary money to hire qualified professionals that can cut back the brush allowing room for a fence, survey the land the cemetery is on, and build a fence around the cemetery.
To give you a sense of how the money can add up, the ASPCA has already earned more than $30,000!
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
The Descendants of Olivewood
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The following is a post from Literacy San Antonio:
More Hispanic students finishing high school
A higher percentage of young Hispanic adults is finishing high school, and the number attending a two-year college has nearly doubled over the last decade, according to Census data released Wednesday.
The percentage of Hispanic 18- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in high school and don’t have an equivalent degree was 22 percent in 2008, down from 34 percent in 1998.
Meanwhile, the number attending a 2-year college increased 85 percent, from 540,000 in 2000 to 1 million in 2008. “It’s an amazing level of growth,” said Kurt Bauman, the chief of the Census Bureau’s education branch.
Researchers said the numbers on high school completion were the result of several factors, including targeted efforts to reduce the number of Latino students dropping out, as well as an increasing percentage born and attending all their schooling in the United States.
But several experts also expressed concern that high numbers are choosing two-year colleges, where students tend to have lower completion rates and frequently do not go on to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Jose Cruz, vice president for higher education policy and practice with the Education Trust, pointed to studies that show a majority of Latino students aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree, but noted they are overrepresented in 2-year institutions. He attributed the gap to issues of K-12 preparation, insufficient counseling and the overwhelming financial contribution low-income families must make in order to attend a 4-year institution.
Frank Alvarez, president of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, himself a community college graduate, said that many students fail to finish an associate’s degree because they find themselves inadequately prepared and lacking guidance once they make their way into the system.
“If you’re going to community college because it’s less costly, or because it’s the option that’s closest to you, there’s nothing wrong with that, but please continue to a four-year school,” Alvarez said.
The Census report contained a number of other education indicators, including data on early education and demographics. The number of students enrolled in kindergarten has increased from 2.9 million in 1978 to 4 million in 2008. Higher numbers are also going to full-day instead of part-day programs.
Among nursery school students, Hispanic students made up 18 percent, an increase of 5 percent from 1998.
Deborah Santiago, vice president for policy and research at Excelencia in Education, said the findings on high school completion should be celebrated, though she cautioned there was still significant work to be done targeting dropout factories and increasing college readiness.
“What this does is create an opportunity to think about the population even more clearly as a college-going community, as a community that does have educational success,” Santiago said.
