Branch Brook Park in Winter

Branch Brook Park, with a view of Sacred Heart Basilica in Newark, NJ

Photo by Helen Paxton

Why do so many students in urban areas drop out of high school?

Taimer Singleton, Program Coordinator for the Abbott Leadership Institute sent me this video.

It's a teaser to the documentary called Dropped created by the Youth Media Symposium under the Abbott Leadership Institute, which is under the leadership of Junius Williams. The documentary explores why students in urban areas drop out of high school in such disproportionate rates, compared to their suburban peers. In addition to documenting these causes, the students have pinpointed more effective ways to improve urban schools and keep students engaged to ensure a higher graduation rate.

The teaser below is about four minutes long, but you can also view the full 15 minute documentary at http://vimeo.com/15164113
 

Dropped... (teaser) from Abbott Leadership Institute on Vimeo.

The mission of the Abbott Leadership Institute, located on the first floor of Bradley Hall and directed by Junius Williams, is to empower parents, students, educators and community advocates of Newark Public Schools and surrounding urban communities with information and knowledge of effective methods for education advocacy and family engagement in schools. You can learn more by visiting www.abbottleadership.org

GlassRoots 10 Year Annniversary

As the only non-profit “hot shop” for young people in the greater New York metropolitan area, GlassRoots provides a nurturing environment in which otherwise underserved children can achieve self-esteem and creative expression while also learning basic business skills and valuable life lessons through the exploration of the unique art forms of glass making.

Working in the hotshop. Photo by Arthur Paxton

The program's founder, Patricia Kettenring, was honored Oct. 6, 2010 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary celebration for GlassRoots, which began at Rutgers, and which provides multiple opportunities for at-risk youth, ages 10-18, to realize their potential through the creation of glass art.

Kettenring is a long-time member of the Rutgers-Newark community, former director of Rutgers Business Schools' Business and the Arts program and currently teaching at Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration.

For more info. on GlassRoots, visit www.glassroots.org/

For a full gallery of photos from GlassRoots go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rutgersnewark/sets/72157625115130704/

Great Night Photo!

Student Ryan Vance sent this photo with the message, "Bridge Street was made for moments like this."


 

Great thing you were there to catch it on camera! I love night photos.

Newark as 1950s Chicago for Cadillac Records

For a few days in April, part of Halsey Street was transformed into 1950s Chicago for the movie Cadillac Records, which is opening this week and has gotten some good press so far. The movie is about the rise of Chess Records and the lives of its musicians, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.

Of course us common folk were not allowed anywhere near the stars, but with the help of a zoom lens I did get some photos of the street, the film crew, a few extras, and the cool cars.

Sorry, no Beyonce or Adrian Brody. I know, I was disappointed too.

Below is a photo of the huge film crew hanging out off to the side on New Street with all their equipment.
Below you can see all the signs that were hung over the existing shops and businesses, including the Chess Records label (right below the "Lucky's Mens Shop" sign)

Fall at Rutgers (and beyond)

I was going to post these last week but apparently Blogger was having issues and wouldn't let me. Jackeline Vasquez, who's contributed to this blog before, wins the prize for the best classic fall photo, complete with scarecrow and apples:


Gopi Patel from Computing Services sent me this photo of fellow techies at an Open House event. Don't they look like a friendly bunch?


This one was sent by Jennifer Scalf, and feels more like winter to me, but it's got a dark, moody quality I like - not sure where it was taken, but you can see the Prudential Building way in the background if you look carefully, and what looks like Newark light rail tracks in the foreground.

Some of you may have seen me wandering around campus with a photographer recently - I just saw some previews of the photos he took and let me tell you they turned out great. Stay tuned for a little photo-essay piece on downtown Newark soon. Also, if I promised you a photo of yourself please email me (and describe what you look like and where we took the photo), because otherwise you might never receive it.

Newark at Night

I sense a theme here. I recently got another nighttime photo of the campus and Newark, this time from Samuel Davenport, who is a 2010 J.D. candidate in the Law School. This was taken from the 12th floor (he didn't say from which building, but I'll take a guess that it's University Square). Very nice Sam!




Keep sending me photos, and tell all your friends to come on over too. By the way, photos of people are more than welcome (as long as you have permission from everyone in the photo) - just remember, this is a PUBLIC forum so don't send me anything you wouldn't want your mother (or professors or future employers) to see! I know you're all smart enough to know better, but well, just in case I figured I'd get that out there.