in New York City’s workforce programs designed for unemployed youth are unfilled because of recruitment and retention challenges. 

Yet MESA’s workshop and coaching alumni lab is near full capacity, this spring wrapping up their third cohort in its inaugural year, with 71% of 42 young adults matriculating back to college or into a free workforce development program. About 25 students participated in the 2021-22 school year in a one-one, case management model. 

Alumni say workshops feel welcoming and family-like. During one April session, a four month old napped in a stroller next to her mother. The cohort goes for lunch regularly, chatting about internship possibilities or recent TV obsessions. All sessions are taught by former MESA teachers, far from judgemental strangers.

Beyond technical resume writing and interview support, biweekly 90-minute sessions explore growth mindset, self-awareness and making goals — skills that help young people, particularly alumni of color, work through feelings of inadequacy, shame, or feeling like an imposter. 

“It requires a real vulnerability,” Samuels said. “…I think they’re willing to do that because of the relationships.”

Launched three years ago as school leaders encountered more and more alumni who appeared to be working low wage jobs or dropping out of degree programs to make ends meet, the model is expanding. Other Brooklyn principals have identified the urgent need to support alumni, particularly those in the pandemic generation.

MESA has formally partnered with the High School for Fashion Industries for next school year; at least two other schools are in talks as well. The partnerships would enable MESA to serve 100 students in their north Brooklyn campus next school year, in the heart of a large Latino community. 

While a high school’s success is often sized up by its graduation rate, co-executive director and co-founder Pagee Cheung believes metrics from alumni’s post-secondary lives should serve as a wake up call. 

“The goal is beyond just graduation numbers — how are they surviving once they leave?” said Cheung. “There’s a vacuum in accountability and responsibility.” 

‘I’d still be lost’ 

Five years after graduating, Jackie, a young mother, sat intensely focused at a full table in her alma mater’s media library. She and Eduardo, who graduated in 2020 into an uncertain world, shared a table as they decided their top three work programs from a packet of options.

Without MESA, Eduardo said he’d be scouring the internet for programs that he felt met his interests, without much understanding of financial literacy or what made a high-quality program.

“It would be a waste of my time,” he told The 74. 

And time is of the essence — his younger brother recently graduated from MESA as well; his younger siblings still have a few years left in school. He knows that this age is also when some peers start contributing to retirement.

“I want [my siblings] to chase what they want to do without restrictions,” said Eduardo, whose last name has been withheld for privacy. “With my financial stability, I might be able to help them get to theirs, and just create this long line of financial stability.”

Starting in 2023, participants were compensated $500 for attending two 90-minute workshops for six weeks.

“If they’re cutting back on their hours at Footlocker [to attend], that’s a hard ask,” Samuels explained. “Forgoing income in the short term might mean getting evicted or missing meals. Having the ability to offset some of that lost income through stipends made a huge difference.” 

Beyond financial obstacles, there are often mental barriers that prevent young people from being able to participate in similar programs. 

“For many of them, there’s this shame and guilt attached to not being where they should be or comparing themselves to others,” Cheung said. 

Participants also described a sort of imposter syndrome when they are accepted into a workforce or degree program, that they’re not deserving of the opportunity. 

“The conditioning has been, this probably isn’t going to work out for you anyway. When there is an obstacle, it confirms that thought process,” Samuels said, adding that they are encouraging a “mindset that I am entitled to have a career that is financially sustainable and personally satisfying. I can advocate for that and there are people who are able to help me.” 

Creating a network of peers was essential: instead of individual counseling, MESA offers cohorts that go through workshops as a group.

In leading workshops, MESA teachers emphasize trial and error to counter the narrative that young people have to know exactly what they want to do by 20. A former student who wanted to become a firefighter, for example, was coached to try out a common exercise regimen, then decided he couldn’t sustain that for years. 

When second cohort alum Luis Rodriguez first graduated alongside Eduardo in 2020, he followed the path he always imagined: pursuing college sports. But when the pandemic halted athletics and he didn’t feel the quality of education at Buffalo State was “as good as I thought it would be,” he left. 

Rodriguez worked at various factories and warehouses in Pennsylvania and New York before he heard about MESA’s workshops from a friend. He didn’t hesitate to get involved, wanting to figure out a new path instead of working nonstop. 

But it wasn’t until MESA’s alumni program presented culinary arts as a career possibility and a former coach pushed him that he seriously considered it.

“I just be in my head so much… What if I take this path and it doesn’t work out, then I have to start all over? It took me a while to realize that sometimes that’s just what happens. It’s not a bad thing,” he said. 

MESA’s position as a high school that has kept strong relationships with alumni and their families for years makes it uniquely positioned to push participants when they start to doubt themselves, or advocate on their behalf.

In late April, Rodriguez finished his first shift at a Mexican fusion restaurant in Astoria, a new culinary placement through the . 

“I would still be at a warehouse job, honestly, if I didn’t find this workshop. And still be lost.”  

]]> /article/innovative-high-schools-brooklyn-lab/ Mon, 26 Jun 2023 10:01:00 +0000 /?post_type=article&p=710188 Steps from the waterfront that overlooks Manhattan’s iconic skyline, high schoolers shuffle into an office building where educators have erected a boastful sign: “Best Kept Secret in Brooklyn.”

Brooklyn Laboratory Charter High School can most certainly be counted among the borough’s hidden gems for its innovative approaches to challenges that now plague schools nationwide.

Getting students back on track to graduate. Decreasing absenteeism. Supporting students’ and teachers’ well-being, all while preparing for the end of pandemic relief funds next year.   

Two Brooklyn-raised Black women, who reflect much of the student body at the small 9th to 12th grade college prep school, are leading into a new era coming out of the pandemic, revamping the status quo that left many educators exhausted and students dissatisfied.

Leaders and staff went to the drawing board, mining for solutions that filled gaps and brought joy back into school. 

Brooklyn Lab Charter’s social workers visited nearly 100 homes to find students, as absenteeism soared post-pandemic. Each student has a personal advocate both at school and with their families, an advisor who starts each day with a non-academic meeting to build relationships and discuss health or current events over free breakfast. Free photobooths, music, dinner, sports and games await those who show up on-time at weekly “No-Tardy Parties.”

Two teachers now lead each class, at least one of whom is special education certified, as the school adopts an all-inclusion-model. Morning office hours and a 6-week night school offer more chances for students to bridge academic gaps made worse by the pandemic. Teachers are now paid to lead and attend professional development sessions. 

“I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done to strengthen us where we need to be strengthened,” said CEO Garland Thomas-McDavid, who became a career educator after growing up in a low-income Brooklyn neighborhood, becoming a teen mother and dropping out of high school. 

“Most schools are experiencing a lot of the same challenges… Everyone was facing staff shortages, everyone was facing a great resignation.”

Amid the uncertainty, she and her team are finding new solutions to provide rigorous academic opportunities for students of color and students with disabilities who are frequently ignored and left unchallenged. 

“I’m not going to lower the bar,” she said. “I’m not going to go quietly into the night because I always think, what about the parent who can’t speak up? What about the parent who doesn’t have the resources? What about the parent who doesn’t even know what to ask for?”

Excellence is for Thomas-McDavid, a mother of five and parent to a 10th grader at Brooklyn Lab Charter. Having navigated special education services for her youngest, she knows how draining it can be for parents trying to advocate for what their children deserve. And being a native of East New York, where some students also live, she knows the difference schools can make.

The change at Brooklyn Lab Charter is palpable. Since October, the school has seen a 15% decrease in daily absences. Students and staff say students are more excited to come to school amid an almost-180 degree shift, after years of feeling flatlined. Nearly all, about 96%, of teachers are returning next school year.

“It was visible to some teachers that things had to change,” said Jeckesan Mejia, dean of instruction. “This year at every opportunity, we’re trying to implement feedback, changes, updates… Just be in a space where we are not only reacting, but intentionally reacting.”

Over a hundred students participate in nine new sports, from e-Gaming to basketball.  A washer and dryer is open to all and a prayer room was set up during Ramadan. 

Roughly 80% of teachers are Black or brown, serving about 450 students who are predominantly Black, Latino and low-income. 

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“When you’re a school of this size, you have the ability to respond and cater to the community that you’re serving, and be more personable with the families that you meet, the people that you work with, and the staff that you hire,” assistant principal Melissa Poux told The 74.

The school’s high expectations have continued since the school’s inception. 

External partnerships bring students into college classes at nearby universities. Mandatory AP classes and a microeconomics course at a local college helped senior Daniel Shelton see a future in law. His time management skills got better; he learned how to keep focus and retain info from long lectures. 

“It really opened my eyes,” Shelton said. “Prior to that, I would have really never known and been able to prepare myself to have the level of dedication to study — I had to devote all my weekends to it. And honestly I wouldn’t take any second back.”

“Back in the Lab”

Many of the Lab’s innovations this school year address multiple goals. 

In daily advisory, led by teachers or administrators, students discuss anything from mindfulness and health to current news and how to advocate for yourself. Low-cost “No-Tardy Parties” hosted in the gym help reinforce that school can be a joyful, positive place. 

Their inclusion model for special education also reduces isolation among students, while making classes more accessible and boosting teacher morale.

“Ms. Morales, my co-teacher, is not only my favorite person to work with but she has expedited my development more than I could even imagine,” said first-year earth science teacher and pre-med advisor Branden Medary, who came to the classroom after a career in neuroscience and has bridged a partnership to offer aerospace workshops by New York University students.

“If I’m doing something whack, she will happily pull me aside and be like, ‘Hey, you can do this, this, or this. I know those to work. What do you think?’”

Co-teachers lesson plan together as well so lessons are modified to support students of all ability levels.  

Some families have come specifically because of its inclusive approach to supporting students with disabilities. 

Administrators and teachers at Brooklyn Lab Charter are leaning on each other, too. Staff get paid extra to lead or attend professional development sessions, and now have free access to a local gym. Academic teams are probing deeper into assessment data to see how more subjects can reduce gaps. 

At the start of this school year, math scores showed many students struggled with word problems — at its core, a literacy problem. 

English and history teachers built in more time for reading comprehension, while math teachers introduced a “word problem checklist” to help students past initial panic and freeze-up: read the problem, restate what it’s asking, identify variables, etc. 

“The sheer fact that kids have the ability to check something off allows them to feel that progress, to be a little bit more resilient with what’s in front of them, and hopefully get to that last check.” 

Teachers also offer morning drop-in office hours, usually more amenable to teen’s schedules, particularly those who work. 

Those who need to finish more credits to graduate than is possible during the school day attend a 6-week night school program. 

Cultural responsiveness in and out of the classroom

Innovations underway boil down to understanding students and their families — being culturally responsive. 

At Brooklyn Lab Charter, administrators, a few of whom spent years at larger network charters criticized for pushing students with disabilities out or cultivating rigid or racist cultures, embrace the bustle that comes with being a school.

Students are themselves in hallways — as loud or as quiet as they want to be. Through the glass walls of the once-office space, hugs, fist-bumps, waves and smiles abound. 

Though their adjustment to being fully back in person was challenging at first, students describe the environment as more engaging and challenging than their previous schools. That they still feel a sense of community, feel welcomed. 

When asked why, the differences that stick with them speak to their experiences and dreams:

In February, dozens of local Black professionals presented and met one on one with students at their first ever “Success Looks like Me” , shaped by student input. 

“It’s not everyday that you find somebody from Coney Island who’s up there,” said Brooklyn Lab Charter senior Jayla Eady, an aspiring dermatologist. “Being that we’re from the same place, it shows that I can do it, too.” 

Like all schools, Brooklyn Lab Charter is still working through challenges, including enrollment – which dropped by nearly 100 after they ended remote options this school year – and a $5 million decline in funding as ESSER funds expire in 2024. 

On the student side, attention spans are dwindling as students adjust to the daily grind.

“The only way to allow for the attention to come back is to make things culturally relevant, make things relevant to them and what they can literally walk outside of this building and utilize today,” added Mejia.

Eleventh graders in Karen Asiedu’s AP Environmental Science course, learned about blood diamonds, cocoa farming, food supply chains and the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in the weeks after the AP exam. 

Anaya, a senior, compared her experience of walking into the building to showing up for family Thanksgiving: even if you didn’t know everyone beforehand, you fit in, feel comfortable and look after each other. Coming to the Lab after being treated like a nerdy outcast at her last school felt like a fresh start, a place where, “I can maybe be who I am.” 

“I feel very confident that like everyone that we’re in class with now will not just walk across the stage but be given their diploma,” she said. “That’s what I like — I’m glad it’s a no one left behind type thing.”

Disclosure: The XQ Institute provides financial support to Brooklyn Lab High School and The 74.

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