OUR STUDENTS
Student Profiles
Jamel
TEAM Academy, Class of 2013
Jamel entered his name in TEAM Academy’s lottery after he heard about the school from a family friend. He realized he was neither being challenged at his current school nor receiving the support he needed in difficult subject areas. Even though he was about to start the seventh grade (two years after TEAM’s usual fifth grade entry point), he recognized the significant impact TEAM could have on his future. Jamel believed so much in that impact that when he found out he had to repeat the sixth grade because he was not on grade level, he recalled, “I was really surprised, but it inspired me to do more. I knew if I repeated the sixth grade, I’d have a better future having done all the work I needed to, instead of heading into seventh grade unprepared.” Now in eighth grade, Jamel says, “It’s hand in hand. I’m doing the work, staying with my class, and I am on the road to college.”
Zahnik
Rise Academy, Class of 2014
When Zahnik first met Mr. Martin, the school leader of Rise Academy, she thought she would never like the school’s extended days and extensive rules. Now in her third year at Rise, Zahnik says it is not just a school, it is a family to which she happily belongs.
Last year, thanks to Zahnik’s hard work and persistence and the support of her teacher, Ms. Bassi, she progressed a remarkable three grade levels in reading in one year. Starting on a fourth grade level, she surpassed her own grade to a seventh grade level.
Zahnik believes Rise Academy is having a tremendous ripple effect in the community it serves. She says, “Rise affects not just the students, but also their families and community overall. I believe that when you come here, it changes your perspective on life, no matter who you are. More TEAM Schools will make Newark a better place in general because TEAM students want to change themselves, improve themselves, and change and improve what’s around them.”
Chris
Newark Collegiate Academy, Class of 2012
Chris didn’t like the rules or hard work when he first started at TEAM. He did everything he could to resist the culture of achievement. Chris’ seventh grade science teacher, Ms. Winbush, set out to change all of that. She helped Chris after school with his homework, appointed him unofficial ‘zoo keeper’ for her science lab full of animals, let him select animals to add to the lab, and went above and beyond to help Chris realize his full potential.
Chris is now a standout student in ninth grade at NCA and on the path to college. Reflecting on what school and the prospect of college meant before TEAM, he says, “School used to be a place where I went to see my friends and get into trouble. College was always on my mind, but it didn’t seem possible. It was like I was trying to get onto the highway without a vehicle. I knew I wanted to get to that destination, but I didn’t have, or didn’t give myself, a vehicle to get there. That’s what I’m doing now.”
Four Lessons Learned: A Student’s Perspective
There are many lessons that I learned at TEAM Academy that have shaped me into the person I am today. I have even carried these lessons on into my life at St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island.
Kinyette
CLASS OF 2010
Lesson 1: You Must Earn It
Fifth grade at TEAM was dynamic. It taught me one of the greatest lessons that I have ever learned: that everything must be earned and that it’s not easy. As a nine-year-old, you have to work hard and earn everything, like your TEAM Academy shirt. At St. George’s, I had to earn my spot also. I had to struggle and show everyone that I deserved to be there and because of this lesson I wasn’t expecting to be given that as a right.
Lesson 2: Be the Change You Wish to See in the World
During sixth and seventh grades our mission changed. It evolved from “going to college” into something much more meaningful: changing the world. When I first heard that phrase at Friday assembly, I looked up at Mr. Hill and thought that he must be nuts to think that a group of 80 10-year-olds could change the entire world, yet there was a thought in the back of my head that actually thought we could do it. TEAM had already started changing our immediate world in Newark by saving inner city kids from failing schools and with that large leap this new goal didn’t seem too far away.
Lesson 3: Take the Road Less Traveled
High school was quickly approaching and I hadn’t really thought about what my next step was until one day Ms. Morris spoke about boarding school. Before I learned what boarding school was, I thought it was an institution for poorly behaved kids. As we spoke more about it I became more interested, especially when she said I could go for free! I was stunned that people would actually pay for me to go to their school. The next day I had a draft of an application to The Wight Foundation scholarship program in downtown Newark. As this process moved on I had a flashback of Mr. Hill reading a poem by Robert Frost. It described a character in the woods trying to figure out what path to take, and he chose the one no one ever chooses. He took the road less traveled, and by attending St. George’s, so am I.
Lesson 4: You’re Not Done YET
Even as a rising sophomore at St. George’s I realize that I still have so much more of this mountain to climb. I’ve come so far but I still have so much more to learn. When I was at TEAM, we always had a chance and if you didn’t succeed the first time our teachers would just say, “Okay you just didn’t get it yet,” but at some point you would. Every time I’m having trouble in class or struggling with an assignment I just think, ”It’s not over – you just didn’t get it YET.” TEAM is so much more than a school. Even though I’m an alumna I still use all the tools I was taught at TEAM. It’s my foundation and my second home.