Students Finally Get Big-Time Breakfast
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
By KAREN KELLER
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON -- The meal came six days late. But about 80
low-income students who completed a five-week summer work
force training program had their breakfast at The Brownstone,
after all.
Residents, businesses and community leaders donated close to
$1,000 to pay the tab for a Monday morning breakfast at the posh
catering hall after learning last week that the annual breakfast
had been canceled at the last minute by the Paterson school
district because of poor fiscal management, Board of Education
President Andre Sayegh said.
At 9:40 a.m., two yellow school buses rolled up to the
white-pillared entrance of The Brownstone on West Broadway.
The students streamed through the entrance, dotted with elegant
furniture and chandeliers.
"I want to live here," said Veneshia Smith, 14, as she glanced
around the room.
The group descended into a dining room with a winding staircase
in the corner and a buffet table holding scrambled eggs, bacon,
sausage, an assortment of pastries, doughnuts and mini muffins,
fresh juice and a fruit basket ranging from bananas to figs.
During the breakfast, a district spokeswoman read a note from
Schools Superintendent Michael Glascoe, who was on vacation,
according to Sayegh.
"I want to apologize to each and every one of you. (But) it is an
opportunity to celebrate what the Paterson community thinks of
you," said Jeanette S. Lyde, assistant schools superintendent,
who heads the high schools.
The school district administrative snafu caused several students
to buy two new outfits for the occasion -- one which they wore last
Wednesday, when they showed up at Eastside High School only to
find out that the breakfast had been canceled -- and a second
outfit was needed to wear on Monday for the real thing.
"We weren't about to wear the same outfit," Shacambria
Lawson, 15, said matter-of-factly.
Jasmine Townsend, 15, had tears in her eyes as she smiled,
motioning to her brown pants, quilted shoes with a bow, white,
brown and green shirt with yellow flowers, and gold hoop
earrings. They were all new for The Brownstone breakfast.
But she also recalled the negative emotions from last week when
the event was called off.
"We were so heartbroken," she said.
Last week, Sayegh said the school district business administrator
told officials that there were two problems with the scheduled
breakfast, originally set for last Wednesday. No one had filed a
purchase order for it. And the $13 per person cost for The
Brownstone was higher than government guidelines allowed,
which set a $5 per person ceiling for federally funded student
breakfasts, he said.
"There's so much instability here," said Sayegh, of the school
district, which has been under state control since 1991 for reasons
that include fiscal mismanagement, low standardized test scores
and infighting among school board members.
"Mistakes were made," Sayegh said.
But when word that the student breakfast was canceled got out,
donations from the community came quickly, said Sayegh, who
added he spearheaded the breakfast fundraising effort.
The Eastside Neighborhood Association handed over $400, and the
rest of the donations came from Board of Education members,
administrators and local businesses, he said.
During the five-week Career & Technical Education Workforce
Development Program, run by the Workforce Investment Board
of Passaic County, in collaboration with the Paterson school
district, students entering eighth- to 12th-grade, sharpened their
technology, math and language arts skills while learning about
careers from architecture to business, said Michelle Perry, the
school district's career education coordinator.
The students also earned paychecks and practiced real-world
professional skills like calling in when you're sick. Acceptance
into the development program was based on family income, Perry
said.
Quashawn Richardson, 15, a 4th Ward resident, dressed in a
smart, short-sleeved black shirt and black slacks, said he wanted
to be a lawyer. Richardson said he used his first paycheck to
purchase new dress shoes especially for the occasion.
"I had money left over, and they told us we were going to The
Brownstone," Richardson said.
Reach Karen Keller at 973- 569-7158 or
KellerK@northjersey.com.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
By KAREN KELLER
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON -- The meal came six days late. But about 80
low-income students who completed a five-week summer work
force training program had their breakfast at The Brownstone,
after all.
Residents, businesses and community leaders donated close to
$1,000 to pay the tab for a Monday morning breakfast at the posh
catering hall after learning last week that the annual breakfast
had been canceled at the last minute by the Paterson school
district because of poor fiscal management, Board of Education
President Andre Sayegh said.
At 9:40 a.m., two yellow school buses rolled up to the
white-pillared entrance of The Brownstone on West Broadway.
The students streamed through the entrance, dotted with elegant
furniture and chandeliers.
"I want to live here," said Veneshia Smith, 14, as she glanced
around the room.
The group descended into a dining room with a winding staircase
in the corner and a buffet table holding scrambled eggs, bacon,
sausage, an assortment of pastries, doughnuts and mini muffins,
fresh juice and a fruit basket ranging from bananas to figs.
During the breakfast, a district spokeswoman read a note from
Schools Superintendent Michael Glascoe, who was on vacation,
according to Sayegh.
"I want to apologize to each and every one of you. (But) it is an
opportunity to celebrate what the Paterson community thinks of
you," said Jeanette S. Lyde, assistant schools superintendent,
who heads the high schools.
The school district administrative snafu caused several students
to buy two new outfits for the occasion -- one which they wore last
Wednesday, when they showed up at Eastside High School only to
find out that the breakfast had been canceled -- and a second
outfit was needed to wear on Monday for the real thing.
"We weren't about to wear the same outfit," Shacambria
Lawson, 15, said matter-of-factly.
Jasmine Townsend, 15, had tears in her eyes as she smiled,
motioning to her brown pants, quilted shoes with a bow, white,
brown and green shirt with yellow flowers, and gold hoop
earrings. They were all new for The Brownstone breakfast.
But she also recalled the negative emotions from last week when
the event was called off.
"We were so heartbroken," she said.
Last week, Sayegh said the school district business administrator
told officials that there were two problems with the scheduled
breakfast, originally set for last Wednesday. No one had filed a
purchase order for it. And the $13 per person cost for The
Brownstone was higher than government guidelines allowed,
which set a $5 per person ceiling for federally funded student
breakfasts, he said.
"There's so much instability here," said Sayegh, of the school
district, which has been under state control since 1991 for reasons
that include fiscal mismanagement, low standardized test scores
and infighting among school board members.
"Mistakes were made," Sayegh said.
But when word that the student breakfast was canceled got out,
donations from the community came quickly, said Sayegh, who
added he spearheaded the breakfast fundraising effort.
The Eastside Neighborhood Association handed over $400, and the
rest of the donations came from Board of Education members,
administrators and local businesses, he said.
During the five-week Career & Technical Education Workforce
Development Program, run by the Workforce Investment Board
of Passaic County, in collaboration with the Paterson school
district, students entering eighth- to 12th-grade, sharpened their
technology, math and language arts skills while learning about
careers from architecture to business, said Michelle Perry, the
school district's career education coordinator.
The students also earned paychecks and practiced real-world
professional skills like calling in when you're sick. Acceptance
into the development program was based on family income, Perry
said.
Quashawn Richardson, 15, a 4th Ward resident, dressed in a
smart, short-sleeved black shirt and black slacks, said he wanted
to be a lawyer. Richardson said he used his first paycheck to
purchase new dress shoes especially for the occasion.
"I had money left over, and they told us we were going to The
Brownstone," Richardson said.
Reach Karen Keller at 973- 569-7158 or
KellerK@northjersey.com.
IN THE NEWS . . .
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ONE PEOPLE.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
Sayegh For The Sixth
Bringing Neighbors Together