Listen to “Diamonds in the South Bronx” on Spreaker.
By: Paul Sladkus
Located in the Crotona Park section in the South Bronx sits a hidden gem in
Bronx Prep High School, a representative of the Democracy Prep charter system.
On a rainy April evening the clouds parted and the sun shined for a group of
students who were given the opportunity to be front and center for a
performance of Romeo & Juliet at the Metropolitan Opera as well as we’re given
an opportunity to meet with members of the MET team for a “behind the scenes”
adventure within the arts.
School leadership led by Principal, Cassius Gil has set Bronx Prep apart from the
rest of the D.O.E. through offering opportunities that many NYC students are not
afforded. ““I am very very happy to be able to send kids to an incredible
experience at the Metropolitan Opera and be able to watch Romeo &
Juliet. Teachers jumped at it, kids jumped at the chance”. Gil went on to say, “one
child, when she came back, told me at the end of it that she stood up and cried”.
MET representative, Jess Medoff, discussed career opportunities and answered
questions to an audience of bright-eyed high schoolers from Bronx Prep, thrilled
at having seen a performance that they all proclaimed exceeded their wildest
expectations.
BP senior, Shenoa Urbaez Romero states, “Going to the Met has been one of the
best experiences I have had all year, I was able to explore an artistic environment
that I had dreamed of visiting”.
By all accounts, this event came to pass through a leader who quietly works with
these students on a regular basis as a guest teacher in addition to his regular job
as the Chief Financial Officer of the international investment platform, Alpha
Innovations. Philanthropist and champion for kids / for the arts, Gene Fisch, Jr.,
when asked of his motivation to orchestrate this endeavor stated that, “We grow
through being exposed to opportunities and kids just need that chance, the
chance to fall in love with music, with set design, with lighting. It is one thing to
read Romeo & Juliet, now let us immerse them into the experience! Have them
close their eyes and let the words permeate throughout their bodies! Bam! You
fall in love! Let’s show kids a world of awesomeness that transcends the
neighborhood”.
Democracy Prep’s system includes twelve schools across Harlem and the Bronx in
NYC as well as campuses in Nevada and Texas.
While interviewing the students we saw that most had never seen a performance
of this nature, not because they would not want to, the opportunity had just not
been afforded to them. Society and the educational system typically fall short
when including all its young people the opportunity to experience
possibilities. Such a substantial portion of NYC’s students struggle in the core
areas of education which becomes a tremendous obstacle to overcome. A recent
article by Julian Shen-Berro in Chalkbeat stated that “Roughly 50% proficient on
reading, math exams, data shows”. “Though 51.7% of the city’s third through
eighth grade students were considered on grade level based on their reading
exam scores, and 49.9% were on grade level for math, student performances
diverged across grades. Eighth grade students, for example, fared worse on math
exams — with just 42.3% achieving proficiency, compared to 55% of third
graders.”
It is through the efforts of institutions such as Bronx Prep and leaders such as
Cassius Gil and Gene Fisch, Jr. that can help improve upon these results and
overcome the deficiencies within the system.
Gene Fisch, Jr. went on to say, “kids learn from what they hear and sometimes
make pre-judgements based on how people look or what culture they come
from. Maybe if we educate children to judge people by their actions towards
them versus what they are told to believe the heritages represent, society will be
the better for it and we can eliminate a small portion of hate in the world.”
Drop the mic.
Kudos to Gene Fisch Jr, and the entire community of Democracy Prep. All are
diamonds in the South Bronx
#diamondsouthbronx #genefischjr #genefisch #paulsladkus
