Meet Tahmid and M.D., students at P.S. 182 in Jamaica, Queens, and their parents Mohiuddin and Humaiara.
In honor of Lunar New Year, they, along with 60 members of the P.S. 182 community, attended The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Lunar New Year Festival. Together, students and their families celebrated the Year of the Rabbit with performances, interactive activities, and artist-led workshops for all ages.
P.S. 182 is what is known as a Community School. The Child Center of NY is a leading provider of NYC Community Schools, where students receive high-quality academic instruction and extended learning opportunities. Our model of a truly embedded community-based organization provides the whole family with the support they need to thrive.
At The Child Center’s 13 Community Schools, we work in collaboration with school administrators to engage youth and families in every aspect of the school community and offer a variety of services and support—from school-based mental health centers to targeted attendance outreach, both of which significantly increase high school graduation rates. Our aim is to ensure students can succeed academically, socially, and emotionally, and graduate from high school with skills and confidence.
We celebrate that Mohiuddin and Humaiara are very active in their children’s school community. They are always willing to volunteer when needed and serve as positive role models to Tahmid and M.D. and their classmates. They represent what is best about Community Schools!
“It’s a great feeling, seeing our students and their families experience events that they are not used to or would not have the opportunity to see if it wasn’t for Community Schools,” says Ivanna Vazquez, community school director at P.S. 182. “Seeing the smiles on their faces is what makes doing what I do so rewarding.”
Out-of-school events like this Lunar New Year Festival at The Met are a prime example of our innovative programming. The Child Center fosters an open, inclusive learning environment at our Community Schools and we offer opportunities throughout the year for students to engage in cross-cultural exposure and understanding. To further our commitment to equity, diversity, and belonging, in July 2020, The Child Center created the Organizational Culture and Talent Development (OCTD) department. OCTD’s mission is to ensure that employees feel wholly safe and supported in the workplace. OCTD also supported the creation of an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Council to implement policies and training, and to promote consistent educational and advocacy initiatives. We also launched the EDIB Multicultural Committee to ensure we recognize—and celebrate—our diversity throughout the year. You can learn more by visiting our page on elevating EDIB in the workplace.
The Child Center prioritizes the safety, well-being, and interconnectedness of its community at large. The horrific violence at a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California, shows how much these efforts are needed. We condemn this violence in the strongest terms possible and have strengthened our resolve to deepen cross-cultural understanding in the communities we serve. We all have so much to learn from one another.
Lastly, we highlight that January also included myriad Child Center program celebrations of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service. See our MLK Day of Service photo album for ways our clients marked the day, and prepare to be inspired!
