U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Friday at the final stop of a back-to-school bus tour at the newly renovated Camden High School as students recover academically and socially from classroom time lost during the coronavirus pandemic. We discussed the need to help
“The children have suffered enough over the past two years,” he said.
Joined by Michael D. Smith, Head of AmeriCorps, he spoke enthusiastically about increasing tutoring efforts.
Other destinations on his tour this week included Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Camden Station featured the National Partnership for Student Success, a new coalition recruiting 250,000 new tutors and mentors across the country. Locally, Camden High School has partnered with a group called 12+ to help students explore college and career options.
Earlier, educators visited Boys & Girls Clubs in Camden County. The club partnered with the New Jersey Tutoring Corps to provide students with effective summer tutoring.
In high school, Cardona served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross, Acting State Board of Education Angelica Allen McMillan, Camden Municipal Schools Superintendent Katrina T. McCombs, Mayor Vic Carsterfen, and Board of Education. Joined Wasim Muhammad as chairman of the Society.
They attended classes on careers with David Nelsrop and Anthony Reed and heard student Shania Edmondson give a presentation about joining the military. She talked about her ROTC program and tuition reimbursement, in a room adorned with college pennants.
“It also teaches you how to be a better citizen,” she said of the service.
Visitors heard how the nonprofit Family Service Center and 12+ helped students write college applications, find scholarships, and complete financial aid forms.
Cardona then told the press, “I love walking into high school and seeing the school system and partnerships with groups like 12+ talking about careers and college pathways.” rice field.
“I want to be clear about what options they have,” he said. He thanked Norcross for helping him with $2.7 billion in funding for his plan American Rescue. “We want to use them to make sure students not only recover, but grow.”
Cardona said doubling down on providing more opportunities to students is important. He praised school districts for using pandemic relief funds for smaller classes, preschool and afterschool programs, additional social workers, family liaisons, and social and emotional well-being programs.
Allen-McMillan talked about $100 million in the state budget to support tutoring.
“We are calling on these communities to serve as tutors and help provide them with vocational study programs,” she said.
Norcross thanked the Biden administration for reaching out “to all Americans, not just people in a particular zip code,” and said the new high school has much to say about the need to care for everyone in the country. I pointed out that I was talking about
Our journalism needs your support.SUBSCRIBE TODAY NJ.com.
To contact Tina Kelly: tkelley@njadvancemedia.com.