In the Spotlight: St. Roch’s Road to Recovery

by Ted Hornick, Editor-in-Chief

Numerous independent associations have sprung up in distinct parts of New Orleans, each tying personal triumphs to the larger goals of city recovery. One of the most engaging stories of success is that of the St. Roch Project. For each month’s final Friday, the St. Roch Project organizes merchants, food vendors and musicians in the cozy neutral ground of St. Roch Avenue, where locals can laugh and dance the night away, together. November’s Friday on the Roch was not only the usual celebration – it was a step forward for the community, with the announcement of the St. Roch Walkway.
Pious Catholics associate St. Roch with combating plague – but on Friday, November 30, the New Orleans neighborhood with his name came to stand for another kind of renewal. Tulane University’s Partnership for an Active Community Environment (PACE) collaborated with the City of New Orleans to build a half-mile foot path on the neutral ground connecting Independent Square and the St. Roch Market. A survey of the area revealed that ninety-five percent of its residents would use the neutral ground if there were a walking path there. The space was made possible through a $50,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which allowed the group to construct the first two blocks. The New Orleans Office of Recovery Management was convinced by this construction to build four additional blocks and complete the walkway. Additional community groups are already fundraising to develop “public art displays” in support of the new foot path.
A superficial appraisal of St. Roch might leave one thinking that its historical contributions to the city surrounding it (such as being the birthplace of numerous jazz greats, including Jelly Roll Morton), are behind it. However, Dr. Jeanette Gustat, a steering committee member with PACE from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, sees the Path as a first component in a grander scheme of restoration for the city. She explained, “The city needs plans.” She elaborated on the relevance of the St. Roch Path to future plans by explaining similar events as the PACE Community Playspace, an open park located near St. Roch Avenue at Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School at St. Claude Avenue. Construction of the playground involved over 400 volunteers from across the country and equipment donated by ABC-Disney TV. Dr. Gustat spoke highly of the park, saying it could host “Forty-to-sixty kids at a time. We are limited only by time and sustainability.
“With this [the path] and the playground, we are very excited,” Dr. Gustat continued. “The speed at which things progressed boggled our minds! The luck of working with the ORM in one of their target zones allowed things to fall into place.” In addition to Dr. Gustat, speakers at the event included Kina Joshua, a Coordinator with Fridays on the Roch, Dr. Ed Blakely, Director of the Office of Recovery Management, and Robert Mendoza of the Department of Public Works. Dr. Blakely opened his remarks by speaking to the importance of the event, saying “Small things mean a lot, and this is a big step for the recovery effort.” Regarding the numerous contributors to the event, Dr. Blakely emphasized that, “People made a real big difference.”
Robert Mendoza’s comments on the event were more modest, but no less aware of the path’s relevance: “This is a simple concept put to use. St. Roch will get many years of service out of this.” He was also certain to acknowledge the private contractors for the event, Hard Rock Construction.
Mr. Kenneth Ferdinand of the French Market Corporation could only joke at the podium, “We know how to do markets, we think. We’re happy to provide technical assistance to our neighbors, [and] you all are.”
Kina Joshua spoke in place of St, Roch organizer Greta Gladney. In Ms. Gladney’s place, she acknowledged a number of contributors, including the Mayor’s Office, Councilman James Carter and Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, Parks and Parkways and the New Orleans Police Department’s Quality of Life Officers. As she left the stage, she jokingly added, “I cut it short, believe me!” Afterwards, it was time for, in Robert Mendoza’s words, the “Officials to cut the official ribbon on the official path and put it to official use!”
Perhaps the most candid and inspirational remarks of the evening were Dr. Blakely’s words for all of New Orleans: “We’re going to put it all together.” The St. Roch Walkway is open and ready for the city of New Orleans.

DEAD SOLDIER WALKING
by John A. Barber

DEAD SOLDIER WALKING
DOWN THE ROAD
KILLED IN A BAGHDAD ALLEY
HIS COMRADES, GOING TO MEET
NAME- CHARLES MILLER
FROM NEW YORK CITY
HIS FATHER- A COP

DEAD SOLDIER WALKING
DOWN THE ROAD
KILLED BY A BOOBY TRAP
AT NIGHT, IN A JUNGLE
IN A VIETNAMESE TRAP
NAME- WILLIAM SMITH
FROM UTAH CITY, UTAH
HIS FATHER - A PREACHER

DEAD MAN WALKING
DOWN THE ROAD
STRAFING BULLETS FROM A MESSERSCHMIDT
BUDDIES, A MILE AWAY
NAME RAYMOND RED CLOUD
SON OF A NAVAHO SHAMAN
NO WIFE- NO CHILDREN

DEAD MAN WALKING
DOW THE ROAD
KILLED ON AN ALABAMA HILL
BULLET FROM A YANKEE SOLDIER
BURIED RIGHT THERE
NOBODY KNEW OF IT
NAME ANDREW LEWIS
FROM MONTGOMERY ALABAMA

DEAD SOLDIER WALKING
DOWN THE ROAD
5/24/06

Stay Local: Curb Side Recycling, Thanks to Phoenix 

Will Lavender, Phoenix Recycling

Phoenix Recycling owners David McDonough and Steven O’Connor are committed to the local economy and environment, making their company one of the most ecologically exciting businesses in the Greater New Orleans area today. Office chatter these days among early adopters of the curbside service is about the reliability as well as the expanded types of papers, plastics, and metals that Phoenix collects. The free, but limited recycling provided by the city pre-Katrina did not.
It may come as a surprise that Phoenix Recycling has been operating since 1991. McDonough. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1989, McDonough moved back to New Orleans and was puzzled at the lack of recycling options. He began making plans to start his own recycling company, before learning that the City of New Orleans had began itsown. Phoenix switched its focus to commercial recycling.
Shortly before Hurricane Katrina, McDonough followed his ex-wife and children to Atlanta. After the storm, during a visit to New Orleans for Jazzfest, McDonough had dinner with Steven O’Connor, again discussing the lack of recycling options in New Orleans. After sending out a few emails to test the waters, and receiving very positive responses, McDonough decided to commute to New Orleans, and Phoenix began its residential recycling service.
Business has been booming for Phoenix ever since. In fact, it has been so overwhelming that McDonough and O’Connor have been riding the trucks themselves in order to keep up. Phoenix has the support and cooperation of the City of New Orleans and the Sanitation Department. Although some of private waste haulers, such as SDT and Richard’s, accidentally picked up the recycling bins as the program started, they have also been responsive in the wake of such large-scale support for the recycling program.
That’s not to say there haven’t been some larger setbacks. Phoenix, with only two trucks for the residential routes and one for the commercial, purchased a used curbside truck, which turned out to be a costly mistake. The truck spent much more time with the mechanic than on the street, explaining why Phoenix has been spotted making pickups in rented vehicles. There has also been some skepticism from residents who received free recycling services from the city before the storm, and are now paying monthly fees to a private company which then sells those same materials. In the month of August, Phoenix’s residential program picked up twenty tons of materials and grossed only $567. This figure does not include the cost of transporting these materials to the closest sorting facility in Baton Rouge.
Phoenix Recycling has big plans for the future. While the commercial side of Phoenix runs on a traditional business model, the residential side is less conventional. McDonough and O’Connor plan to gather as much material as possible, and expand the service as quickly as possible. The greater the number of customers, the less the monthly fee will be. Prices will lower as break-even points are reached.
Phoenix would also like to build their own sorting facility here in New Orleans. This would also lower the cost of residential pickup, saving the company the expenses of transporting the materials to a Baton Rouge material recovery facility. A local sorting facility would also provide more Phoenix jobs and a manned dropoff center. While unmanned dropoff centers have proven to be dangerous (toxic materials and even loaded guns have been found in these unsupervised sites), a staffed dropoff center would allow the public to recycle normally difficult items, such as fluorescent light bulbs and used automobile oil filters.
More than just a recycling service, Phoenix would like to be an educational and environmental resource, as well as supporting and recognizing other people and organizations that are doing similar things. As soon as there are established options, all the trucks in the Phoenix stable will run on biodiesel (see http://www.nobifuel.com/ for more information). “There are many progressive things happening in the waste management business right now,” says McDonough,”and we’d like to bring some of those things to New Orleans.”
Price for residential service is $15 per month, with a $1 discount for members of neighborhood associations. See http://www.phoenixrecyclingnola.com for a sign up sheet, a route map and schedule, a materials list, and a description of the service. Contact Phoenix through phoenix.recycling@gmail.com or at (504)914-0739.

Giving Thanks, Giving Back

Marsha Wall
French Quarter Writer

Oprah Winfrey once said “If the only prayer you ever say is ‘thank you,’ that is enough.” That is especially true when gratitude leads to action. Two community leaders, Deanne DePass Feaster and Sherran Thomas, understand this principle well. Through their works, they give thanks to those who came before them by inspiring, motivating and serving others.
Feaster is the owner and operator of Studio 13, an exercise and wellness studio she calls the “miracle center.” It is located at 4300 Dumaine St. at the corner of Henessey near City Park in Mid-City. Feaster, the director of Liberation Spirit Wellness and a Certified Wellness Professional, Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer with over 30 years experience, opened this studio as a way of serving the needs of the community. She says that the studio “is not my space. It is a community space. It is a non-competitive environment where people can heal from Katrina.” To her way of thinking, “the mind, body, and spirit are all one thing.” She uses fitness as a vehicle to help people work through their issues and examine the foundational causes that prevent them from achieving their wellness goals. She provides clients with “the tools, training and resources necessary to assist them in attaining overall health and wellness.”
To know Feaster is to understand that she is a deeply spiritual person who is thankful for everything in her life. She sees her brother, father, grandmother and Spirit as the foundation of her success. On Saturday, October 13 at the grand opening of Studio 13, Feaster radiated gratitude. She gathered with family, friends, and future clients to give blessings and thanks. This group of about 30 people formed a circle and held hands as Feaster prayed and invoked the power of Spirit. She proclaimed that, “the Creator has something here for you.” Tears of joy came to her eyes as she began to sing “Order My Steps,” a gospel tune that asks God for help in living a life of honor and service. Soon, the diverse group of Black, white, Asian, young and old, male and female joined her in her revelry, clapping hands, stomping feet, and singing proudly. Feaster then proceeded to enter the center of the circle. Still singing praises, she danced with her arms open wide to the heavens, encouraging everyone to lift their spirits up high. “I say thank you because I couldn’t do it without you all,” she said, speaking as much to the Spirit as to everyone assembled.
It is this immense sense of gratitude that fuels Feaster’s desire to realize the full potential of Studio 13. Currently, group exercise classes featuring yoga, Pilates, samba reggae, dance and cardio pump are offered by a total of four instructors. Personal training is also available. In the future, more fun, exciting, and challenging courses and workshops will be given as the studio evolves. Right now, weights, exercise balls, yoga mats, and an elliptical trainer round out the tools needed for a total body workout.
The studio’s bookshelf is filled with inspirational and self-help titles such as Joel Olsten’s “Live Your Best Life Now,” and Les Brown’s “Live Your Dreams.” Feaster’s own CD, “Finding Peace After the Storm: A Guided Meditation” is another tool clients can use on their journey to wholeness.
Beginning October 17th, Studio 13 will host “Wine and Cheese Wednesdays,” social gatherings where people can get more information about the studio. For spiritual lagniappe, each week Feaster will discuss one of her philosophies of exercise and wellness. All “Wine and Cheese Wednesdays” are offered on a complementary basis to the community and begin at 7:30 p.m.
To celebrate All Saints Day, Studio 13 is hosting a dance to honor the ancestors. All are welcome to attend this event free of charge. Feaster invites everyone to pay respect and give thanks to the ones who came before us, to the ones whose love and sacrifices make our lives possible today. The community dance will take place on Thursday, November 1, at 8:00 p.m. This is your chance to see for yourself how the attitude of gratitude can transform your life.
Sherran Thomas is another community leader who, like Feaster, has channeled her sense of gratitude into community service. During the past nine months, Thomas raised over one thousand dollars to have a plaque made to honor the life and work of Charlene Schneider, an advocate and champion of human rights who died last December after a battle with cancer. Thomas, grateful to Schneider for her work and dedication to the community, wanted to honor the life of someone so selfless and daring. “I like what she stood for, helping other people,” Thomas said. To understand the fiery passion behind Thomas’ sense of thankfulness, one must first understand what Charlene Schneider meant to the people of New Orleans.
A native of Mississippi, Charlene, as she was known to all, opened up a women’s bar at 940 Elysian Fields in 1977. It was simply named “Charlene’s.” According to Thomas, she wanted a place where the gay women in our community could feel safe. Thomas recalls that “back in the day,” Charlene would stand alone on the dark corner of Elysian and N. Rampart all night as customers came and went. She used to say, “I’m watchin’ my girls.” As Thomas put it, “she was being a mama.”
Charlene ran her bar for 22 years, but she was much more than a bar owner. She helped people in need, gay or straight. Over the years, she raised funds for many groups, including Buzzy’s Boys and Lazarus House, two AIDS-related organizations. Back in the 70s, when the streets of New Orleans were not safe for gay and lesbian people, she was unafraid to march on the steps of City Hall to demand fair treatment. Each year at Christmas, Charlene collected food, toys, and money for families in need. At her memorial in December of 2006, former councilman Oliver Thomas revealed that his family, a family of eight children and limited means, was one of the beneficiaries of Charlene’s selfless giving.
Charlene loved all of humanity and helped others as much as she could because it was the right thing to do. When she and Linda Tucker, her partner of 20 years, returned to Mississippi after the closing of the bar, they started Pride with a Purpose, an annual festival designed to help low-income women get mammograms and to raise awareness about issues related to breast cancer. Tucker’s own family suffered losses due to breast cancer. Last year was the first year that Tucker ran Pride with a Purpose without Charlene, but she plans to continue doing so “as long as I can breath,” she said.
As a testimony to the number of lives Charlene touched, nearly two hundred people attended her memorial service (held at New Life Community Church at 3157 Dauphine in the Bywater). Politicians, community leaders, local historians, and her loyal customers were all there. “People were standing in the hallway,” Thomas reported. Clearly, Charlene’s life and work meant a lot to a lot of people.
“She was a great asset to my life” Thomas reflected. That is why she felt so compelled to honor Charlene with a memorial plaque. Hundreds of other people who felt similarly gathered on Saturday, October 13th to celebrate, remember, and honor Charlene as her plaque was unveiled at 940 Elysian Fields (now the home of a bar called John Paul’s). People came from Houston, Mobile, and points in between to be a part of the historic moment. Like Thomas, they understood that the freedom they enjoy today is a direct result of Charlene’s bravery and hard work.
Although important and monumental, Charlene’s plaque is just one of the ways Thomas honors the work of her (s)hero. As the founder and president of Warm Hearts for Women, Thomas assists women and children who face financial difficulties. She realizes that a community cannot be whole if some of its members are shut out. Like Charlene, Thomas knows that it is one thing to champion the idea of unity and quite another to do the work required to make that unity possible for all.
Warm Hearts for Women’s next project surrounds the issue of health care. Thomas hopes to work with an insurance broker to secure a group rate for the countless uninsured and underinsured women in our community. Warm Hearts for Women needs funding and volunteers “to continue the work that Charlene started.”
It can be said that being thankful and giving thanks are not the same thing. Both Feaster and Thomas understand that our city’s recovery depends on individual action. Together, they demonstrate how people and communities can be healed when gratitude is expressed through service.

To learn more about Studio 13, call Deanne at 504-236-9968.
To learn more about Warm Hearts for Women, call Sherran at 504-838-6151.
Pride with a Purpose takes place in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi the Friday and Saturday of Father’s Day weekend each year. To learn more about the festival, contact Linda Tucker at 10001 Oliver Rd. Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 or e-mail her at ltuckerbsl@aol.com
Marcia Wall is a writer and photographer living in the French Quarter. This is her first article for The Trumpet. She can be reached via e-mail at wallmarcia@hotmail.com. Her website is www.seeitmywayphoto.com.

A Space for Peace

By Laura Pavicevic-Johnston

Uncle Lionel’s token wristwatch glistens from the top of his hand as he keeps beat with the Blind Boys of Alabama at St. Augustines.  Hours later, white, red, yellow and black flash in blurs of buoyant color as the dancers of the Kombuka African Drum and Dance Company spin to a mad drum beat.
Such was the scene at the Congo Square Rhythm Festival held on Sunday, September 30th.  The festival brought together musicians, dance collectives, poets, chefs, storytellers and people in a whirl of positive energy.
“When you hear music and perform it transforms you.  It’s seemingly magical, but science proves it too.  Something changes in you,” says Ausettua Amor Amenkum, a performer with the Kombuka Collective who has organized the event in the past.  Get to know Ausettua and you will be moved by her grace, her knowledge, and the power behind what she says.  Her hair, if let out, would likely root her to Mother Earth.  She speaks with some gravel in her voice, “When you perform, that space has been made better.”
In the early days of New Orleans, Congo Square exemplified this transition.  Previously swamp lands on the fringe of town, it was a place where African slaves were allowed to come one day a week—largely unsupervised—to make music, dance and trade.  Ausettua explains “Through all that exchange, Congo Square was significant to New Orleans as a space for peace.”  This year, the festival kicked off at St. Augustine’s Cathedral with a special guest appearance from the Grammy award-winning Blind Boys of Alabama.  It was my first time in the cathedral, and as I listened to the Priest, I was also elevated by the sight before me: white people in fancy suits, black people in fancy suits, black people in African prints, white people in African prints, punks covered with neck tattoos, babies and a few people so old they probably couldn’t see any of it.  Then again, seeing wasn’t really necessary, because the energy and the sound could take you anywhere.
Amenkum sees significance in that cultural exchange as well.  “Back in the 17-1800’s, when Louisiana was forming, you know it was so harsh.  It was rough on the Europeans, rough on the Africans, and rough on the Native Americans.  If it hadn’t been for all those people coming together they wouldn’t have survived,” she says.  “There was institutionalized racism, yeah, but daily life dictated that you got along.”
During the sermon, as the Priest lamented the woes of New Orleans, I wondered if and how this vibrant energy could be used as a tool.  “Music and art help you to tolerate those problems without being hopeless,” says Ausettua Amenkum.  “It is the culture that shows you there’s still a way.” As she speaks she radiates that same powerful energy that can be seen in her dance.  “Through that unity, through respect for cultures and preservation, through dancing, and good food, we can pull New Orleans to a better place than it was before.”
Her conviction leaves me doubtless that the soul of our city can comfort the world.  And if not, Sunday at the Square elevated me and left me with a deeper understanding of where this unique spirit comes from.  Events like this can’t explain the ever growing problems of our city, but they can explain why we all stay, and show us how we can thrive.
Thanks to organizations like the Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Congo Square Foundation and countless other preservation, dance and music associations throughout our city—not to mention independent artists—New Orleans culture is guarded, preserved, and most importantly, made accessible.  Life here isn’t about watching a show- it’s about feeling that show and giving some energy, zest and dance back to that performer.  I think we do it here better than anyone.
A fortune teller on Jackson Square once told me that people who drink the water in New Orleans can’t leave because Marie Laveau put something in the river.  Perhaps, but I think it’s even deeper than that.  There is a soul here that is older than all of us and makes itself known through music and dance; that positive expression has the power to change a space and those in it.  That power makes this place better.

Letter From the Editor
The Katrina Index
Community Events
Corrections
Side Notes

High Performance Building Solutions

Poetry
Untitled

Neighborhood Voices
Washing Away Racism
Incentives for Workforce Training
Re-establishing Your Personal Finances
Lessons For Urban Planners From the Birth of the Americas

Green Orleans
Revive New Orleans Flora
Parkway Partners Needs Your Help to ReLeaf New Orleans
Senate Hearing on NOLA Debris Management
Renewable Energy for New Orleans?
Insulation Installation
Rapidly Renewable Flooring
Low Cost Green Building Strategies
10 Ideas to Save Our Environment and Your Wallet

The People In Your Neighborhood
Free Clinic Listing
Lower Ninth Health Clinic Opens
Re: UNOP City Wide Recovery Plan
President Bush and the White Family at Green Charter School
Kool
Do We Need Watching?
Public Safety Rangers

Transient Blues
What About New Orleans’ Newest Citizens?

In the Spotlight
The Historic Seventh Ward is the Backbone of New Orleans
7th Ward Photo Album
The Porch

Youth Center
Our Friend 2 Tall

Here in our third edition of The Trumpet, a new and different monthly neighborhood newspaper for New Orleans, we’ve included a new section called “Green Orleans” (starting on page 8). This section was born from the massive amount of environment-related submissions we’ve received. And we’re proud to present it.The Trumpet, too, is organic. Yes, it’s made of paper, but it’s organic in another big way.

Neighborhoods Partnership Network, the creator of The Trumpet, was born out of a need to bring neighborhoods together. And since its beginning it has grown organically. Like a gardener and her harvest, New Orleans’ neighborhoods shape it by their needs.

First, it was Wednesday Night Forums (see page 5 for a calendar). Then, it was a Festival of Neighborhoods (check out page 12 for information on the next Festival). Next, it was a website (npnnola.com) and e-newsletters.

And now it’s a neighborhood newspaper made entirely of submissions from the
community, The Trumpet. This paper was born from the need for neighborhoods to communicate with each other in order to learn from each other and help each other out. We’re just naturally organic. Shape us with your stories and photos, your poems and opinions, and make this paper grow!

Travis Leger
Editor-in-Chief, The Trumpet

City workers cleaning up Claiborne

Students Eyshana Webster and Elijah McDonald in front of John McDonogh on Esplanade

Calvin putting up a new fence at the soon to be opened Caribbean Club on Bayou Road.

Mike and Ike’s Grocery is a beacon on Pauger Street .

Vera Warren-Williams in front of Community Book Center on Bayou Road

Across from the St. Bernard projects, a man cleans up in front of his house.

The Circle Food Store is a landmark at the corner of Claiborne and St. Bernard.

St. Bernard housing projects still uninhabited

St. Martin Manor and the bashed-in gate in front

Return to Issue #3, March 2007

By Josie Bingler and Lucy Tucker

Rethink

India Young, Fyre Youth Squad member, left, Floyd Allen (2-Tall), center, and Broderick Webb, an adult Fire Youth Squad supporter, right, at the news conference held outside the BESE offices last January.

Editors Note: The printed copy of this article appeared with a significant error. The italicized portion signaling adult writing was converted to normal text thus erasing the line between the teen and adult writing. We at the Trumpet apologize for this error and present the article in its intended form with italics signaling adult writing.

On January 16, 2007, the Downtown Neighborhood Improvement Association and an activist youth group called the Fyre Youth Squad traveled to Baton Rouge with a message for the BESE Board (State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education). New Orleans’ public school education, the Youth Squad said, is in critical condition. To rectify the situation, they made four demands to “stop the bleeding”: A two–year moratorium on keeping kids back who fail the LEAP test; make the student / teacher ratio 15 to 1; lower the number of security guards and replace them with counselors and social workers; provide all services to special needs students specified under the law.

Supporting the last demand, the two organizations presented a position paper that said in part, “Teachers complain that discipline is out of control. This chaos has resulted in many students with disabilities being suspended and expelled from school. The Recovery School District responded to teachers’ cries by opening the Schwartz Alternative School. Within one month of its opening, half of the student body at Schwartz were students identified as needing special education services. Many more were suspected of needing those services. Clearly the lack of services for those students led to expulsions at a higher rate than their non-disabled peers.”

After the BESE Board met that wintry day in January, the Fyre Youth Squad held an outdoor news conference. Several busloads of kids from New Orleans crowded around them, holding banners with messages like, “No more LEAP!”, “I’m not
a prisoner, stop treating me like I’m in a prison,” and “I need more help.” Among the young speakers was a John McDonogh special education student named Floyd Allen, known to his friends as “2 Tall.”

We met 2 Tall on a bus going to Baton Rouge. The Rethinkers were traveling to Baton Rouge to learn about the BESE Board, the group that controls our public schools. We went to learn, but more than anything else, we went to support the kids from the Fyre Youth Squad, who were holding a news conference after the BESE Board meeting.

2 Tall is a member of FYS.

We were shocked when we first met 2 Tall. He was 6’9”—the tallest person we had ever seen. He told us “2 Tall” was one of his 500 nicknames. People also call him 2K, Yamine, Giraffe, Shaq Jr., and a whole bunch of other names we can’t remember. He was cool and a lot of fun. We sat with him all the way to Baton Rouge and all the way back to New Orleans.

Here is what 2 Tall told the crowd at the news conference:

“Hello, my name is Floyd Allen. I’m in the 11^th grade and I attend John McDonogh High School in New Orleans. I’m part of the Fyre Youth Squad. I’ve come here today to talk about the gifted and talented students. When I say gifted and talented, I mean students with special needs!

“But first let me tell you about my story. I was in regular classes as a child. From 6^th grade until now I have been in special education.

“I don’t know where my individual education plan is. They were planning to have an IEP meeting at Clark High School, but they didn’t. The last time I had an IEP meeting was in the 2004-2005 school year.

“I take 7 classes. I heard that we had some teachers that are supposed to help us with our special needs, but I haven’t seen them in the classrooms.

“In the first quarter I went to the counselor’s office to ask about the gifted teachers, to see if they would help us because there is more than one gifted student in my
classroom.

“The counselor told me to go to the gifted teacher, and I went. They said they didn’t even know I was in special Ed! They said they were going to find someone to come and help me in my class. I never saw the gifted teacher in my classroom.

“According to Article 8 of the Louisiana Constitution, public school education was designed to promote excellence so that everyone may be afforded an equal opportunity to develop his or her potential.

“In some classrooms, gifted students are being treated as inferior! It came to me that you all get more money for gifted students than for regular Ed students. I don’t see anything going on with that money.

“The state has not given or provided us with an equal opportunity to develop to our full potential. Gifted students might have some learning disabilities, but hands-on training will help us inside and outside the classroom.

“These are our demands: We demand a resource room! We demand special teachers who are equipped to handle children with special needs! Where are the people who are supposed to be reading my tests to me?

“I have one more suspension before I get expelled. One was for walking out of my class because no one was helping me. One was for cursing, even though I wasn’t cursing. My third suspension was for whistling. I have no plan to help me with my behavior. In Lafayette [where 2 Tall was evacuated] at least I had a shrink to talk to.

“For those gifted students who have problems with their behavior, we demand to have somebody to talk to. We demand hands-on training because it would benefit us and help us so we don’t get frustrated and want to fight.

“We need a better environment and we need it need it ASAP!!!

“Thank you very much for your time.”

Hey, 2 Tall, if you’re reading this, we want you to know that we’re proud of you and all our big brothers and sisters at the Fyre Youth Squad. You did a great job at the news conference and we were glad to support you. Standing there with our banners, we realized that all of us kids have the same goal: a great public school education for everyone in New Orleans.

After the BESE Board meeting and news conference in January, BESE voted to ask the Recovery School District to respond to the demands made by the Fyre Youth Squad and the Downtown Neighborhood Improvement Association. Specifically, BESE asked the RSD to present an implementation plan for the four demands, or else reasons why plans could not be made. The RSD responded with a document making a number of recommendations—one that 4^th and 8^th graders who fail LEAP over the next two years advance to the next grade. A second recommendation specified that special students have resource rooms and individual assistance.

BESE postponed the vote on the RSD recommendations until April. Please contact Broderick at DNIA (504-615-5497) and Briana at FYS (504-281-5419) to learn how you can support their demands to “stop the bleeding” in our public schools.

Return to Issue #3, March 2007