The 74 Million – Mareesa Nicosia
“A kindergartner in Latoya Newton’s class at P.S. 314 in the South Bronx used to cry and scream for hours from the moment she arrived at school each day, disrupting the entire class. That was last year. This year, Newton, a special education teacher who followed her students from kindergarten to first grade, reports a dramatic change in the little girl’s behavior. “She’s now able to sit on the rug and participate in the classroom and is a part of the classroom community, whereas before she didn’t feel that way,” said Newton, who is in her second year of teaching. “It’s a big transition from last year to this year.” That kind of transformation — of not just a single student’s behavior but the overall way teachers interact with their pupils — is a major aim of the New York City-based nonprofit Turnaround for Children, which has been working with struggling, high-poverty public schools throughout the Northeast since 2002.”(more)