James Madison High School - In the Intergenerational Collaborative Breakfast, students from Midwood, Goldstein, Origins, and our own Madison High School joined forces to improve the four schools’ interconnectivity. Many events and collaborations have been in the works between these prominent Brooklyn schools, however logistics remained a matter of question.
In today’s event, representatives from each school proposed the next level of collaboration to numerous elected officials in hopes of improving their schools and proposing solutions to the logistical problems. Mayor Eric Adams, who was sworn in as mayor on January 1st of this year alongside Chancellor David Banks, listened to the presentations and proposals of the students.
The Intergenerational Collaborative Breakfast not only demonstrated how students have “broken generational curses”, such as students being accepted into top universities like Stanford, but also allowed students to propose new ideas to help others “break their curses”.
One such idea by the students was a Futures Fair which would help prepare students for their future by providing them with internships, scholarships, military enrollment, and careers that they seek interest in. Mayor Adams was delighted by this idea and proposed the Barclays Center as a location to host the Futures Fair.
“What’s the first thing you need us to help you with?” - An Elected Official
“A space…where we can meet together and present our fair” - Madison Student
“…we’re looking for some sort of a common space, not one of the four high schools. Maybe one… at a common location.” - Principal Cohen
“What is an ideal space – what does that space look like?” - Mayor Adams
“Maybe a space that holds over 5,000 people…” - Madison Student
“I’m going to call the owner of Barclays center on the way, get in touch with him and ask to have the space there.” - Mayor Adams
The proposal was met by applause and cheering from elected officials, staff members, and students.
Another idea was integrating financial literacy into the school curriculum.
“How do you envision financial literacy being taught in NYC public schools?” - Madison Student
“Well, that’s a question for the chancellor.” - Mayor Adams
One of Madison’s nine houses is the “Finance House”, which features classes that prepare students for financial and business careers.
Soon after, the mayor had to conclude his visit – but not without leaving some farewell remarks.
So what I need from you, cause you gave us a lot today, you know, I need from you specificity. I need for you to sit down, all those points…I need you to break them down for us, cause we’re busy as heck; we’re all over the place. And the more specific you are on the task of us, we can check off the list - I’m a list guy…Give me the list. If you said financial literacy, put that on the list. If you say you need a space that the councilwoman and I just stated, she's gonna try Brooklyn college, I’m gonna get on the phone when I get in the car to talk to the owner of the Barclays center. Put it on the list! Then we’re going to come back, we’re going to reconvene…and I'm going to say “Here’s what I can do, here's how we’re going to go to other folks to tell them to come in.. and I have cooperation leaders, business leaders – people want to help but they don’t know how to help. But clarity, specificity, is what we need to reach the goals that you are looking for. We’re here, we want to redefine education…so that we can get it right, I want to get it right and I can't get it right without hearing from you directly, so I thank you for being here.
-Mayor Adams
Chancellor Banks then took the stage and interacted with students for the remainder of the event. He noted that there was a “spirit of greatness” here in Madison.
You can feel the spirit of greatness here, and that’s because you have great people who work here.
-Chancellor Banks