Clark Prep at the Loyola Wolf Pack Invite

The Clark Prep's JV Cross country team had a good start to the season at Saturday’s Loyola Wolf Pack Invite.  

In the men’s 3K, Shawn Bangham took 4^th place with a time of 12:36, James Scott took 7^th place with a time of 12:49, and James Prince took 23^rd with a time of 15:32. 

In the women’s 3K, Helen Williams took 14^th place with a time of 17:31 and Delia Madison took 15^th place with a time of 17:32. 

A total of five schools competed in the JV division. It was the 6^th annual Wolf Pack Invite and was hosted at Lafreniere Park in Metairie. A big shout out to our Clark Prep Cross Country team!

For more information about Joseph S. Clark athletics please visit http://clarkprep.org/athletics.html.

Get ready for Bulldog Football!

Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School's football team spent this past weekend at Paul B. Johnson State Park, getting ready for football season. The training camp focused on building a strong foundation of teamwork and commandery among players and coaches. The Clark Bulldogs are predicted to finish at in the top 3 in District-3A for the 2014 season!

Bulldog football will kick-off the season, this Friday, August 29th with a pre-season game against Cohen College Prep. The game will be at 3:30 pm at Isidore Newman located at 1903 Jefferson Ave.

Get ready for Bulldog football! Click the image below to watch the Bulldogs gear up for another great season.

Go Bulldogs!

For more information our Joseph S. Clark Preparatory please visit www.clarkprep.org.

Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School Senior Lunch

Bulldog Alumni sent our seniors off with a congratulatory lunch! 

Soon to be Bulldog Alumni sat down to enjoy a late lunch with our current Bulldog Alumni. The program included an inspirational talk by Blair Boutte, spoken word from Clark Prep staff, Charlie Vaughn, words of encouragement from Pastor Fred Luter, Jr. and award presentations. 

As one chapter ends, another begins. We know that this is only the beginning of the incredible journey each one of our graduates will take. We want to wish them the best of luck! Senior Graduation is Wednesday May 21, 2014. 

Clark Prep AP Government Students Visit Washington D.C.

Our very own AP Government students made a trip to Washington D.C. during the school's spring break! The trip was not only an opportunity for students to travel outside of New Orleans but it provided an amazing educational experience for students. 

Each day was packed full of events and sightseeing including museums, monuments, and exploring the city. Students also had the opportunity to visit Representative Cedric Richmond, see Senator David Vitter's office, tour the Supreme Court, tour Howard University, and even watch a play at Ford's theater! This is only a small taste of this incredible opportunity for our students.

In addition to seeing the sights, Clark Prep students worked with over 250 students from Alaska to Nebraska to New York. In no surprise, our students were some of the more out-going, enthusiastic students in the program, frequently taking the lead in workshops and group activities. The trip has left the students feeling more empowered about the AP Government test, just around the corner and know this trip has been valuable in helping them to understand history and other government concepts. Thank you to everyone who has helped to make this trip possible!

AP Government Students Visit the Capitol

Advance Placement Government classes from Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School, Sci High, and KIPP Renaissance travelled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to hear testimony on two education bills (HB 381 and HB 558) which pertain to Common Core Standards and the PARCC assessment.

As individuals directly affected by the decisions made around both of these education bills, we are excited to see our students participating in the democratic process, voicing their concerns to our elected officials. While in Baton Rouge, students met with several representatives, including Representative Wesley Bishop from New Orleans and Senator Karen Carter Peterson from New Orleans.

Students also had the opportunity to sit in committee chambers and watch live testimony from State Superintendent John White. Students toured the Capitol, met with lobbyists of several education interest groups and ate lunch provided by Stand for Children.

This was an incredible opportunity for our students to witness first hand how our government works at a local level, and the power of democracy.


The Louisiana House Education Committee voted down both bills. To read more about it - click here.

Clark Prep's AP Government will also have the opportunity to travel to our Nation's capital later this month. To read more about the trip or make a donation to support our students, please click here.

Clark Prep Boy's Basketball wins District Championship!

Clark Prep Boy's Basketball team wins District 10-3A Championship, their first district championship since 1986. The team finished the season 17 and 12 and will be heading to the regional round next week to face-off against the winner of No. 16 Union Parish and No. 17 North Websters.

A big congrats to coach Marcell Fisher and all the guys on the team! We wish you the best of luck in your upcoming games.

To read more about the championship on Nola.com, please click here.

To help support the Clark Prep basketball team, along with other Clark Prep enrichment programs, come to the 2nd Annual Treme Day 5K Run/Walk and Health & Wellness Fest. All proceeds from race registration will go directly to Clark Prep's Athletic and Enrichment programs. The event is Saturday March 29th at 9AM.

Mardi Gras Safety Tips

As we approach the Mardi Gras holiday, we want to ensure the safety of our students. On Thursday, January 30, 2014, NOPD Crime Prevention Officers John Dobard and Clarence Cornelius presented and discussed Mardi Gras safety tips with our very own Clark Prep 11th and 12th graders. Our students and teachers welcomed the tips and we think it is important to pass that information along!

Mardi Gras Safety Tips:

• Don't keep your money out for any longer than is necessary. You don't want to make yourself the victim of a professional pickpocket.
• Don't park in front of driveways, fire hydrants, or anywhere you would not normally be allowed to park. And be sure to lock your vehicle!
• Keep your children (or little brothers, sisters or cousins) close, and don't let them wander off. Be sure that they know to stay behind the parade barricades.
• The Neutral Ground (median) is public property, and it is illegal to block off areas for private use.
• Glass containers are prohibited along parade routes.
• If your children are in ladders to view the parade, be sure that they are placed as many feet behind the street curb as the ladder is high.

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

NOLA Tech students visit The Laitram Corporation!

On Friday, January 31st,  NOLA Tech students visited The Laitram Corporation. Laitram is a global manufacturing company that has been part of the Louisiana business landscape for more than 50 years. The company is comprised of four operating divisions - Intralox L.L.C., Laitram Machinery, Inc., Lapeyre Stair, Inc., and Laitram Machine Shop L.L.C. and employs over 1,700 people worldwide.

Students toured the facility and learned about job opportunities including Welding, Machining, Electrical-Electronics Engineering Technology, Assembly, and Customer Service. Venturing through the 1 million square foot facility students were able to tour Laitram Machinery, Intralock, and the Laitram Machine shop. Students got a first-hand look at product manufacturing, processing, and shipping, while also learning about Laitram customer service standards and what it takes to succeed at one of the top global manufacturing companies.

After touring the facility students enjoyed a delicious conference style lunch provided by Laitram. As students sat to enjoy their food at the large executive style conference table they were met by Laitram's Treasurer and Human Resources Coordinator. During lunch students had the opportunity to discuss key employment factors such as internship and job opportunities, starting pay scale, and the Laitram culture.

At the end of the visit students were energized and excited about their visit and many of them intended on applying for internship opportunities.

Bulldogs March in MLK Day Parade

 Our very own Clark Prep Bulldogs marked in New Orleans' MLK Day Parade. The parade celebrated the City's 28th annual MLK holiday celebration.

Students marched from City Hall, down Loyola Avenue, towards uptown. The parade made a right turn on MLK Blvd, up to south Claiborne, ending on South Clairborn and Felicity.

Go Bulldogs!

Freedom Writers: Poems by Kia Rowel

Pain

Sitting in the dark

Feeling a pain

Not a physical pain

but a mental pain

the pain knowing you're not here

the pain of not hearing yo voice

Not seeing yo face no more

It feels like this pain will

never fade away...

My love for you is unconditional

I will miss you forever

This pain is unbelievable

If we could only trade places

Just so the twins, Lil Don and

Geia, could have their father

Even doe Me and You didn't have

ours. I love you and

I miss you but Ima keep my

head up just for you...

          Rest Brother

My Streets

In my streets I see teenage boys

getting shot for a toy

In my streets I see drug houses

Change needs to come.

My streets are little girls with

little girls

I see holes in my streets

Will change ever come?

I see Poverty

Change will someday come.

My street there is black on black

Violence

There is racism with hatred

In my streets I see 

New Orleans.

Poetry at Clark Prep: The Freedom Writers

The Freedom Writers poetry club, started in 2012 by current sophomore Kia Rowell, has been hard at work this semester recruiting new members and putting pen to paper. The group conducts open writing workshops after school twice a week in hopes of encouraging other Clark students to find their voices through writing. In each session, the Freedom Writers engage in a period of free writing to work through any issues they may have encountered during the school day. Afterward, they dive into a more in-depth writing prompt and are encouraged to write in any style - poetry, short story, non-fiction, etc.. After writing, any member of the group that wants to share what they've written reads aloud. Each member listens with an open mind and gives specific, positive feedback to each writer. Any piece written during a Freedom Writers session can be submitted for publication to this blog! 

Please check back for future posts featuring students' writing!

The Freedom Writers poetry club is open to all Clark students.

President: Kia Rowel (10th grade)

Faculty Sponsors: Sunny Summers (English II Teacher)

                            Kaycee Filson (College Counselor)

                            Ellenie Cruz (City Year Corps Member)

Clark Prep Students Attended 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' Screening

Clark Prep students were invited to attend the 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' screening here in New Orleans. The film debuted back in October, at the New Orleans' Film Festival. The movie was screened, for free, for local college students.

The event was one of several similar events being held for college and high school students across the country, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Co.

Clark Prep students who attended include Cassie, Marshante, Jude, Alonso, Jerome, and teacher Mr. Schwindt.

For more on the movie click here. 

Our very own Cassie Thomas is published in the Times-Picayune!

Cassie Thomas, a Junior at Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School, had an editorial published in the Times Picayune today, November 22, 2014. 

Cassie's essay is in response to student protest at Clark Prep last week.  At FirstLine Schools we are committed to the academic success of each of our students. Having a voice is a part of that success. To take a few words from Cassie - we hope the students at Clark Prep continue to feel empowered in their own education, as we continue to work to close the achievement gap. 

We want to wish Cassie the best of luck in the coming year, and that she may continue to inspire us and others in the community. 

What you missed in athletics over the weekend.

Saturday Samuel J. Green and Langston Hughes Academy played each other in football. Coach Richardson has led Green to 4 consecutive championships, riding an undefeated season each time. On Saturday, Green lost for the first time in four years. The team’s reaction at the end of the game: to applaud LHA for a great game, shake hands, and walk into the team huddle with their heads held high. Saturday’s game was not only a fantastic display of respect, but demonstrated the lessons of self-control and pride Coach continually instills in our young athletes. 

 

Big congratulations to LHA’s flag football team for defeating Green!

Also this Saturday was the Tipitina’s Foundation Rhythm and Blues 5K run. The race was hosted by the Tipitina’s Foundation in partnership with New Orleans Track Club. Proceeds from the run went towards supporting the purchase of marching shoes and uniforms for New Orleans area school marching band programs. Check out our Dibert scholars who ran as members of Youth Run Nola.

The Joseph S. Clark Preparatory Bulldogs took home a victory against Ben Franklin on FridaySeptember 27th. Bulldog quarterback lead the team with 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries while going 1-for-3 for 35 yards. Go Bulldogs!

Clark Prep student moves to next round for Posse Foundation Scholarship

Clark Prep nominated 10 students for the prestigious Posse Foundation scholarship, one of which moved to the next round.

The Posse Foundation (Posse) works to develop tomorrow’s leaders, as one of the most comprehensive and renowned college access and youth leadership development programs in the nation. Posse identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Posse scholars receive four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships to a Posse partner university. Posse New Orleans partners include Bard College and Tulane University.

Congratulations to our one of our very Calvinisha Pep for making it to the second round of interviews. We are wishing her the best of luck!

City Council Honors Clark Prep Students

Councilmember Palmer presents the proclamation

This morning the New Orleans City Council recognized Clark Prep's Digital Media Club's First Place award with a formal proclamation.  Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer presented the proclamation to the Digital Media Club as well as Tulane University students who acted as mentors.  Present for the proclamation from Clark Prep's Digital Media Club were Nelson Powell, Alexia Laneheart and Anthony Bingham, along with principals Alex Hochron and Reginald Coleman.  Amelia Senter, one of the Tulane mentors, was also present, along with local filmmaker, Louisa Dantas, who taught the Tulane University Place-based Storytelling in New Orleans class.  Darcy McKinnon, Executive Director of NOVAC, and also the advisor for the club, spoke to the chamber about the project.

We are so proud of our students and excited that our city has recognized their hard work!

Revenge of the Nerds

NERD Blvd!

Network-wide Professional Development is about collaborating to hone our skills as educators and administrators and prepare for the coming year, and FirstLine teachers and staff took it a step further this year when they came together for “Revenge of the Nerds”. Faculty from all five schools (and the central office) arrived at the Arthur Ashe campus bright and early this past Monday morning (August 5), full of enthusiasm. With some in goofy glasses, some in suspenders, and some with colorful socks, it was clear that they'd embraced the theme (“Revenge of the Nerds”), and the majority wore tee shirts that declared their pride for their respective schools.

Clark Prep's staff all nerded out and ready for 2013-14!

After exchanging greetings over a healthy breakfast buffet, the enthusiastic participants filtered into the gym, where a lively “pep rally” set the tone for the day. Kelly (ESYNOLA's Volunteer and Special Events Coordinator) kicked things off by applauding the days theme, and contemplating how we redefine and celebrate “nerdiness” in our schools. She made a point of recognizing the nerdiness of enthusiasm and engagement and passion: applicable to any subject, invaluable to any pursuit, and evident all around her. A trumpet sounded from the Green section. Two teachers in Clark led their colleagues in a Bulldog chant resurrected from the 1970’s, a rallying cry with which they tapped into the history and legacy of their school. (B-U-L-L-D-O-G-S!)

This abounding energy was then ignited with a relay race in which participants balanced books on their heads  and answered trivia questions while their colleagues cheered from the stands (LHA led the way, winning the relay race). An inspiring speech from CEO Jay Altman then channeled the energy of the athletic interlude, to unite the gym once more around the FirstLine mission.

Green's Staff - loving Pi and ready for a new year

Charged with the excitement of the rally and infused with a sense of purpose, the FirstLine “nerds” left the pep rally ready to make the most of the day. Teachers from all five schools met with others at their grade level (or by subject area), to collaborate around the launch of this year’s revamped curriculum (tied to our transition to the Common Core). Other sessions addressed a wide array of topics, ranging from Crisis prevention to Interventionalist and CY training, to Assistive Technology. With such abundant opportunities to “nerd out,” the day was a great success!

We Love Volunteers!!

Volunteers hanging new signage

The summer is a very busy time here at FirstLine Schools.  While our teachers are taking a much deserved (and needed) break (though a short one), our operations team is hard at work ensuring all of our buildings are ready for the next school year.  This includes deep cleaning, reorganizing rooms, retasking rooms from one function to another - and in some cases, even building computer labs for our Personalized Learning Project.

We believe that beauty is the art of caring - beautiful buildings really do make a difference.  We couldn't do all of this work over the summer without the help of volunteers.  Over the summer, we have many different volunteers (in groups and individually) help out at our schools.  Last Friday, August 2, we had a group of 37 from Barrasso, Usdin, Kupperman, Freeman and Sarver join us at Clark Prep.  This group split into smaller groups to take on a number of different projects.  They painted rooms, helped reorganize rooms, hung new signage throughout the building, and helped move supplies and books to their new homes.

While we are putting the finishing touches on our buildings, our teachers and administrators have been working hard on professional development - new teachers joined us four weeks prior to the first day of school and returning teachers joined us last week (two weeks prior to the first day of school).

Thank you so much to this group of wonderful volunteers - as well as the myraid others who have joined us this summer to ensure we are well organized and well prepared for our students.  We can't wait to welcome our students this coming Monday, August 12!

FirstLine's Wellness Initiative - Update!

This time last year, at a network-wide professional development day, FirstLine Schools (FLS) and its signature program EdibleSchoolyard New Orleans (ESYNOLA) unveiled a new wellness initiative for FirstLine’s five schools. With a full-time Health and Wellness Manager to oversee wellness initiative and track progress and a Network Wellness Council of network-level FirstLine administrators and community partners already in place, the new FLS Comprehensive School Wellness Initiative was prepared to hit the ground running.

ESYNOLA collaborated with the FirstLine operations team to develop more stringent food quality standards and systems for tracking food quality in our school food program. ESYNOLA also held their first daytime, parent-only, hands-on cooking classes this year, in partnership with SecondHarvest Food Bank, and all five FirstLine schools held family food events for National Food Day in October. To inform school food reform efforts, ESYNOLA piloted a plate waste study at Green Charter School to assess student eating habits and school food nutrition content. Tulane Prevention Research Center also got involved in efforts to track student health outcomes, collecting BMI and Fitness Gram data.

In the spring, the Health and Wellness Initiative brought free fitness classes to FirstLine students, family, and friends. Running from 5:30 to 6:30, the afterschool offerings included Zumba (Tuesdays at LHA and Thursdays at Ashe), Yoga (Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at Green), and hip hop line dancing (Thursdays at Dibert). At  FirstLine’s four K-8 schools, ESYNOLA also coordinated Instant Recess workshops, in partnership with School Health Connection, to promote increased physical activity during the school day.

All five FirstLine schools earned the Healthier US School Challenge Gold with Distinction Award for the initiative’s pilot year, and this is only the beginning. As FitNOLA partners, committed to helping Mayor Mitch Landrieu move New Orleans from No. 37 to one of the top 10 healthiest and physically active metro areas in the U.S., ESYNOLA and FLS’s Physical Education Department are committed to communicating the importance of eating well and moving more, and providing examples of how this can be done through a variety of programming options.

Please keep checking back for updates on our progress and enjoy the summer!  In the meantime, check out this video of 2nd graders at Green Participating in some Instant Recess: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQNxAAk-UeI

Clark Prep Alumna featured in Kreol Magazine

-->

A Clark Prep graduate, and author, Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy was recently featured in an article published in International Kreol Magazine, Mona Lisa Saloy – A Literary Voice for the African-American Creole Culture. 

The article discusses Dr. Saloy’s successes along with her prolific body of work including books, articles, essays and poems. A voice of the African-American and the New Orleans Creole cultural experiences, and a Clark Prep alumna, we are excited to have Dr. Saloy as a part of our community

To learn about Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy, please visit her website.