Special Dr. TNT Scholarship Weekend Focus

SPEC IAL WKND FOCUSSPEC IAL WKND FOCUS

TERRENCE N. THOMASTERRENCE N. THOMASSCHOLARSHIP FUND

VOL. XXXIII NO. 9 AUGUST 14, 2015 50 CENTS BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN PERMIT 4668

y name is Kimberly(Jones) Claytonand I am 1999 –2003 Dr. Terence

Scholarship recipient and anO-Bee Scholarship recipientfrom 2003 to 2005. This wasthe only scholarship that fol-lowed me fromcollege throughgraduate schoolyears.

I made it a priority tokeep Mrs. O’flynn-Pattilloand the Milwaukee Com-munity Journal staff up-dated on my progressthrough Alverno Collegeand Keller GraduateSchool of Management. Their love and supportmade a difference in my academic journey.

I looked forward to the annual banquets eachyear. My first year I was seated at Dr. JeanetteMitchell’s table, who was also an honoree thatyear and she has been one of my best mentorssince then.

Mrs. O’flynn-Pattillo has been a solid pillar inthe Milwaukee community with a banquet thatreally shows some of the best professional peo-ple from various occupations and educationalbackgrounds.

She really has shown me and so many otheryoung people what a mother’s love can do notjust for her son, Terence but for any child in Mil-waukee who has a dream and a pursuit ofhigher education.

Kimberly(Jones) Clayton’sscholarship photo

(continued on page 4)

KIMBERLY’SKIMBERLY’SJOURNEYJOURNEY

Letter from TNT Scholarship Recipient Kimberly (Jones) Claytonexemplifies the signifance and impact of the schoarship fund inshaping the lives of its recipients

MM

Special WKND Focus/TNT Scholarship Fund August 14, 2015 Page 2

WKNDWKNDPhone: 414-265-5300 (Advertising and Administration) • 414-265-6647 (Editorial) • Website: communityjournal.net • Email: [email protected]/[email protected]

Opinion and comments expressed on the Perspectives page do not nec-essarily reflect the views of the publisher or management of the MCJ. Let-ters and “other perspectives” are accepted but may be edited for contentand length.

MCJ STAFF:Patricia O’Flynn -PattilloPublisher, CEORobert J. ThomasAssoc. PublisherTodd Thomas, Vice Pres.Mikel Holt, Assoc. PublisherThomas E. Mitchell, Jr., EditorTeretha Martin, Technical Consultant/WebmasterJosephine Joki, Billing Dept./Publisher’s Admin. Assist.Colleen Newsom,

Classified AdvertisingJimmy V. Johnson, Sales Rep.Joan Hollingsworth, Sales Rep.CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:Taki S. Raton, Fr. Carl Diederichs,Rev. Joe McLin, PHOTOGRAPHER: Yvonne Kemp

FOCUS

When Mical attended kinder-garten in Milwau-kee’s inner city,he spent the majority of timebeing kicked outof class for be-havioral issuesand violent out-bursts.

His great-aunt and legalguardian, Martha Presley saidshe was worried sick about hersix-year-old nephew. At such ayoung age, he seemed destinedfor failure and even worse, prisonsome day.

“He would go to school onMonday and get suspended, andthen he would go to school onWednesday and get suspendedagain,” Presley told Urban NewsService.

By second grade, he couldn’teven read. Presley had takencustody of Mical after his grand-mother passed away.

His grandmother was all hehad. Mical’s father was never in

the picture, and his mother hadrelinquished custody becauseshe wasn’t capable of properlycaring for him.

“There were domestic violenceissues, numerous times whenshe couldn’t feed him, and theymoved from house to house,”Presley said.

She said she was over-whelmed and at her wits end.She kept switching Mical’sschool, but trouble always foundhim. He hated school and wasn’tlearning anything.

While families like Presley andMical live in the daily, inner-citylife struggle, federal lawmakershave been debating the reautho-rization of the Elementary andSecondary Education Act(ESEA), an act that determineshow and under what guidelinesthe federal government can helpfund America's schools.

The last reauthorization ofESEA occurred in 2002 underformer President George Bushand was called No Child Left Be-hind.

During the most recent reau-thorization debates, variousmembers of Congress have of-fered an array of proposals andamendments relating to ESEA,such as creating a clear definitionof the concept of “bullying.”

However, none of these sug-gestions would help parents and

guardians, like Presley, who aredesperate to find high-quality ed-ucational alternatives for their at-risk kids forced to go to schoolswhere they just aren’t performingwell, whatever the reason maybe.

Congress has the luxury of de-bating ideas that don't work forreal people - a luxury MarthaPresley and others like her donot have. Each passing day,each passing week, each pass-ing year, Mical’s future was be-coming bleaker and bleaker.

Fortunately for Presley andMical, Milwaukee offers schoolchoice options for them beyondthe designated neighborhoodschool.

One of those options is the Mil-waukee Parental Choice pro-gram. This scholarshipopportunity was created in 1990and is the first voucher programin the nation.

The program offers scholar-ships for low-income students toattend one of the participatingprivate schools - at no cost to thestudent's family.

It began 25 years ago with 300students and has now grown to27,000 kids.

"I heard all about that scholar-ship program and said we’vetried everything else, let’s givethis a try,” Pressley said. Mical

became a scholarship recipient,and she was able to enroll him inMilwaukee’s HOPE ChristianSchool. Life changed for the bet-ter from that day on.

“I sent him there, and theyworked with him,” Presley tear-fully remembers Mical’s first daysat HOPE.

“He wasn’t getting sent homeanymore. Mical had to buckledown and work hard with histeachers to get caught up, butnow his favorite subject is read-ing.”

“I pay attention, I listen to myteachers, and I don’t get sus-pended anymore,” Mical proudlysaid. “I read, I’m really good atreading!”

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill,Congress continues to debateESEA, and no one knows forsure what the final bill will looklike. Since its passage in 2002,the debate around ESEA has be-come a political cesspool.

Some Democrats seem deadset on making sure that relaxingthe Department of Education’s in-volvement in punishing state sys-tems for failing to meet standardscurtailing the use of standardizedtesting in evaluating whether aschool is “good” or “bad.”

On the other side of the aisle,some Republicans want to com-pletely remove the federal gov-

ernment from the process byeliminating the “Common Core”standards altogether and reduc-ing the Department of Educa-tion’s ability to punish failingschools.

Keep in mind that each sideneeds to be able to claim somelegislative victory when the bill ul-timately passes, often times de-termined by semantics.

Maybe, however, as the politi-cal posturing over ESEA esca-lates, lawmakers could benefitfrom conversations with workingclass families like Presley’s fam-ily.

These families are not tied tothe political party caucus plat-forms, legislative wins and lossesor grandiose policy proposalsthat promise change in the fardistant future. Nor do they careabout how they are viewed byothers as they fight to find a goodschool for their kids.

Without the options providedthrough the Milwaukee ParentalChoice program, young Micalwould be trapped in a failingschool. In reauthorizing ESEA,Congress needs to create an en-vironment where similar schoolchoice options will be madeavailable for other kids as well.

For these kids, being on theright school dictates whether theythrive, flourish and develop thelove of learning that will servethem for life.

As Presley said, "I wanted toknow why Mical was suddenlyenjoying school, so I started sit-ting in on his classes and justsaw so much love there.

They let the kids know thatthey are important, that they aresomebody and that they have theability to accomplish great things.Mical is now in the third gradeand has grown leaps andbounds. I’m really grateful for thisschool.”

While the debate over ESEAcontinues, let's hope that themembers of Congress grasp theimmediate benefit of schoolchoice for families, like Presley‘s,who just want their kids to suc-ceed - by any means necessary. Mical's Story by the Alliance

for School, c3 non-profit advo-cating for educational choice.Urban News ServiceA Division of American

Media Institutewww.UrbanNewsService.com

A GOODEDUCATIONBY ANYMEANS NECESSARY!By Kevin P.. ChavousContributing Writer, Urban News ServicesExecutive Counsel, American Federation for Children


The Staff and The Staff and Management of YOUR Management of YOUR

Milwaukee CommunityMilwaukee CommunityJournal THANKS YOU, our Journal THANKS YOU, our

Community, for Community, for helping make our 39thhelping make our 39thanniversary and TNTanniversary and TNT

Scholarship Brunch aScholarship Brunch asmashing success! smashing success! We look forward to We look forward to

celebrating our 40th yearcelebrating our 40th yearwith YOU!with YOU!


I was able to travel abroad to London and attend London University thespring 2002 semester.

It was really one of the best experiences in my life. Mrs. O’flynn-Pat-tillo and the scholarship sponsors helped to make that possible. Thatwas the only semester that I did not work a job at all. I could focus onmy studies, travel to other countries, go on a Hot Air Balloon ride, horse-back ride, visit the Anne Frank museum, go to Disneyland Paris andmore.

Life has its ups and downs. After the loss of my mom I really wasgoing through some difficult times. Mrs. O’flynn-Pattillo was there forme, and allowed me the opportunity to volunteer for the scholarshipfund.

I got to put my accounting degree to really good use and I volunteeredthrough the Verizon Foundation that would write a check on my behalffor $750 after 50 volunteer hours were completed. I obtained threechecks of $750 for the Dr. Terence Scholarship fund.

Mrs. O’flynn-Pattillo encouraged and helped me to remember that Ihave solid work ethic and more than capable of completing any task setbefore me.

I share that to encourage anyone who doesn’t feel appreciated or vali-dated in their current profession, to volunteer your time and talentswhere you will be appreciated. Who knows it could open doors to aneven better opportunity for yourself and others.

When the opportunity presented itself to be a Library Assistant at mydaughter’s elementary school I tried it out. I really enjoyed helping thestudents and staff. I was told how much I would be missed once I re-turned to work.

I’ve worked for Brown-Beasley Accounting, Marshall & Ilsley, Milwau-kee Athletic Club, Verizon and now somewhere TOP SECRET! I’m stillworking here in the city of the Milwaukee.

It’s good to know that not all young minority professionals leave and goelsewhere. I am living proof of why people should continue to supportthe Dr. Terence Scholarship fund.

I am not only living Dr. Terence’s dream but I am also living Dr. MartinLuther King Jr’s dream every day of my life, especially when I go to workas an Internal Auditor.

I have been the youngest and sometimes the only person of color onmy team.

It would have been easier to abandon the Internal Audit profession but

KIMBERLY’S JOKIMBERLY’S JO(continued from cover page)

Photos on thesepages, the front pageand the back page by

Yvonne Kemp


I am glad that I have stuck with it, I have a solid career in the InternalAudit field that I am happy about.

I have experienced my season of loss, but because of Christ that’s inme I will overcome. I was able to work in some very difficult situationsand I must say my relationship with Christ, my mom and dad’s sound ad-vice, and the ability to focus on the larger picture has helped me to pre-vail.

So, Mrs. O’flynn-Pattillo I want to thank you for your living legacy thatshines forth in my life and all of the scholarship recipients that you havehelped over the years.

I am so grateful for your commitment and the scholarship sponsorscommitment to my success as well.

Milwaukee is going through a lot of changes right now so please re-member when you help a young person you never know who you are in-vesting in. My daughter and I were also a part of the first InternationalPrayer walk on Saturday May 16th, 2015.

I want my daughter to see that her mother cares about Milwaukee andwants this to be a place that she can live and have a progressive impacton too. I share that to say we can all make a positive difference on Mil-waukee and there are so many ways to do it.

“I am living proof ofwhypeople should continueto support the Dr. Ter-ence Scholarship fund. Iam not only living Dr.Terence’s dream but Iam also living Dr. MartinLuther King Jr’s dreamevery day of my life...”

OURNEYOURNEY


“Education is not preparationfor life; Education islife itself!”

--Author unknown



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