 Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming. If you're an EPARMS and leadership student, be sure that you sign in. Sign up sheet. Because there's a special announcement that goes with that, which I'll make in a little while. This is the ninth version of fall reception in colloquium. And it's, I can't believe there are none that we've done. So we're closing in on a decade. And I think it's been very special, the programs that we've been able to do. And I think you're going to find that tonight is no different. And if you have not already gotten some refreshments, please help yourself. And our own Mr. Boschman is doing double duty tonight. Of course he is tip certified, as well as being certifiable. But his beverages are the adult variety, as you can see. And there's a charge for that, I'm sure. Mr. Boschman, is that correct? No, no charge. There's no charge. That's quite remarkable. Well, there you go. So there you have it. Naturally, putting together one of these is team effort. It requires a lot of help. And first of all, I'd like to think, and this is known in particular, ordered, certainly not in priority order, but thank Europe for allowing us to come back this year with a wonderful program we had last year. Facility, as you see, is quite nice. And we have the spectacular view of Providence. And we owe Mr. Boschman a debt of gratitude for assisting in that regard. He's been the liaison here. So both Europe and Mr. Boschman deserves some kudos. But it doesn't end with that. Dr. Norvell has done a yeoman's job here pulling together the last minute stuff. And Dee Manzi, of course, is always in her supportive role. We're very appreciative of that. And then, of course, we come to the person who is primarily responsible for this thing. And it's Jane Flora. And Mrs. Flora is in the back. Without her, we're at the first annual. There aren't any more. So she is just an incredible resource and I can't think of her nearly enough. I don't know if you're all aware, but Mrs. Flora is leaving us and going to Virginia. And she's shown me the photos and it's quite a spectacular. It's not Tara, but it's getting close. Her place sits up on a hill. You can see the river in front. It's green. I accused her of going to a studio and making a picture, but she assures me it's real. So it's quite nice there. And she and her husband are going there very shortly and we want to wish her the very best. I don't think I'm letting anything out of the bag here. I'm glad that we're doing an event for her tomorrow. A luncheon for Mrs. Flora. I knew she knew. I mean, she knows everything. But we're starting approximately noon and you are all welcome to join us and say farewell to Mrs. Flora. Thank you if you're able to come. Tonight is also the night that we start by recognizing some important academic achievements. And the first is to recognize the Dean's Award winner for Outstanding Graduate in the Masters in Leadership Program. The battle for supremacy was a tie. And so there are actually two winners of that award. Charles DeSance is right here with us. Mr. DeSance, would you come up front? And Jen Shraja is not with us to see him yet? He's supposed to. I thought he was too. Well, if he's delayed, we'll be sure to make sure he gets it in the mail. Or however. So Mrs. Flora, would you and Dean Manning join us? Dean Manning, would you be here? I'm very pleased to be involved with this. Congratulations, Jen. Don't tell him the story, tell him. Here, I have a few words. For a few words, I will tell you that the Masters of Leadership Program, when I was still in the Navy, I was looking for a degree, did a lot of research and found this program through Roger Williams University, and it really struck a chord with me. And from my very first class until my last class, I will tell you that the opportunity to use what was in the classroom went directly back to where I worked as the director of the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy. And there are some courses that leadership design has won, communication has won, the diversity, and probably the most dangerous to make me better at was the negotiation of the course. And I think there's a fine line between negotiation and manipulation. So, with those skills from that course, I was able to negotiate a much better outcome for our Academy at the down-of-the-boot part than without those skills. So, please, it's not a grade. It really is your future. Take as much out of these classes as you can, because you will use it later on, if not already. Thank you very much. We also have an award for the outstanding graduate in the MPA. And the gentleman who is the awardee took my advice, which many students don't. He has a family, a full-time job, all kinds of other responsibilities, and so I told him, do yourself a giant favor and take one course a semester. And he, like so many others who've heard that advice, said, Now, when he got to PA 599, which is the capstone data-gathering portion of the two-course capstone sequence, he came to the office and you know what he said to me, his first word was, I can't believe it's over! So, if you take it one course at a time and save your GPA, it'll be over before you know it. So, Paul Schenle, things. One of the first things that stuck in my mind about public administration was one of the lectures of Dr. Hall. We talked about high-performing organizations who encourage their employees to be a life-moving, I don't know if you remember that lecture, but that really stopped with me the importance of education and what the master's program has done for me in my life. I took a 25-year break from the time I got my undergraduate degree to my graduate degree, and I debated on whether to get a degree in criminal justice or public administration. And when I looked at the curriculum, hands down with this public administration. And as the Speaker of Reformy said, this is something I've used in my position as Deputy Chief of Police at Brown University. And I know many of you are here, you may be thinking you can get ahead and work with this, and that's right, but I want you to think that you should be here for yourself. And always strive to learn and be the best you can at what you do. And I think for me, when I graduated, it was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. And I can't thank Dr. Hall enough for being there to support and gene in every one of the programs, and also along the way I got to meet some great people, which I hope you do, that were there to help me in my endeavor in class. So remember, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. You learn as much as you can, and you can certainly take this information and get far, far ahead of many people. And just from being in class and working full-time, I admire you and I say that to everyone. Every one of the students in here has already exhibited something better by demonstrating that they want to learn. So thank you. Three award winners took everything, Dean Manzi, Dr. Norvell, myself, and Mrs. Flora through Ethel. So they can persevere and do it. I think they're role models for us all. The Masters in Public Administration, the Masters of Science and Leadership programs, along with Rye Aspa, have over the years worked with the Pawtucket Schools and their two academies. One at Shea High School, which is the Government and Public Service Academy. The only one in the United States. And the Tullman on Law and Public Safety Academy. Unfortunately, the representatives of those two academies in the school districts were otherwise occupied this evening. I take that back. I didn't see him come in. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Sousa, Chris Sousa. Chris is coming. As I'm sure our keynoter will also tell you, being a classroom teacher in 2015, it's like going to work in a fire hazard location. So please keep in mind our school teachers. Mr. Sousa does a wonderful job. And I have had the privilege of going into his classroom and seeing his kids. And over the years, I go in there and give them stuff to do. Because part of what happens is, if they do it, they become eligible for three college credits from Roger Williams University, which are transferable elsewhere. But also, they become members of the Rhode Island chapter of ASPA and National ASPA. And they're the only high school students in the entire nation who are members of ASPA. So I've given them a lot of weird stuff to do, they thought, I think. I had them do videos once, and we had public service messages. I've had them do sketch up with Mr. Bocheman, a software package that allows them to do 3D re-imaginings, buildings such as their classrooms, and they have never disappointed. And some of them have gone on to rather distinguish educational careers. One young lady is at Georgetown University on full scholarship. So these are people who have overcome some significant obstacles. And if you really want to find out about them and the story that goes with Mr. SZA and all the schools, may I invite you to look at the fall issue of teaching public administration in which you will find an article that I put together telling the story of teaching public administration in international terms. So there will be people throughout the United States as well as Western Europe and even Asia who will see that story. It is the story to be proud of. So Mr. Pascarello of our university, Roger Williams is not available, but Mr. Pascarello has been instrumental in putting together these programs. And I know that Dean Manzi will join me in the accolades that I give to Mr. Pascarello. He's a wonderful colleague. He himself was a long-term public school teacher here in Rhode Island. So he knows how to put together sound programs and he's a pleasure to work for. And he kits me about Oklahoma football, particularly when it moves, as was the case last weekend, so I had to report. Now, Ry Aspa is a part of the larger National Aspa Association. If you're not a member, Mrs. Flora has membership applications and she will be happy to take any money that you'd like to send in for your student membership, which is a minimum, I think, 50-40 bucks, or you can apply online. And we held Ry Aspa elections this past September and the ballots were done on paper in secret. No human hands other than Mrs. Flora has touched them and while she's not priced waterhouse, she is trustworthy and counting than Mrs. Flora. Could you share with us the results? Drum roll, please. So I received 18 ballots, along with the two names, Dr. Hall and Dr. Norbell, Vice President for Dr. Norbell, President for Dr. Hall. There was a line where you could write in if you preferred somebody. You wanted to vote for somebody else for President, Vice President. Nobody did that. So there were 18 ballots and so I got 18 votes for Dr. Hall for President and 18 votes for Dr. Norbell. But more important was to get a strong board takeover and to move forward for the club, the organization. And so what I did is I took all the ballots and I found those that got the most votes. I took the top five. The top five is William White, Carinelle Ramirez, she's not here tonight, Sasha Zapata, Chantal Bhima, and George Levante. I got additional votes and so I thought, well, I think we need all alternates. Not everybody can come every night. I think a bigger group probably gives a stronger group members who can have diverse ideas and, you know, can move things along and not overwhelm a few people. So alternates receiving two votes was Paul Johnston, Brian Chacon, Vicki Walters, and Michael O'Brien. It doesn't mean that, you know, you can say that you don't want to be on the board. That's fine. I don't think being on the board, being the top five or the alternates, I think you really are just all board members and I think you can all work together and find a future for the program, for the organization. Thank you, Mrs. Lauren. Thank you to all the winners. In addition to that election, there's another one for ASPA coming in November. And that's for the National Council. My term ended in March at the Chicago meeting, but apparently they thought enough of the work I did with them that they encouraged me to run again. So that election is being held in November. If you were a member of ASPA and live and work in District One, which is us, from New England to New York, I would encourage you to participate and I would appreciate your vote. So that gives us a voice on the Council that very few other chapters get. And speaking of voices, Dr. Norvell will be going to Washington, D.C. in November 7th. She's going to be taking my place. I have a trip planned that can't be cancelled. But in taking my place, she's going to be presenting to other chapter members, other chapter officers from around the nation, as well as the National Council, the executives of ASPA, all the staff, and the elected officials of ASPA, President, Vice President, and so on. And importantly, the topic is taking your chapter to the next level. Now, Dr. Norvell and I have been discussing this. And until recently, we weren't aware that we were at another level. But apparently we are. And that's what she's going to talk about. Now we got there, I guess. Now part of that has to do with we've had the last Mrs. Florek, the last five ASPA Presidents, the last five National ASPA Presidents come to our May conference. And Dean Manzi has been able to meet some of them, as well as the Vice President and the current President, was the Vice President, female. The incoming President was currently Vice President, female. So we had a diverse and representative group. If you're not a member of ASPA, may I encourage you to be part of it? I think it's an important part of your professional development. And it puts another line on your resume. Now, in regard to ASPA, you were asked this morning or this evening to sign in. There's a reason for that. First we want to know who you are and say hello. But our own Vicki Walters and Sasha Zapata, ladies, which you stand to be recognized, they joined our program in the spring of this year, but have become leaders. And they, how shall we put this, Mr. Potta, Ms. Walters? There's our own negotiation class. It was. It was. And the negotiation was over after credit. Hold on there, Ms. Schwartz. And I said, how much? And they said 20 points. I said more like one. And they said, how about five? I said two and a half. So we went back and forth, but I said, here's what's got to happen. You've got to show up not only tonight, but you also have to find out who's going to be here and be in charge of who's going to be here when they sign in. Because what I'm going to ask you also to do is be part of the May conference and create a panel. And be part of that conference and impress the people who are coming from National Astley yet again. So there's extra credit available for my classes. Dr. Norvell has agreed, perhaps under some duress, to provide extra credit. Yes, negotiation. Very strenuous negotiation. But you also have to take part in the spring. So if you want extra credit, I think we can work on that, but we will need your efforts. So those who were elected to the council, Pryespa Council, will be some of the folks to take the lead. But I don't want them to do it alone. And I know that you're all creative. And when those people from New York or from where they come in from, Washington, show up, I want you to show them that we've taken Pryespa to the next level. And Mrs. Flora, I don't understand your code. Professor Ford also. Professor Ford's 513. Did you get rubbed into it also? Yes. Professor Ford, thank you so much. We welcome your participation, certainly. And the May event is a Wednesday, I believe it's May 4, so mark that when you're up, Helen. Now, we turn to tonight's feature presentation. We have tonight a very distinguished young woman who has kindly accepted my challenge to talk about our program theme this year. Along with the academies, Pryespa, the membership of programs and the faculty, and Roger Williams, we try to develop a theme each year. This year, the theme is working with people in crisis. And I think tonight's keynoter is a wonderful example of exactly the kinds of crises that are faced by many, many people. And when I first met her and I talked to her about doing this, my first question to her was, do you work with people in crisis? Her response was, every day. And we were just commiserating before. It may not only be just every day, but every hour and probably every minute of every hour. So this is the lady who knows her business. She has worked in the community in a number of capacities. And Miss Cipriani, you will be interested to know that she has worked with the Latina Leadership Institute. Our own Miss Cipriani is finishing her capstone and she's using the Latina Leadership Institute as her area of work. Our keynoter has graduated Magna Cum Laude and she does the kind of resource work that Pryespa can benefit from. Ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming Doris De La Santos. Good evening, everyone. I'm very, very honoured to join you this evening and to share with you some of my life and work experience as it relates to the theme of working with people in crisis. I would like to thank specially Jane Flora, for answering my questions and keeping the information flowing to me, as well as to Michael Holm, the director of the program, for inviting me but also taking this program to that next level. It's very, very suited that we are hosting that Year Up is hosting today's program because actually Year Up is an example of taking urban youth from the community and providing them with the support and the connections and the skill sets that they need to actually move up in their professional and career path. So thank you, Year Up, for opening the doors. I would also like to congratulate Charles, James and Paul, the recipients of the leadership recognition tonight. And as Dr. Holm mentioned, I'm the Executive Director of Development, Partnerships and Community Engagement for the Providence Public Schools. He had asked me to keep you entertained for the next 20 minutes, so I will try to do my best to do that. Just to let me share a piece of my background besides what Dr. Holm mentioned. So I'm an immigrant from the Dominican Republic and you can tell that because I have my accent. I came to the United States as an adult, 24, 25 years old, not knowing the language. I came being a professional back in my home country, landed in a factory because that's the reality of many immigrants that come to the States looking for better opportunities, but one thing I knew is that that wasn't going to last. And so many years later, with my husband and my family, my kids 13 and 16, I have, I try constantly to improve the community that I live, then to live by example. And so I take very, to my heart, the mantra of if not now when, if it is not new then don't. And so that's what I try to do with the work that I do, both professionally and professionally. And as I begin to talk about the work we do in Providence Public Schools and how we support the stress communities, I would like to pose a question to all of you and I want you to just sit on that question until then when I'm going to, I'm planning to retake that question. Have you changed someone's life in the work that you do? Like I said, just think for a few seconds and I'm going to come back to that question at some point later. So Providence Public Schools, for many of you may have an idea about what Providence Public Schools is, many of you may not. And I have discovered, find out this, that while Providence Public Schools is the largest district in the state, what I'm going to talk about is the district in the state with the district that housed the largest elementary school in the region, the Northeast region, not many people really know the diversity, the numbers behind the Providence Public Schools fabric, the challenges and opportunities. So Providence Public Schools serves approximately 24,000 students. And the families of those 24,000 students amount to about 17,000. We have 41 schools, elementary, middle and high. We have thousands of employees who directly and indirectly support the work that we do, which is serving our students because the students are the center of everything we do and that's what the way to be. A few more quick statistics for me to share with you about the district and the fabric of the community that we serve is that 65% of our students are Latinos. 17 are Black and 5% are Asian. So you do the math and we serve more than 90% diverse students and their families. Almost 25%, almost 25% of the students are English language learners themselves or their families. And nearly 60% of our student population comes from homes where English is not their primary language. Combined, our students and their families speak 31 different languages and hail from approximately 52 different countries. Not only do many of our families face cultural and language differences and majority face some incredible economic hardships at home. Most of our district, about 88% of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch. We are challenged daily with supporting families that are also homeless and of refugee status. That's kind of like the crisis that Dr. Ho was talking about that I alluded to. Academic achievement gaps persist particularly among English language learners and students with disabilities. And you may be asking you why I'm changing all these statistics with you. So I'm changing all of this with you not to simply state that our urban district faces challenges others may not. I'm changing this with you so that you can help open the door to so many incredible new opportunities and further the success of our public schools. Each year at graduation night we are touched and we are deeply touched by the stories of so many of our seniors and the unbelievable obstacles that they have to overcome to receive their degrees. There are stories of students living in refugee camps losing their parents living on their own overcoming language barriers and those who were told that they could never make graduation night never mind to college. Despite their race, feminist income, zip code or history each student shares one threat. The opportunity for success in our schools and in society. Each day our faculty, educators, staff and community partners dedicate themselves to our students and supporting their achievement from our teachers in the classroom to school crisis teams that provide more support to students overcoming all of those challenges. One thing is clear and consistent throughout the work that we do every day. It indeed takes a village. It indeed takes that village to see continued momentum and progress. Take for example our current efforts to combat chronic absenteeism. This continues to be a major issue in our province public schools and this is for so many reasons. Last school year 35% of our students were chronically absent and we know that if a student is not in school the student is not learning what they need to do to be equipped to graduate college and career ready. It is clear that this is particularly helpful for our youngest students and by tackling the problem we can help prevent them from falling behind. We have identified this as a problem and as a priority issue in our district and we are working very hard with the community partners that we have in the district including City Year and Children and Youth Cabinet on a number of strategies to address this issue. In addition to that this year we are making data on the school level throughout the year to the schools so that they can take decisions within a timely manner as we know the school year flies and it is very critical to provide the schools with the tools, the information and the data they need to determine the progress that the students are making. In addition to our work to end chronic absenteeism we have also launched an effort to prevent summer learning loss which disproportionately affects low income students and a student of color in the public school system and what did I say about the demographics? 97% are minority students and students have the greatest risk for summer learning loss can lose listen to this up to two years two years of grade level reading and math ability by the time they reach fifth grade when you compare them to other students from higher income levels or households in Providence more than 60% of students suffer summer learning loss in reading a more than 51% in math studies show in research that students from lower income families are far less likely to have access to summer learning opportunities which leads to greater summer learning loss in lower graduation rates. We have just recently formed a new summer task force which is led by the mayor's office and I have the privilege to co-chair that task force along with Jenny Johnson from CIG here and we are going to be working very diligently to identify opportunities to expand and enhance those opportunities that we are offering to our students during the summer time. We have definitely to think creatively in tapping to important partnerships to be sure that our students continue to have those learning opportunities that are so key to the ability of them to achieve success. I can tell you that I have been very impressed by the support and the work and the collaboration of so many partners in the community more specifically with this work of the task force of the summer learning loss. We have received support from United Way Breakthrough Providence AES-220 YMCA, the Providence Public Library and the Rhode Island Foundation just to name a few. In addition to all this, as a district, as an organization and as a system we have a fairly responsibility to allocate resources in a smart and responsible way, making sure that the every dollar that we allocate is bringing a return on investment and it's aligned with the work that we are set to do, which is providing the opportunities in preparing our kids college and career ready. And speaking about return on investment our families are a key element of that equation and they must be also part of the solution. Our responsibility is in finding ways to increase our family's capacity to aspire to do better to become agents of change in their kids education. We have a responsibility to identify the barriers of engagement and to remove those barriers. And as part of this we have expanded our English language classes for parents. We have also expanded our leadership training opportunities and we are planning to provide additional family engagement support to the elementary schools where chronic absenteeism is more prevalent and the plan is to do whatever it takes to get our students to a school every day. It is very clear that we are committed to helping our public schools succeed. As the largest public school district in Rhode Island, as I mentioned before, working hands on with our schools and students has the potential to make a greater impact. Now my goal is not just to stand before you and pretend that we have an easy path. Individually and collectively we need to remind ourselves of the realities that our students face as well as their families which are behind those numbers that I share with you at the beginning. When a student is acting up or when a parent is not showing up at least not to the satisfaction of the adults and the community we are at times very, very fast to jump to conclusions without accounting and attempting to address there's so many variables and dynamics at play and that's very counterproductive to be more precise some of these dynamics in the level of complexities extend beyond the school rules. We are talking about kids witnessing trauma both at home and in the community. We are talking about substance and mental health issues that are not addressed. We are talking about a father or a mother absence from home because one of them is a jail because one is dead or because there is just one person at home. We are talking about a student that is restless because he is left in a sofa or in a car because they are homeless. We are talking about the lack of participation of students in the summer program so in the after school program to close that learning gap but the truth of the matter is that they cannot attend to those programs because they have transportation issues and they have to work during the summer to help mom and dad make a needs at home. We are talking about the student missing schools because health conditions because they live in substandard conditions exposed to lead more than they'll do and many other environmental hazards so that's the reality we face and I hope that this helps to paint the picture that we face every day and our families and our students and in order to support them the way that we should and must we have to put ourselves in the shoes. Personally I use an analogy that I learned some time ago and have served me very well and it's a very simple. No matter how flat you make a pancake it always has two sides always it doesn't matter how thin it is and one of the greatest limitation we face as human beings is that we look at the world from our own limited perspective you have to develop the ability to really see through one other person's eyes you will be tapping into an incredible powerful potential how can you influence other people if you cannot connect with them in a meaningful way you impact when you understand someone's currency feeling in circumstances isn't measurable that's why you always have to flip the pancake to see the other side now speaking about impact let me go back to that question I asked you at the beginning have you changed someone's life in the work that you do now if you have not I invite you to open yourself to that possibility it is truly truly transformational and it's more transformational for the one that is giving than the one we see them I have felt the transformation in the eyes of that student that thought that he couldn't make it I struggled painfully throughout the years but was able to work that stage in the graduation day I have seen it in the eyes and the words of gratitude of that mom that went to learn English and then was able to communicate effectively with the teacher of her child I have seen it in the eyes of that teacher that was appreciated by her colleagues and her students I encourage you as you continue to dive further into your professional careers to think about so many so many ways that you can share your knowledge skill and success and as I like to say time, talent and treasure so that you can help our province public schools in my distinction you actually help the community the city and the state and the nation that is so grateful with all of us and that can become in a form of volunteering tutoring offering internships opportunities for our students donating resources the opportunities are endless please become involved invested in the well-being of our students and remember in the larger school system in the state and hopefully one day the students that you help guide and support will stand behind you and behind this podium providing words of wisdom to you and to the next generation I would like to thank you all for this opportunity and I look forward of working with all of you to help Providence become a better place thank you yes senior data service I was nominated for Gringo of the year in Texas Mr. Bauchman says I speak Spanish oh I didn't use that sir I wouldn't even call it that questions for our guests as you can see we have a diverse audience in working with the diversity of the community given the problems that you have described to us what special skills do you think are necessary and the diversity of the community kind of work on those problems the children will tell you I will say that at the top of that yes it's being compassion and being compassion until putting yourself in that place of the other person and when you do that you actually start understanding beginning to understand the realities that the community and the students population faces and it may look like a very overwhelming and very discouraging but if you keep reminding yourself that this nation will be first actually a nation of people from different backgrounds and experiences that coming together in the public we are and by that diversity we become stronger I think that you are better able to equip yourself to understand the community and to serve them and instead of pointing fingers which is what at times we resort to it becomes more of a human level connection and you are able to see through the values and the contributions of families and people across the board so again I will say that being compassionate because that's what allows you to place yourself in the other and you were building partnerships, formal partnerships in the community so I briefly alluded to that piece when I talked about return on investment so what ended up happening over the years right so there is so much need in provenance and so many opportunities every time I talked about need I always talked about opportunities because I see one very connected to the other we fall into the trap of thinking that every single person coming to the door or every single organization that would like to help is actually helping us to move the needle and we know if we apply the concept of organizational structure and the business the pure business concept that's not true this needs to be aligned to the work that we do and so engaging in a partnership just because of the sake of putting something on a paper is meaningless at the end of the day if it's not providing the support that families, students and teachers and faculty need to move that needle so we are really making sure that number one we are conducting a scan of all the partnerships that we have to determine if the partners that we have are the right partners to have and to move right because this is a collaboration and it's about giving and taking that's what a partnership is there needs to be something in it for both parties to be in a partnership for it to work and so we are going to be engaging in that difficult discussion with the partners that we have to make sure that partners align to the work that we are trying to achieve and as we are looking to expand and to strengthen we are doing so through those instances one thing that is clear and it's being clear of discussion is that not only the province public schools but the city is facing a very financial very difficult financial challenges and so the dollars that we have on the table to engage in partnerships that entails a procurement process meaning that we are paying for the services that we provided are not many so we are more than ever depending upon the good heart of people in the community and by people in the community I'm talking about individuals but I'm also talking about businesses, organizations corporations, colleges and universities to actually do what is right for the people of the city and the state but we are also trying to change the dynamic and to talk about the business proposition which is that as we have heard this as goes the capital so goes the state and the fact that we need to come together to prepare the workforce that we need with the skill set that we need and at the end and I think that we were talking about this so it's making the connection so at the end of the day the workforce that is skilled is the one that is going to increase the tax base and so this notion that investing in schools and public education may be a waste of dollars really we need to think that through because by actually investing in education we are actually making the connection long term to all those issues that I talked about when you talked about community development so the more disposable income that people are able to generate the more likely they will not be living in some standard conditions the more likely they will be able to afford opportunities for their kids and at times really I'm not going to say the only difference because that will be deceiving but one of the biggest differences between a kid in an urban community and a kid in a non-urban community are the opportunities that are forwarded to them within and after school and we are all responsible for making it that happen and so it goes beyond like I said before it goes way beyond just the walls of the schools because we all contribute to creating those conditions and we also know that the subject is his or her environment and so to an extent we all contribute to all these challenges and so it's incumbent upon each one of us to contribute to changing that and to make the connections because we tend to point fingers and it's that the educational system is so awful let me look this other way and there are other opportunities which are not or speaking the case but the reality is that at the end of the day public education traditional public education is the way that the masses are educated and that will continue to be the case until we figure something out so if that's the case let's fund it and let's invest so that we can achieve the results that we need I noted in this morning's providence journal the mayor announces a new community development project where he's going to rehabilitate houses will that be a health hindrance or totally neutral to the way we try actually it's a tremendous help like I said one of the so one of the indicators who are poor performance in school is living in some standard conditions we know that asthma is the reason why students in all my communities meet schools health related right and so asthma is the trigger by those sub standards conditions so addressing the housing realities of the city definitely is a contributor to improving those conditions and so that's the way that I think we should be looking at all the issues that we have in our society instead of trying to divide and say education is the only housing to be the only healthcare access to be the only no because one cannot coexist without the other so definitely I think that is a help glad to hear it good thank you maybe just an example because you spoke about the importance of corporate partnerships and I love what you said about time talent and treasure it's one of the most rewarding programs that I participated in through my company is the it used to be called VIPS inspiring minds the power lunch program where we just ask co-workers to give up one lunch break a week with children in one province elementary schools so Dr. Hall always says not all leaders are managers and I'm not a manager in my organization but I negotiated hard enough to organize a team of volunteers and when you asked your first question about affecting someone else's life and making an impact that's exactly the group of children that popped into my mind and it was zero dollars financially other than well maybe some you know people went a little bit over in their lunch times but it made a huge impact in my mind and then one of the other things that you mentioned was truancy issues and one of the big programs that I get to be a part of at AAA which is a company I work for is school safety patrol and we trained student leaders because it's really a safety and leadership program to help be walking school buses to school to help in neighborhoods where you know parents were perceiving the neighborhoods maybe not so safe to allow their children to walk alone but yet because of work schedules or other issues we're able to take their you know transport their children to school themselves so just a little tiny piece of what my company was able to contribute and I felt both programs made a big impact and I'm glad that you were mentioning those two programs because sometimes people may think that their time is not valued or that perhaps is so insignificant that lead a program I can tell you that the volunteers that come through the power lunch through what it was inspired minds and depth volunteers in Providence and now inspired minds is transformational we have leaders in their own right coming to read to the students so it really opens the world of opportunities and wonder to the kids it establishes relationships and connections that otherwise the students may not have so also with you know with that of the program the reality is that we and we are not necessarily so way different than any other urban communities not only in the state but across the nation so we have workability issues in the city we have pedestrian friendly city in many areas safety crime perceived or not is an issue and so research shows that chronic absenteeism is more prevalent in elementary rates K through 3 K through 3rd grade and so what happen is that again going back to all those challenges so mom or dad may have a job and they have to be at their job at 6am the only way for that kid to go to school is walking a distance that that adult at home may not feel that safe and so if I don't have an adult that I can rely on to send that child to school more likely the child is going to stay or it's going to be it's going to be arriving to a school late until that other sibling that may have a later beginning time goes to a school and take that child to a school because of those conditions and so we have been able to work with so partners like Family Service of Rhode Island who has been able to recruit and manage hundreds of volunteers throughout the year to imaginary creating a bus and so it's actually people walking through the neighborhoods picking up kids at their doorsteps in their home and walking them to school and that happens mornings and afternoons in a handful of schools that we have and I'm glad that you mentioned that because again those are many creative ways that we have used to tapping to resources and trying to address the needs that we see again to make sure that students get to school every day and that we prepare their college and career ready so thank you for that Anything else? We thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule away from your family and all your other responsibilities to be with us and we benefit from it They must be texting mom already Probably, thank you We have someone like who wants to be with us tonight and I look forward to being able to put together two more programs this year with equally spectacular speakers so mark your calendars for March 2 and May 4 and if anybody wants to join me over at 205 Washington Street for tutoring session questions about classes, I'll be over there in a few moments and help yourselves to some more refreshments before you leave because I only have a limited number of freezer bags so thank you for coming and if you haven't signed in be sure you do that so we can get this Thank you, good night Ms. Jenica