Flint Community Schools-A New Day Has Arrived
By Blake D. Strozier
I have been a life-long resident of the city of Flint; only leaving the city to attend college in 2006. I can remember to the school district I graduated from and all the programs and opportunities that were available to the students back then.
As I watched and listened to parents, teachers and then-current students discuss the district they were fearful that as the school district seemed to sink deeper into financial distress that valuable programs and curriculum were being abandoned as more and more students left the Flint Community Schools for other options.
However, in the past five years, the board and school district have made strides in moving the district forward. Like a great ship, it takes time to re-align the common core of our district to encourage student achievement. Not only are the students in the Flint Community School competing for jobs with other students in the state of Michigan and in other states; but we are now in a global economy that our jobs are not guaranteed. Our students must be totally prepared and ready for the tremendous task, positions and opportunities that when they walk across the stage for graduation they walk into a world that they are ready for.
Our various new programs with the Brownell/Holmes STEM Academy, Fine Arts programs, and Advanced Placement curriculum at Northwestern High School, International Baccalaureate (IB) Programs and 7th Grade Academy at Southwestern High School, the new-Accelerated Learning Academy for secondary students and the return of community education display to me that a “New Day” has finally arrived to the Flint Community Schools. That we are preparing our students for the future and guaranteeing them that when they leave Flint, they can be proud of the district they came from.
I encourage the citizens of Flint to come and experience this “New Day” with us. Come be encouraged by elementary school students at Brownell and Holmes that are learning every day about the importance of Science and technology; or to listen to students at Pierce have foreign language classes with students in other countries via Skype; or watch our IB students at Southwestern give back to the community with volunteering at Soup Kitchens and with various other organizations; or even the interpretive dance class at Northwestern High School. Flint Community Schools is back and we are moving every day closer into that “NEW DAY”.
Blake D. Strozier is a resident of the City of Flint; currently a Landscape Architect in the City of Flint, He is a member of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Lewis Randolph. Rev. Strozier has served on the Flint Board of Education since June, 2011.
