BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP MAY 11 - MAY 17, 2018 23
SENIORS: NEW YORK CITY IS PROUD OF
YOUR HARD WORK
Last week, high schools across
the five boroughs celebrated College
Decision Day. This is an amazing
opportunity to congratulate
our high school seniors for years
of hard work, and come together
to support them as they make a
very big decision: what’s next after
graduation!
Across New York City,
a record number of
students are graduating
high school and
going on to college. On
College Decision Day, as
we celebrated, we were
also building on
this progress and
paving the path to
our goal of College
Access for All.
As seniors make their college
choices, and as their school communities
cheer them on, younger
students are watching. They are
thinking about their own paths
to college and careers, and seeing
their role models successfully apply
for and enroll in college.
Seniors, I want to thank you and
share how proud I am of you. On
a personal level, so many of your
stories remind me of my own.
Like many of you, I started
school not knowing a word of English.
My mom was a hairdresser,
my dad was a sheet-metal worker
and builder. My mom had a high
school diploma, and my dad never
finished school but went back and
got his GED to set an example for
me and my brother.
Yet they believed in the power
of education, and they told me and
my twin brother: “You are going to
college.”
When I graduated from high
school, my brother and I visited the
University of Arizona – which we
would both went on to attend and
graduate from – for the first time
with our parents.
I remember walking through a
big, green college campus full of
beautiful buildings. To my surprise,
my father looked around and
began to call out all of the buildings
by name.
I asked him with astonishment,
“How do you know
all of these buildings
so well?” He replied,
“Mijo, I helped to
build many of these
buildings. I know
them inside and
out – and never did I
think that I would
come back here as
the father of two
students. Before
today, I only came here to work.”
As you get ready to move on to
college and careers, so many of you
will be the first – the first to go to
college, to graduate from college, to
get a professional certificate or join
the military, to pursue college or
a career outside of New York City.
Remember the sacrifices your
families have made to help you get
here, and to reach your potential.
Thank them. And please take a
moment to thank the teachers,
counselors, and school staff who’ve
made you feel valued and pushed
you forward day in and day out.
I also hope that you’ll stay
involved in your community and
your school, paying it forward
and being a mentor for children
who look up to you and need all
the support you can offer.
We all believe in you. We believe
that you will lead our communities
and our entire country to a better
place. Thank you for brightening
our schools, our homes, and our
lives, and congratulations on your
next steps. We are so proud of you.
Richard Carranza is New York
City schools chancellor.
BK SNAPS
GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY.
Photo by Thomas Hilton
Send us your photos of Brooklyn and you could see them online or in our paper.
Submit them to us via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag #HRPix;
or email them to editorial@brooklynreporter.com.
GUEST OP-ED
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY: Father of 10-year-old struck by vehicle in Bay Ridge gives update on his
son’s condition
SUMMARY: Shortly after 10-year-old Jobe Kan, who attends P.S. 231, was struck
by a car while playing with a friend in Bay Ridge, his father spoke to us about
hi condition. Jobe, who went into the street mid-block, was initially listed in
critical condition. He is doing better, the dad said, but has a long road ahead of
him. Readers were quick to react to the news.
REACH: 2,988 (as of 5/4/18)
BY SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR
RICHARD CARRANZA
FOR MORE NEWS, VISIT
www.brooklynreporter.com