BKULAW Gets a Match Made in Heaven

Two years ago, Brooklyn University High School for Law (BKULAW) received a technology grant and created a fully functional television studio for their Junior Reporter's Club. This year, a new partnership is about to make the studio even better:

PENCIL, a non-profit organization that matches businesses with New York City public schools to enhance school curriculums, facilitated a planning meeting with BKULAW Principal Michael Prayor last Tuesday to discuss the details of this new relationship.

"They really wanted someone who was in TV to come in and help them use the equipment to the highest capability," said Maritza Rodriguez, partnership coordinator for PENCIL.

PENCIL helps business experts determine how their skills can be used to help public schools principals in need of the kind of talent commonly found in the private sector. What results are PENCIL Partnerships like the one between Principal Michael Prayor at BKULAW and Don Walden, a cameraman at CNN.

"Working with a partner with such expertise in the field will help provide a great education for our kids and open doors for them in the future," said Principal Prayor in an e-mail statement.

Since its creation in 1995, PENCIL has helped thousands of New York City schools.  Currently, they manage over 350 active partnerships though coordinators like Rodriguez who are assigned to specific school districts.

To create genuine interest from principals, PENCIL does not actively recruit schools, according to Rodriquez. Principals reach out to PENCIL through an online application process to communicate their school's needs.  PENCIL then solicits the help of business people with titles that range from CEOs of large companies like JetBlue, to owners of small businesses like the corner bodega, said Rodriguez. The minimum time commitment is one year.

"We will find a way to utilize anyone who wants to help," said Rodriquez. "You have these people who want to give back with really amazing backgrounds and expertise, and it's about translating that into the public school sector."

Frank Bisignano, a Chief Administrative Officer at JP Morgan Chase, established a partnership with Principal Catherine Reilly of Bushwick Leaders High School for Excellence in 2006. His list of accomplishments at the school includes the development of a computer lab, school-wide wireless internet, financial literacy workshops for parents, leadership programs for students and field trips to JP Morgan's training center. Student applications increased by 200 percent in two years.

"He has dramatically changed the culture of the school," said Rodriguez, who said Bisignano has plans to upgrade the library and the gym.

There are about 100 New York City schools on PENCIL's waiting list. Unfortunately, there is also a shortage of business partners in communities like Bed-Stuy, said Rodriquez. She explains that this is why the only active school in Bed-Stuy is BKULAW. Brooklyn Latin School and Bushwick Leaders High Schools are both right outside of Bed-Stuy's borders. Rodriguez said the reason for this discrepancy is most of their business partners are located in Manhattan, which means the distance to the outer boroughs is a problem

"We would love to get more local businesses involved, particularly in Bed-Stuy," said Rodriguez. 

New partnerships are inaugurated with a Principal For A Day kick-off event that allows the business partner to spend the day at the school to meet the students.  Details of BKULAW's relationship with Walden are still being ironed out, but students can expect to meet him some time before the end of the 2011 school year for his day as the principal at their school.