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VERIZON AWARD

They’re Partners in the Community
Close ties between Verizon and P.S. 154 benefit both institutions

Since Elizabeth Jarrett was appointed principal of P.S. 154/Harriet Tubman School in 1995, the school has undergone a turn-around. In the early 1990s, P.S. 154 was added to the State Schools Under Registration Review program, founded in 1989 to monitor underperforming schools. And in 1996, when former Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew created a special district designed to provide oversight for low performing schools, he included P.S. 154 on the list (the district was later disbanded).

That same year, the school began its partnership with Verizon, an unusually close relationship that would grow over the next decade.

“Academically, that’s one way to support children,” Jarrett said. “You have to find different ways.”

Jarrett believes that the Verizon employees who visit the school through the group Mentoring USA help foster students’ selfesteem. They come in once a week for two hours to work with students one-on-one. One mentor worked with a little girl who was learning English and whose mother did not speak the language, making it difficult for the student to get help with homework, and the school’s intensive reading program. The Verizon employee would come in an hour earlier than her colleagues to work with the girl, whose reading skills notably improved.

“P.S. 154 and its principal, Elizabeth Jarrett, have a very special partnership,” said Thomas Dunne, Verizon’s vice president of public policy and external affairs. “It’s a real New York City success story.”

For two years, students have attended courses at the Verizon Education & Technology Center, just blocks from the school. Lessons are tailored to the needs of each grade level, training students in everything from typing to research.

Students in every grade level use the lab’s “Accelerated Reader Enterprise” software, which Jarrett believes profoundly enhances the school’s reading curriculum by encouraging students to constantly evaluate and improve their skills.

The communications company has also worked to bring in authors such as National Football League star Tiki Barber, co-author of “By My Brother’s Side,” to discuss their books. In another assembly, Verizon arranged for Brad Madson, author of the children’s book “Go Wild in New York City,” to answer questions. Each student and teacher received a copy of the book. And the school itself got a little something: Verizon presented Jarrett with a surprise $10,000 check for a reading and math computer lab—an announcement that was greeted with thunderous applause from the students.

Verizon’s assistance extends beyond the typical curriculum. Last year, the company sent students to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

“It was amazing to watch them there,” Jarrett said.

In addition to Verizon, community partnerships have been forged with a number of other organizations, including Harlem Children’s Zone, America Reads and Columbia University. But for all its resourcefulness, P.S. 154 still faces great challenges. Jarrett points out that for many students, the situation at home is “not ideal,” making concentration in school a difficult task.

But the school’s creative administration, with the help of organizations like Verizon, has helped to tip the odds in students’ favor. Results are visible in the school’s improved test scores, but also in a fifth grader’s excited chatter about a book she’s read and her plans to go on to college.

- Lee Norsworthy