Meet a Scholarship Recipient

Meet Nadia Abbasi, an amazing student and one of our 3 2008 BerwynCARES scholarship recipients. Nadia has received the Jim Zacovek Memorial Scholarship in memory and honor of Jim Zacovek who died of cancer. A close friend of his donated the scholarship to BerwynCARES in his honor. Jim was a graduate of Morton West in 1987. Nadia is ranked in the top 10 of her class and will be attending Loyola University to study Nursing in the Fall.


How would you describe your high school experience in one sentence or less?
Very stressful, but none the less fun and an experience I would never forget.

What is/was your favorite subject?
I really loved AP Biology and all of the English classes I took.

Have you or your friends experienced any barriers to getting the best education possible and, if so, what were they?
I have not experienced any major barriers, and I generally believe that Morton West has provided me with a quality education. However, two of my friends took AP Calculus their junior year in high school and Morton had no higher level of math for them to take senior year. This was one limitation and barrier on their education.

What opportunities does Morton West provide that may not be available at other high schools?
Morton West provides a diverse student body so that I not only learned about science and history, but also about other cultures and beliefs. Also, Morton provided me with incredibly caring teachers who wanted me to go above and beyond, and did whatever necessary, be it coming in early or staying after, to make sure I did.

How do you think Morton West compares to other high schools?
I think that Morton West is an equally good school as other public schools in the area.

If you could change one thing about Morton West, what would it be?
I think that many students that go to Morton West don't care about their education and therefore drop out or fail many classes. This makes it seem as if Morton West doesn't have good teachers or cannot provide a good education for students. This however, is untrue and it is not fair that Morton has a bad reputation based on those students. If I could change one thing about Morton West I would try to change the attitudes of some students or Morton's reputation.

Describe the most challenging assignment you have done.
The most challenging assignment I have done was dissecting a cat in AP Biology. This assignment was difficult to me for many reasons, one being that I really love animals and the dissection made me feel guilty. Another reason was because the dissection itself was difficult; I have never dissected anything before so it was new to me. The last reason this assignment was difficult was because the cats smelled terribly like preservatives and decay which made it hard to even be near them. This assignment was very important however, for learning anatomy.

Is there a teacher you would like to thank? Why?
I would like to thank my sophomore year Honors English teacher, Ms. HP because she taught me how to write a well constructed essay and has really helped shape my writing style. I would also like to thank my junior year AP English teacher, Mrs Weinstein, for inspiring me to absolutley love literature. Her passion about the books we read in class was contagious and it made me passionate about reading and writing, a passion which has not left me even though the class has been over for over a year now. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr Bartone, my AP Biology for treating our AP class like it was a college class and helping to prepare me for my first year of college.

Do you plan to go to college? If so, where? What will you study?
Yes, I am enrolled in Loyola University's Nursing program.

Do you feel you were well prepared for college?
I think that college would be a drastic change, no matter where I went to high school, but I think that Morton has prepared me as well as any high school could.

What's playing on your iPod?
My favorite types of music are experimental, progressive, and indie, and my favorite band is Interpol.

What are you reading?
Currently, I am reading Atonement by Ian McEwan

Where will you be in one year? Five years? Ten years?
In one year I will be done with my freshmen year in college. In five years, I will be done with my undergraduate studies and I will be a nurse. I will probably also be taking classes in attempt to earn my Masters degree. In ten years, I will hopefully have a house and a husband. I will be working towards being head nurse and I will hopefully either have already adopted a child or be in the process of adoption.

Scholarships Awarded to Students

Tonight it was my pleasure to present 3 outstanding Morton West graduates with $1000 scholarships. These exceptional young adults represent the best of Morton West and, thanks to the generosity of BerwynCARES members, we were able to recognize their great achievements and their promising futures. We will be profiling the 3 recipients in the coming weeks on this blog. Thanks to Susan Crowe and the scholarship committee for all their efforts!

Summer Learning Loss

Summer Learning Loss refers to the decline in skills and achievement over the summer months when school is not in session. Typically, this loss is more significant in low-income children. While middle class and wealthy children often have age appropriate books in their homes, poor children rely on schools for their reading material. Poor kids lose over 2 months of achievement during the summer months. Middle class and wealthy students often make gains or remain at the same level of achievement during the summer. Summer learning loss contributes significantly to the achievement gap in our country and in OUR COMMUNITY.

The Berwyn Public Library offers a summer reading program to keep kids (and adults!) reading over the summer. There are prizes and special events and it really is motivating for kids. I encourage everyone who reads this to go this week and register. However, according to an article on the scholastic website, poor children are much less likely to have access to local libraries for a variety of reasons.

"Research shows that public library use among poor children drops off when a library is more than six blocks from their home, compared with more than two miles for middle-class children."

The best remedy for summer learning loss is books in the hands of the kids, and once again, the kids who need the most get the least. From the same scholastic article:

>"We also know that teachers and librarians in the poorest communities, are the least likely to allow children to check out books because these schools can't afford to risk the loss of the few books they have. While economically-advantaged schools are able to buy multiple copies of favorite books, poor schools face serious limitations. High-poverty schools use what money they have to buy test-preparation packages, while middle-class schools buy books."

Of course, the solutions are not simple. If policy makers are serious about eliminating the achievement gap, they must realize that poor kids don't need the same as wealthy kids...THEY NEED MORE. We must offer kids quality summer reading programs in our schools. We must get appropriate reading material in the hands of the kids on that last day of school for them to TAKE HOME. We must keep them reading during the summer.

How Many Kids from Morton West Go to College?

BerwynCARES hopes to help increase the percentage of Morton West graduates that go on to college. We've created a new T-shirt design aimed at middle and high school students and teachers. The front of the shirt shows $1,000,000. The back features this message:

During an average career span, college graduates will earn $1,000,000 more than a high school drop out. IT PAYS TO STAY IN SCHOOL.

The T-shirts are for sale for $10. E-mail berwyncares@yahoo.com if you would like to order one!

At a BerwynCARES meeting last year, administrators estimated about 40% of graduates go on to college and about 1/2 of those go to 2 year community colleges. We hope to influence the current administrations of Districts 98, 100 and 201 to develop or strengthen programs at all of the middle schools and Morton West aimed at increasing the percentage of students who go on to 4 year universities. Programs like "Gear Up" are currently limited to the city of Chicago. A similar comprehensive program should be developed to unite the efforts of District 98, 100 and 201 to see that all Berwyn children reach their potential. Much of Gear Up's message focuses on the Middle School years as the ideal time to begin helping low-income, minority students and families to see college as a possibility. However, there is evidence that gains made early are lost without follow-up programs in the high school years. Another program that could be used as a great model for Berwyn is Admission Possible out of Minnesota. The copyrighted curriculum is for juniors and seniors who must apply to the program their sophomore year.
http://www.admissionpossible.org/AP_Curriculum.html

Our districts, indeed our community, must unite to see our children make it to the finish line. If our elementary school districts truly care about the success of their students (and I believe they do!), then the responsibility for those students CANNOT end at 8th grade graduation. And if our high school administrators and teachers truly care about the success of their students (and I believe they do!) then they must be invested in the early years of their future students. These 3 districts must come together, pool their limited resources, to offer hope to the students of Berwyn. Districts 98, 100 and Morton West must work together to offer a 6th-12th grade comprehensive program with the explicit goal of increasing the number of low-income, minority Berwyn students that go on to college.

Many Thanks!

Thanks to all who helped to make the 2nd Annual Rock the Vote Concert a huge success. We were able to raise enough money to offer 3 $1000 scholarships to Morton West seniors headed to college! Once we have notified the recipients, we will announce their names and a bit of info about their ambitious plans.

Special thanks to Shana Marshall who organized the Silent Auction which brought in over $1500! And to Susan Crowe who organized the scholarship committee and supervised the difficult task of evaluating all of the applications. Kudos to Matt Scharpf and Goat Rodeo for the great music. You guys rock! Also, thanks to Tiger O'Stylie, the Berwyn Police Union and Fire Department and all of the elected officials who supported and attended the event.

And a heart-felt thank you to all of those private donors out there who sent in donations to the scholarship fund! What a gift to these students. You have really made a difference. At least 3 young people in our community will know that Berwyn cares!!