Committee

The improvement of the local public school system has been one of the first principles of the Brownstoners. We have sustained this effort over the years through the tenacious work of the Education Committee.

Major Initiatives:

Scholarship Funds: The Bernard McDonald/George Glee, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund is named for two of our founding members. The scholarships are awarded to college-bound graduates of Boys and Girls High School who have been accepted into Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In recent years, a scholarship has been established for a graduate of Bed-Stuy Prep, which is housed in the historic “old Boys High” building. The funds are administered by the Education Committee.

Bedford-Stuyvesant Reading Awareness Campaign: This multi-year initiative is designed to reach all sectors of the adult community, and to engage them more fully in their role as “first teachers”. Under the leadership of the Education Committee, the campaign has reached thousands of adults and families with reading pledge cards and materials. The Halloween Literacy Project was begun in 2011, and has reached hundreds of families who walk along the Fulton Street corridor on Halloween. Reading help materials are distributed to parents and children.

Open School Welcome Project: The Education Committee handles all of the details involved in this massive project. Teams of Brownstoners and community leaders set up “welcome tables” in District 16 schools. They greet parents and distribute materials as a graphic means of saying that we love our schools.

Adoption of P.S. 262: The “Malcolm X School” is the recipient of special projects and services that are developed by the Education Committee. The Community Reads Project is an activity that has been a great resource for the school.