Many Mt Vernon Students' Work In 'On My Mind' 2019

From Focus Media: More than 70 high school students from the Mount Vernon City School District were represented at the “On My Mind 2019” celebration this year. Student and faculty representatives from The Mount Vernon High School, Nellie A. Thornton High School of Performing and Visual Arts, the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy and Nelson R. Mandela/Hosea Zollicoffer High School joined students from 15 other high schools who submitted written works and pieces of art for an annual publication entitled On My Mind.

The literacy project, coordinated and sponsored by the Northeast Westchester Rotary Club, began 14 years ago with four schools in Somers and Brooklyn and has now grown to 16 schools and 250 students. Each year, students in grades 9-12 write about any topic that is on their minds. They are provided topics, such as “grief and mourning,” “loneliness” and “race relations,” or they may choose a topic on their own. All of the students’ works of literacy or art have been bound into the book, which is then sold. The students, however, receive free copies through a generous donation made by the Rotary Club.

At the end of the academic year, the Rotary Club hosts a book launch celebration for the students and one student from each school presents their work. This year’s culminating event was held at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. The designated readers included Cierra Jones from The Mount Vernon High School, Brittiana Kentish from Nellie A. Thornton High School of the Performing and Visual Arts, Julia Pires from the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy, and Deandrick Washington from Nelson R. Mandela/Hosea Zollicoffer High School.

“This is the most proud I’ve been of something I’ve written. Everything I’ve ever wanted to say came out of my heart,” said Kentish who submitted the poem “Out the Window of Our Hearts.”

“This project provides students with an outlet to share the emotions, thoughts, or innovative ideas that are on their minds,” said Frank Gallo, Standards Administrator for Secondary Literacy. “For these young people to have their works of art published is a tremendous honor, and I am very proud of each student who participated in this year’s On My Mindpublication.”

This is the fourth year the Mount Vernon City School District has participated in the program. This year, 71 students from Mount Vernon wrote and submitted pieces for the literacy project – 26 from STEAM, 24 from Thornton, 13 from The Mount Vernon High School, and one from Nelson Mandela. Seven pieces of graphic art were also submitted.

About Mount Vernon City School District

With more than 8,000 students in 16 schools, the Mount Vernon City School District is committed to providing a quality education to its children as well as developing programs that meet the diverse academic and social needs of its students.