Harlem school partners with nonprofit to supplement student enrichment
NEW YORK - A decades-long partnership between a nonprofit and a Harlem high school has created a pipeline of proud alumni with skills that set them apart. Sound Business Inc continues to expand its reach at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School on West 135th Street.
From freshman year, students at the school encounter extracurricular learning from SBI. The organization has been embedded in the school since 1990, immersing students in college prep along with careers in the automotive industry and theater production.
"We use the arts as a way to engage students, but then we also look at ways after we've engaged them to promote that academic support," said SBI CEO Dr. Kelly Downing.
SBI's Mentoring Kings program encourages literacy among young men of color, while the College Prep Academy serves students sending off applications.
"Whether it's academics, it's your social life, if you're worried about college, I feel like to have that support around you is super valuable," said theater tech captain Milani Dennis.
It is the only school in Manhattan to partner with Ford through Rockland Community College, using the same training modules as first-year students there. Israel Castro hopes to become an electrical engineer working on safety components.
"Emergency brakes, maybe something that can make it more responsive or more like powerful so that maybe I could save a life one day," Castro said.
2012 graduate Dany Ramdhanie now works as a union stagehand in the city, crediting the SBI mentors who taught him the ropes.
"Just being able to be in the room with those individuals put me on a different level because I was coming out of this space knowing what I wanted." Ramdhanie said.
The skills and professionalism students develop set them apart as they prepare for college and careers.
"It's really liberating and really like exhilarating when you see the work on stage that you work so hard towards," Dennis said.
Now SBI hopes to help even more students, as organizers engage in conversations to expand programming in more neighborhood schools.
You can see the theater tech students in action at their upcoming showcase, May 19. The theme is Strive For Joy.
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