Monique Achu ’02 spends a lot of time on the phone these days, fielding calls from across the globe. Achu serves as director of programs for Mott Hall Bridges Academy (MHBA) in Brooklyn, New York, the small school inspiring big-hearted support.
An online fundraiser to pay for enrichment programs at the middle school has gone viral, raising over $1.2 million from more than 41,000 donors.
[UPDATE: Since this story was posted, the fundraiser ended, with a total of $1,419,284 contributed by 51,472 donors.]
“We could never have imagined this type of response,” says Achu, who has been with the school since it opened in 2010. MHBA is considered a safe zone – a haven for learning and personal growth – in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood, an impoverished area with one of the highest crime rates in New York City.
The catalyst for the fundraiser was a posting on Brandon Stanton’s popular blog Humans of New York, featuring Vidal Chastanet. The 13-year-old identified his school principal, MHBA’s Nadia Lopez, as the person who has had the biggest influence on his life. Stanton was impressed and reached out to Lopez.
On January 22, Stanton launched a campaign on the crowd-funding site, Indiegogo Life, to cover the costs of a school trip to Harvard to show students that no university was beyond their reach. “Let’s Send Kids to Harvard: The Vidal Scholarship Fund” quickly caught fire on social media, receiving more than $1 million in donations in four days. It grabbed the attention of celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, and earned an invitation for Vidal, Principal Lopez and Stanton to meet President Barack Obama.
“We’ve heard from media across the industry, from NPR to Elle magazine. This story has really engaged everyone,” Achu says.
The exposure has resulted in an exhausting deluge of calls and emails, “but it’s a good problem to have,” she says.
The fundraiser ends February 10. In addition to the Harvard trips, donations will seed a scholarship fund for MHBA alumni, and Vidal will be the first recipient.
Praised for its “holistic” approach to education, the Academy aims to close the achievement gap by opening doors to possibilities for its 191 scholars – the school’s term for students – in grades six through eight. While the academic curriculum revolves around a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) core, the Academy’s formula includes the enrichment programs and community events that Achu directs.
>NYT: A Brooklyn School’s Curriculum Includes Ambition
“Our non-instructional programming emphasizes emotional and social development,” keys to creating college-ready scholars, she explains. Among the offerings are “Be Cool Be Kind,” an anti-bullying initiative; “She Is Me,” a mentoring and female empowerment group; and “I Matter,” an initiative to help young men understand their value to the community. There are also programs focused on a host of interests, from entrepreneurship to robotics to sports.
When they are ready for post-secondary education, Achu hopes her students will have the type of experience she had at SMU, where she majored in communications arts in Meadows School of the Arts.
“You get such a diverse education at SMU,” she says, “And there are so many hands-on opportunities to develop skills you’ll use every day. Even classes you’re not sure apply to your future career can be really useful. I wasn’t sure how I would use it, but now I’m really glad I took a PR class.”
While at SMU, she was active in a variety of organizations, including the Association of Black Students and Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
“I think the student leadership roles I had, where I learned to plan and coordinate events, as well as manage people and projects, have been essential to my career development,” she says.
Although she originally planned to pursue a path in media that combined communications and civic engagement, her “passion for helping people” led her to education. After earning a master’s degree at Boston University, she coordinated nonprofit programs in Boston before relocating to New York City.
Achu has been part of Mott Hall Bridges Academy from the beginning, and she is anxious to see what the future holds.
“I’ll be coordinating the trips to Harvard,” she says. “I think the experience will be truly life-changing, and that’s what education should do: change lives.”
– Patricia Ward
Although the fundraiser ends February 10, Mott Hall Bridges Academy scholars can always use support. For more information, email Monique Achu.
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