By: Paul Sladkus
Located in the Crotona Park section in the South Bronx sits a hidden gem in Bronx Prep High School, a representative of the Democracy Prep charter system.
On a rainy April evening the clouds parted and the sun shined for a group of students who were given the opportunity to be front and center for a performance of Romeo & Juliet at the Metropolitan Opera as well as we’re given an opportunity to meet with members of the MET team for a “behind the scenes” adventure within the arts.
School leadership led by Principal, Cassius Gil has set Bronx Prep apart from the rest of the D.O.E. through offering opportunities that many NYC students are not afforded. ““I am very very happy to be able to send kids to an incredible experience at the Metropolitan Opera and be able to watch Romeo & Juliet. Teachers jumped at it, kids jumped at the chance”. Gil went on to say, “one child, when she came back, told me at the end of it that she stood up and cried”.
MET representative, Jess Medoff, discussed career opportunities and answered questions to an audience of bright-eyed high schoolers from Bronx Prep, thrilled at having seen a performance that they all proclaimed exceeded their wildest expectations.
BP senior, Shenoa Urbaez Romero states, “Going to the Met has been one of the best experiences I have had all year, I was able to explore an artistic environment that I had dreamed of visiting”.
By all accounts, this event came to pass through a leader who quietly works with these students on a regular basis as a guest teacher in addition to his regular job as the Chief Financial Officer of the international investment platform, Alpha Innovations. Philanthropist and champion for kids / for the arts, Gene Fisch, Jr., when asked of his motivation to orchestrate this endeavor stated that, “We grow through being exposed to opportunities and kids just need that chance, the chance to fall in love with music, with set design, with lighting. It is one thing to read Romeo & Juliet, now let us immerse them into the experience! Have them close their eyes and let the words permeate throughout their bodies! Bam! You fall in love! Let’s show kids a world of awesomeness that transcends the neighborhood”.
Democracy Prep’s system includes twelve schools across Harlem and the Bronx in NYC as well as campuses in Nevada and Texas.
While interviewing the students we saw that most had never seen a performance of this nature, not because they would not want to, the opportunity had just not been afforded to them. Society and the educational system typically fall short when including all its young people the opportunity to experience possibilities. Such a substantial portion of NYC’s students struggle in the core areas of education which becomes a tremendous obstacle to overcome. A recent article by Julian Shen-Berro in Chalkbeat stated that “Roughly 50% proficient on reading, math exams, data shows”. “Though 51.7% of the city’s third through eighth grade students were considered on grade level based on their reading exam scores, and 49.9% were on grade level for math, student performances diverged across grades. Eighth grade students, for example, fared worse on math exams — with just 42.3% achieving proficiency, compared to 55% of third graders.”
It is through the efforts of institutions such as Bronx Prep and leaders such as Cassius Gil and Gene Fisch, Jr. that can help improve upon these results and overcome the deficiencies within the system.
Gene Fisch, Jr. went on to say, “kids learn from what they hear and sometimes make pre-judgements based on how people look or what culture they come from. Maybe if we educate children to judge people by their actions towards them versus what they are told to believe the heritages represent, society will be the better for it and we can eliminate a small portion of hate in the world.”
Drop the mic.
Kudos to Gene Fisch Jr, and the entire community of Democracy Prep. All are diamonds in the South Bronx.
