NAZ: 1,300 children on college track
In a basement room lined with college banners, inside the Five Points Building, staffers, parents and partners celebrated Northside Achievement Zone’s (NAZ) milestone of having 1,300 students enrolled and on track to be college ready.
NAZ, through its Promise Neighborhood is seeking to build a culture of achievement in a geographic zone between 35th Avenue to the north, Penn Avenue to the west, West Broadway to the south and Interstate 94 to the east. Naz’s goal for its Promise Neighborhood is to graduate children college ready and end a cycle of poverty within the north Minneapolis area. And though it was a celebratory atmosphere, Geoffrey Canada, founder of the famed Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc., told staffers the celebration should be short-lived as there is plenty more work to be done.
“We except no excuses for failure,” said Canada, speaking to a room of about 50 staffers, parents and NAZ partners. “Our kids have been failed for too long. People have to do more. You have to double your efforts of what got you to this point. If you keep doing the same, you’ll be in this same place next year. This is the beginning of a process that takes time, but in a community that doesn’t have time to wait.”
More at the link provided.