Metro Center Launches New Program for High School Juniors
The Metro Center for Urban Education at NYU Steinhardt has launched the Adolescent and Post-Secondary Education Exchange (APEX) to serve high school juniors of immigrant origin and of Black and Latino heritage. Funding for the program has been made possible by a $70,000 grant from the Deutshe Bank Foundation and a $50,000 grant from the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Pedro Noguera, executive director of the Metro Center and professor of teaching and learning, is the principal investigator of the grant.Selected students will be named APEX Scholars and will be provided with mentoring support that will primarily focus on college preparation. Current NYU undergraduate and graduate students who are first generation immigrant and/or first generation college students will serve as mentors, providing necessary support to the APEX Scholars. Mentors will work closely with the administration, teachers, and counseling staff in one of three partner schools: Bronx International High School, Louis D. Brandeis High School, and Manhattan Theatre Lab High School. College prep sessions, mentoring activities, and tutoring are some of the activities in which APEX Scholars will engage. The overall goal of the APEX program is to provide an educational exchange of critical opportunities for first generation and/or immigrant students to enhance college enrollment, preparation, and leadership and communication skills. The coordinator for the program is Nathan N. Alexander. Mr. Alexander has taught at the Lower East side Prep High school and has worked in the Literacy Corps. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Mr. Alexander served as the artistic director of the Opeyo! Dance company for three years.