Paul Tough

Writer & Speaker

Posts Tagged ‘Massachusetts’


Friday, January 29th, 2010

More from Somerville

From the Tufts Daily, more news on the plans to bring a program based on the Harlem Children’s Zone to the Mystic housing project in Somerville, Mass. (I posted a link to the original announcement of the project back in December.)

The program is styled after the Harlem Children’s Zone project pioneered by Geoffrey Canada. Cochran noted, however, that though the goals and strategies of the two projects are similar, there are a couple of notable differences.

“Only about 30 percent of the families speak English as a first language,” he said. “The cultural diversity in the Mystic Housing Development is one of its unique characteristics.”

[Update: The story in the Tufts Daily seems to have disappeared from their web site. So the link above is no longer good. Sorry.]


Saturday, December 26th, 2009

A children’s zone in Somerville

In Wicked Local Somerville, an announcement of plans to create a children’s zone in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Mass.:

The pilot program, modeled on Geoffrey Canada’s successful “Harlem Children’s Zone,” will focus on the Healey School and the Mystic Housing Development. The initiative, will map out all services for, and identify obstacles faced by, children at the Mystic Housing Development. Members of the network will work to improve coordination and expand services to close gaps, with the ultimate goal of fulfilling a promise that each child in the neighborhood succeeds in life. Eventually, the program will expand to other neighborhood schools and, ultimately, the entire City and school system.

Update: Some more news on the Mystic project.


Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Promise Neighborhood Conference

This week, the Harlem Children’s Zone presented Changing the Odds: Learning from the Harlem Children’s Zone Model, a conference attended by 1,400 people from around the country who came to New York in delegations to learn more about the Zone and about Promise Neighborhoods. Several officials in the Obama administration spoke at the conference, providing new details about the Promise Neighborhood initiative, including Arne Duncan, the education secretary; Melody Barnes, the director of the president’s Domestic Policy Council; Adolfo Carrion, the special assistant to the president for urban affairs; Heather Higginbottom, the deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council; and Jim Shelton, the assistant deputy secretary of education for innovation and improvement.

In anticipation of the conference, there was local newspaper coverage in San Bernadino, whose conference delegation included Mayor Pat Morris; in Chicago, which sent delegations from three different neighborhoods; in Springfield, Mass., where Geoffrey Canada spoke last week (and I spoke three weeks ago); and in Columbia, South Carolina, where a local group is working on a Zone in the Eau Claire neighborhood.

In Baltimore, a local paper called the Urbanite had a long, detailed article about the various plans in that city for Zone replication projects:

There are at least four Promise Neighborhood proposals in the works: The mayor’s office has been working on one in Park Heights; the nonprofit Living Classrooms is involved with another; and the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins are each pushing proposals as well.


Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Canada at Harvard

On Friday night, Geoffrey Canada accepted the Robert Coles “Call of Service” Award at Harvard University and spoke to students about Dr. Seuss and Langston Hughes.


Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Springfield, Massachusetts talk

As previously mentioned, on October 15 I’ll be giving the “City Thinks 2009 Inaugural Lecture” in Springfield, Mass., on the topic “Poverty, Education and Hope for Change.” More details in this announcement from American International College, which is hosting the lecture:

AIC and the Springfield Public Forum Series will present New York Times Magazine reporter and editor Paul Tough. The event, part of the “Arts at AIC” series, will take place on October 15, with a reception with the speaker at 6:15 p.m. and lecture at 7:00 p.m., in the Griswold Theatre. All “Arts at AIC” events are open to the public free of charge.


Thursday, October 1st, 2009

City Thinks in Springfield

Whatever It Takes” is the “program focus” for the 2009 City Thinks program, in Springfield, Mass., presented by the Springfield Public Forum and the Springfield City Library. According to an article in the Springfield Republican,

It’s akin to being part of a giant book club with lots of fun activities attached.

The assignment? Read New York Times Magazine editor Paul Tough’s book, “Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America,” in conjunction with Canada’s Springfield Public Forum appearance on Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Springfield Symphony Hall.

Tough will also make an appearance here on Oct. 15 as part of “The City Thinks 2009: Education, Poverty and Hope for the City.“

His free lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the Griswold Theater of American International College in Springfield; a reception will precede the event at 6:15.

The lecture is part of the forum’s collaboration with the Springfield City Library and other area institutions to engage a wider public through book discussion groups and a series of related events including an art and essay contest on “urban education and poverty“ for students in grades six through 12.


Friday, July 17th, 2009

Springfield Public Forum

Geoffrey Canada and I will both be speaking in Springfield, Mass., this fall. I’ll be there in October, and he’ll be there in November. According to an article in the Springfield Republican:

On Nov. 4, Geoffrey Canada, president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone, is scheduled to speak about its work in helping at-risk youth through a comprehensive approach to education and poverty eradication. Canada has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of “America’s Best Leaders.” …

Prior to Canada’s appearance, the City Thinks program, in conjunction with the forum series, will sponsor a talk on Oct. 15 at American International College by New York Times reporter Paul Tough, author of “Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America.”

Tough’s lecture will focus on urban education from a macro perspective. City Thinks is a community-wide program, offered in conjunction with the Springfield City Library. It is funded by the American International College honors program and the MacDuffie School.


Monday, October 20th, 2008

Wicked Local Rockport

Wicked Local Rockport, a Massachusetts paper, reviews Whatever It Takes:

It’s a tense, at times heartbreaking page-turner that details the work of a dynamic man and his remarkable drive, the students and their struggles, the leading studies in education that interest and inspire Canada and the interplay between Canada and the vigilant overseers and philanthropists who monitor and intervene.