The Founder and Executive Director of Children of the City presided over the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 4PM. Vice President of NASDAQ OMX, David Wicks welcomed Joyce Mattera to the NASDAQ MarketSite in Manhattan, NY.

Wicks said, "Joyce, I’d like to congratulate you and the entire Children of the City organization on the steps you’ve taken to indeed make a difference. You’re leading an organization that has succeeded in impacting the lives of so many young people, by offering opportunities for achievement and success – opportunities that they would not otherwise have had the chance to experience. We hope that today’s market close brings further awareness to these efforts."
Through the ups-and-downs of the stock market, the mission of Children of the City remains the same: investing in the futures of children."

Additional pictures and a video of the event at the NASDAQ site is available by clicking here. The best part is that although there are always ups-and-downs of the stock market, the mission of Children of the City remains the same: investing in the futures of children. I am so proud of Children of theCity. -- Rocco Basile

Gwyneth Paltrow at Champions of Hope Benefit

I am very excited that next Wednesday July 29, 2009 Children of the City will be celebrating vaving successfully served the children and families of Southwest Brooklyn for more than two decades. As you know I cover the issues surrounding education and my charity work in my own website called http://www.roccobasile.net/. The goal of Children of the City has always been and still is to meet the needs of the community.

It is with sincere pleasure and pride that I announce that this year's July 29th fundraiser will be host to guest of honor Actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Master of ceremonies is Bill Evans of WABC Eyewitness News and always a supporter, New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree.

Sponsorship opportunities to support the charity are avaialble here.

Wednesday July 29, 2009Cocktails 6:30pm Reception 7:30pm*Open Bar*
Tribeca Rooftop 2 Desbrosses Street, New York For more informaiton call: 718-436-0242 X20

Initially our success was measured by families overcoming poverty through our organization. This includes a first generation of patrons who are now businesspeople and homeowners in our community, raising families.

It is astounding that most of them came back and continue to volunteer with Children of the City. Economic instability continues to subject many families to drug abuse and delinquency.

Even during these economically difficult times, we have increased the number of programs as well as the volunteers and mentors who have so graciously supported the families who participate in all of our programs, and we will continue to try to work towards success.

Watch our charity's introduction video here to learn more about Children of the City.

--Rocco Basile

The Latest in Education News

Funds Cut for Public School Reform

In a Washington Post article today, staff writer Bill Turque said that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has eliminated funding for an independent evaluator assigned to assess the progress of public school reform under Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. This was according to the revised 2010 budget he submitted to the D.C. Council late Friday.

These proposed moves reflect the council's discontent with what members see as a lack of transparency and accountability in the mayor's efforts to transform the District's struggling public school system.

Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and the council are free to restore the funding cut when they vote on the revised budget July 31. But speaking to the council Monday at a hearing on Fenty's plan to close a two-year, $666 million revenue shortfall, city administrator Neil Albert urged that the governance structure established in 2007 remain intact.

Abu Dhabi Opens New York University

In a move where Abu Shabi is looking to bolster its educational credentials, Dhabi is planning to open New York University's newest campus next fall alongside cultural landmarks such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi and a new Guggenheim on Saadiyat island.

NYU Abu Dhabi is one of several ambitious projects that the emirate has funded as part of its 2030 Initiative. This is a multibillion dollar plan. Abu Dhabi has been propelling its profile more than its neighboring emirate Dubai, a littery symbol of oil-funded development.
Qatar currently leads the Gulf States in educational ventures. A development outside Doha dubbed Education City is home to several American universities including elite private universities such as Georgetown and public universities such as Texas A&M.

Wichita State University Upgrades from VCR to Milestone IP Video Surveillance

Milestone appears to be flexible and scalable for campus expansions, and very easy to manage.
Milestone is still so easy to use, even with upgrades: put up a new server, install the software, load the DLK, and it is done. -- Rocco Basile

Have you Heard About PROJECT RED?

It is a fact that many of our country's high shcool students enter college with inadequate skills. The National Education Computing Conference (NECC) posted a press release saying the Project RED coalition has launched their new Project RED initiative, an effort to put technology on a more stable basis within the challenging environment of education funding.

The lead author of this project and CEO of The Greaves Group, Tom Greaves said, "We all have anecdotal stories about how technology works and saves money while improving teaching and learning. But we need a full-bore national study to investigate cost-savings and revenue enhancement at the state level."

Project Red's team will research the schools in its database of approximately 3,000 K-12 technology-rich schools. The characteristics of technology use to transform learning will be analyzed to create a model for other schools. The technology-transformed schools that have at least 95 percent of their students using a computing device with Internet access will also be studied to determine what cost savings schools realize when they use technology as part of their everyday teaching and learning.

Most states know how much money is spent on remedial courses for these students - costs that frustrate state legislators because they feel they are paying for educating the same students several times. One of the bright spots in technology's investment pay-off has been the ability to reduce costs while improving both learning and attendance through online credit recovery courses.

This will revolutionize the way we look at technology - not as a cost, but as a way to personalize learning and to change the way students learn by making technology-assisted learning among recognized best practices, rather than an exception.

Technology holds the promise of allowing us to re-engineer our educational system. Project RED's importance has been recognized by a number of national education associations, including National School Boards Association (NSBA), American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and Software Information Industries Association (SIIA).

The technology-transformed schools are defined as any elementary and secondary school where students have consistent daily access to the Internet. Go to ProjectRED.org to find out if your schools are already included inthe program. -- Rocco Basile

The Obamas on Education for our Youth

First Lady Michelle Obama debuted as a public policy advocacy by visiting the Department of Education in the company of Education Secretary Arne Duncan. As I have mentioned before I follow the latest trends in eduication on my blog roccobasile.net.

Stressing the need for more education spending, she said, "Imagine what we can do with millions of dollars more investment in this area. We can expand opportunities in low-income districts for all students, particularly for students with disabilities."

Both Barack and Michelle Obama promoted the importance of a good education at a January 19 rally held by the Education Equality Project at Cardoza High School in Washington, DC.

UNCF President Michael Lomax was there to explain why our educational system is in a state of crisis.

In summary, they discussed how diverse leaders are coming together over the U.S. public education system, which is in crisis. Most speakers consider this crisis to be the predominant civil rights issue of our generation. Parent, grandparents, educators, families, neighbors, and friends were encouraged to tutor, and join the PTA, so that their voices could be heard.

The Education Equality Project states on its website, “Barely half of African-American and Latino students graduate from high school, with African American students graduating at 55 percent, Latinos at 53 percent, and their white counterparts at 78 percent.”

Rocco Basile is Proud of Angel

As a father, Rocco Basile knows how tough it can be to be a Dad, and how instrumental a father is in shaping a child’s life. That's why Basile and the charity he works closely with, Children of the City, are proud of Angel Lopez, a 24 year old former gang member,

Angel’s dad was incarcerated when he was a boy, and his Mom had drug problems. Several well meaning relatives tried to help, but the lack of a male authority figure led Angel to search for role models among the gang leaders that he thought were so cool.

Then one day about four years ago a Children of the City youth outreach counselor started visiting with Angel’s nephew, in order to listen to what Angel was saying. Soon, Angel started making appointments to talk with the counselor himself because he wanted to be a good father to his son and daughter. He married the mother of his children and endured the hardships that were required to quit the gang. He credits Children of the City with helping him with his education, a job, and learning how to be a better parent.

What would Angel's life been like if he had found Children of the City when he was a child? Committed to volunteering at Children of the City, Angel said, “I reach out to the kids. I try to give as much of myself as I can ... I tell them the truth about the streets. I warn them about jail, the diseases, and everything else that is out there when you switch to the fast lane. I let them know that I had a choice, and they have choices."

--Rocco Basile

























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Joe DiMaggio Still Supports Students with Learning Disabilities

Joe DiMaggio was a friend and generous supporter of Xaverian High School and was the first person to ever receive Xaverian's highest honor, the Concordia Award, in 1997. DiMaggio died on March 8, 1999, with the honor of being known as "the greatest living baseball player."

Joe played for the New York Yankees baseball team and his nickname was the "Yankee Clipper." How did he get this nickname? In the game of baseball, to 'clip' the ball means 'hit' the ball. everyone knows that Joe DiMaggio was a great hitter! But 'Yankee Clipper' is also the name of a beautiful sailing ship. To the people who watching him play baseball, DiMaggio played as like a sailing clipper ship -- gracefully.

Xaverian's Concordia Award was renamed the Joe DiMaggio Award to memorialize DiMaggio's life-long commitment to the health, educaiton and the well being of America's youth. Dimaggio has an annual award gala in his memory - The Joe DiMaggio Award Gala - a fundraiser for Xaverian High. This is a special program for students with learning disabilities.

The Joe DiMaggio Award's mission, established in 1999, is to memorialize his "lifelong commitment to the health, education and well being of America's youth."

More than 100 young men have graduated from this special initiative and all have gone on to four-year colleges. Because Xaverian is private and tuition driven, all proceeds from the annual Gala benefit its many students. the evening usually always includes a silent auction of rare Joe DiMaggio memorabilia donated by the DiMaggio Estate and Morris Engelberg, Esq.

Earning the Bay Ridge school's highest honor, formerly called the Concordia Award, DiMaggio won it in 1997. The award has since been presented to Dr. Henry Kissinger, Maestro Luciano Pavarotti, former mayor and current presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani, television personality Regis Philbin, singer/songwriter Paul Simon, Sopranos star James Gandolfini, CBS Sports commentator Boomer Esiason and NBC Emmy-Award winning sports broadcaster Bob Costas.

This year's May 2009 Joe DiMaggio Award Gala honors Reggie Jackson. This year's Master of Ceremonies is Jim Ryan, the Legendary Television Reporter and Anchorman.

--Rocco Basile