[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12078]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO THE 2004 PROJECT GRAD NEWARK GRADUATING SCHOLARS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 14, 2004

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 2004 Project 
GRAD Newark Graduating Scholars. Tonight, more than 300 individuals 
will gather to honor more than 75 Project GRAD Scholars, graduating 
from Malcolm X Shabazz and Central High Schools, located in my 
district's South and Central Wards. These outstanding students will be 
recognized for having met, maintained, and exceeded strict academic 
performance standards, and will be awarded a $6,000 college 
scholarship.
  Project GRAD Newark is a nonprofit, educational support organization 
that focuses on building the capacity of participating Newark public 
schools to improve student achievement. Their mission is to ensure a 
quality education for children in the most challenging, economically 
disadvantaged public schools in my hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and 
to support them as the graduate high school, and prepare for, attend, 
and graduate from college.
  Project GRAD Newark was created in 1998 through the support of Ford 
Foundation and Lucent Technologies Foundation. The GRAD model 
originated in Houston, Texas in 1989, as a scholarship incentive 
program to encourage urban school students to graduate high school. 
Today, it works with a feeder pattern of schools--a high school and the 
middle and elementary schools that feed students to that high school. 
This method ensures curricular and programmatic consistency from 
kindergarten to 12th grade. PGN began implementation of the GRAD model 
in the Malcolm X Shabazz High School feeder pattern in 1998 and 
announced implementation in the Central High School feeder in 2000.
  PGN serves two feeder patterns comprised of 8,600 students throughout 
16 Newark Public Schools. Nationally, Project GRAD serves over 135,000 
students in 217 schools across the country.
  The results are unmistakable: according to preliminary evaluations, 
PGN students significantly outperformed their non-PGN peers in math and 
reading during their first and second years of the model's 
implementation. On-time graduation rates have increased from 56 percent 
in 2001 to 76 percent in 2003. 95 percent of GRAD Scholars who 
graduated in 2003 from Shabazz High School are enrolled in college, and 
our first class of GRAD Scholars will graduate this year from the 
Central High School feeder pattern.
  As a former teacher, I stand before you today with pride. Project 
GRAD Newark is reaching students and challenging them to fulfill their 
academic potential. They are cultivating future leaders, who may 
someday stand where I do today.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend to you these dedicated students, and I invite 
my colleagues to join me in congratulating them on their past 
achievements, encouraging them in their future endeavors, and 
supporting the successful Project GRAD Newark program as they continue 
to serve the students in my district.

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