The Mr and Miss School of Education hosted a back-to-school drive for math and science students at Howard University Secondary School. Collected school supplies and donations for 8th graders.

The campaign started on August 17th and ended on September 1st. Students interested in donating were instructed to leave their donations at the Howard Plaza East Towers Front Desk. Many of the donations were monetary, but many students also donated back-to-school supplies for the drive.

Re’Jon Jones is a Junior English Major, Secondary Education Minor from Camden, NJ and currently serving as Mr. School of Education for the 2022-2023 academic year.

“The whole idea behind the back-to-school drive was to help the family [D.C.] Communities with the financial burden that school supplies sometimes have,” he said. “Especially for families with multiple children like mine, school supplies need to be purchased and school supplies are a necessity.”

Miss School of Education, Anaya Boone-Douglas, Jr. Honors Elementary Education Major, Psychology Minor added: how it affects their educational experience. As a Mr and Miss School of Education, we wanted to reduce stress and help students focus on their education. Because I want them to be reminded of all the places they can go when they do their coursework and get immersed. ”

The original goal was to donate school supplies to middle school students in public schools in Washington, D.C., but Jones revealed that many schools are already conducting back-to-school drives for their students. . He was then redirected to Howard University’s Middle School of Mathematics and Science. This is a public charter school located on Howard’s campus, next to Alan Rock Hall and across from the School of Education.

Howard University Mathematics and Science Middle School.Photo courtesy of Eliana Lewis

“I like this idea better,” said Jones. Because it is necessarily a public school, people automatically assume that those families can afford…”

Dr. Scott J. Dantley’s Executive Assistant Stacey Simon praised the efforts of Boone Douglas and Jones, saying the “dynamic duo” is “a good blueprint for what the Faculty of Education stands for.” .

Kindall Evans, an elementary education major, expressed a similar opinion. “It means a lot to me personally. It means they care about his DC Public Schools around them, and it shows them that Howard cares about them. It means a lot.” I mean.”

Hearing about Drive firsthand from Miss School of Education, Evans wanted to contribute not just to students, but to teachers as well.

“Teachers need teaching materials to ensure that their students get a good education,” she said. “I donated books, and those books had black kids in them. More urbanized schools need books that students can relate to. It’s best to give back to teachers.” Seems like an option….helping them and their pockets.”

Support from students in the Faculty of Education hopes Simon will be introduced to other schools on Howard’s campus as well. “Positive. Can you imagine each school going hand in hand? It could grow and be even bigger than it is now,” Simon said.

Howard is currently the only HBCU with a charter school directly on campus. Howard University’s Middle School of Mathematics and Science supports students from grades 6 through her eighth grade, offering her STEM-based approach to the curriculum.

According to the school’s official website, “Our STEM curriculum integrates the four disciplines into a cohesive learning model based on real-world applications, rather than teaching them as separate discrete subjects. ”

Copy edited by Jadyn Barnett