VOL. 53, NO. 47 • SEPTEMBER 6 - 12, 2018
Help DC and AARP Pack Meals for Seniors September 11
Aretha’s Eulogy: Testimony or Tirade? Page 16
Prince George’s Students Head Back to School CBCF Preps for its 48th Legislative Conference
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
Juanita Poole smiled Tuesday when she peeked inside her new second-grade classroom at Tulip Grove Elementary in Bowie after the school’s recent $26 million renovation. About 13 miles away at Parkdale High School in Riverdale, Bryce Awono hoped his junior year will help prepare him to study law or technology in college. “I’m glad to be back in school and ready for a rigorous year in the IB program,” said Bryce, 16, who also serves as the student member on the Maryland State Board of Education. “I want to have an impactful year and also inspire my peers because high school can either be the best four years of your life or the worst four years of your life.” The more than 134,000 students in the Prince George’s County Public Schools system was among thousands of other Maryland students who began the new school year Tuesday. Maryland joined its neighbors in Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, where students also headed back to school. Some educators consider the first day of school an unofficial “national holiday.” “It unlocks new beginnings for children,” Tulip Grove Principal Jaime Whitfield-Coffen said before the 350 students walked inside a refurbished state-of-the-art building. “No matter what happened last year, or the summer, the first day of school is always an opportunity to start new.” As for the overall schools system, updates for the 2018-19 school year include:
SCHOOL Page 32
5 Jaime Whitfield-Coffen, principal of Tulip Grove Elementary School, gives last-minute instructions before allowing students and their parents inside the newly renovated building on Sept. 4, the first day of school. /Photo by Robert Roberts
Rising Costs Forcing Many Seniors to the Edge
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer Two senators — Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California — will serve as honorary co-chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Inc.’s 48th Annual Legislative Conference scheduled Sept. 12-16 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest. It will mark the first time that co-chairs will come from the Senate. Historically, members of
CBCF Page 38
Plaza West in NW: New, Affordable Housing and ‘Grandfamily-friendly’
By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Millions of Americans have big plans for Sunday, Sept. 9 when we honor the countless good deeds and unselfish service that grandparents provide day in and day out during National Grandparents Day – an annual observance that began in 1978. But for an increasing number of grandparents, the role they have accepted requires a lot more than the occasional baking cookies day with the grandchildren, summer sleepovers or back-to-
school shopping sprees. Since the 1990s, there’s been a consistent increase in the number of grandparents who have had to accept the role of being the primary caregiver for their children’s children. And the associated costs, particularly housing, food and health care have left many seniors in desperate straits – sometimes sacrificing their own needs to make a way for their grandchildren – an estimated 2.9 million children and rising nationwide
GRAND Page 9 5 Donald and Rose Lassiter have 10 grandchildren. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter
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