Isaiah Lawrence, a graduate of Pride Academy in East Orange, returned for the school’s Philanthropy Day, which helped create when he was a student.
Isaiah Lawrence had a lot of energy when he arrived at Pride Academy Charter School as a fifth grader – maybe too much energy.
“I was a trouble maker,” said Lawrence, now 25. “I was running through the halls. I failed science three times. It was rough.”
Lawrence was taught the school’s five core values: Peace; Respect; Integrity; Determination; Empathy. The first letters of those five words spell out PRIDE, and Lawrence took them to heart.
In fact, he came up with the idea for what has become a Pride tradition; Philanthropy Day, which was held last week.
Lawrence got the idea from his uncle who was the founder of a car club that made doing charitable work part of its activities. A variety of philanthropic activities have taken place over the years but this year students collected items for mothers and babies, food for people in need at a shelter and a “movie night package” for families living in the Isiah House family shelter in East Orange.
At an assembly related to Philanthropy Day, a woman, Mrs. Higgins, made a facetime call from Jamaica to a big screen in the auditorium to thank students for some previous philanthropy they had done. Students had participated in a fundraiser for residents of Jamaica whose homes had been devastated in a storm. Higgins told the students she was able to buy a new stove and some furniture thanks to their efforts.
“I love you all and thank you very much,” Higgins said.
Rose Mary Dumenigo, vice principal of parent engagement and community affairs, served as an emcee at the assembly and Lawrence returned to the school for the first time in 10 years to celebrate its impact and talk to students.
More than 7,000 people have received gifts through the school’s Philanthropy Day program over the years.
“Isiah is an ordinary person who did kind things with his family and had an idea that had a big impact,” Dumenigo said. “One person can’t change the whole world but they can change one person’s world.”
Ozzie Altamirano, who teaches physical education and health, has been at the school for 17 of its 18 years and for 15 Philanthropy Days.
“It’s a special day,” Altamirano said. “One of our best days here.”
He knew Lawrence and taught him when he was at Pride.
“From an educator’s point of view, it’s amazing seeing that growth,” Altamirano said. “He was a bit of trouble over the years and seeing him now, seeing him grow and giving back, that’s what this all about.”
Charlene Jones is in her first year as principal and chief school administrator but she has been with the school for 18 years.
“Our mission is to empower our middle school students to feel a sense of community, to learn, develop and become pillars of the community,” Jones said. “This age is important because it’s when your character is built. You learn who you are, what you can become. What success looks like from a humanistic perspective.”
Jones, who for part of her career was a math teacher, talked about how the school’s core values can be worked into a subject like math.
“Doing math the right way. When you are solving math problems, there are steps, solving the problems in the right order,” Jones said. “Follow the order, follow the instructions, this prevents chaos in the world. This is why we have rules, laws.”
The school has 300 kids in grades fifth through eighth who move on to both public and private high schools after graduation. There’s a wait list, with usually about 100 kids on it, to get into the school. Selection is determined by a lottery.
“Days like today, Philanthropy Day, they learn about giving back,” Jones said.
About a week after high school graduation, Lawrence, who was 17 at the time, was in the military, where he trained as a weapons specialist. After four years of service, he left the military and was hired by the Dallas Police Department where he works today.
“I am still grateful for a lot of the people here who guided me to my future,” Lawrence said. “The core values of this school are the foundation of what I’m built on.”
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