TRU Skool- Parent Empowering Students Today

Topic: Are you a P.E.S.T. to your children. Learn about how a group of parents called the P.E.S.T. helped to turn around a failing urban middle school in New York City.

Guest: Peter Smith Former Head of The P.E.S.T. Program of Intermediate School 109 in Queens Village.

Host Shango Black shares insights and model(s) for educational reform.founder of the T.R.U. SKOOL movement (Teaching Reading Uniquely/ To Reverse Underperformance) with parents, teachers, school leaders, students, and community leaders. Dubbed “The Hip Hop Principal” by parents and students, he has taken the powerful and magnetic force known as Hip Hop and channeled it into a tool that gets young urban students excited about education while at the same time building their self-esteem and confidence. This Project also benefitted the students by creating a project-based model for teaching valuable skills and lessons that extended from the classroom into practical application. The result of this was  a student-created music video that screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. Students learned to use their passion to focus on education, self-respect, and self-determination, They were honored by Queens, New York City and nationally for their hard work and accomplishment. The project's  success was unparalleled. Through interactive dialogue with his audience, and guests, the mission is to educate ALL AT- RISK communities.

“T.R.U. SKOOL is here now let's be clear our impact will be enormous”