Following Up on Ferguson

Some of you saw my posts that Catherine Ferguson Academy was slated to be closed last year. Fortunately, the school remained open!

Now they're looking to collaborate with MSU, which I believe will be an exciting step forward for both the university and the academy. If anywhere could make urban planning, education, and agriculture work together, it's the area around CFA.

Update: Catherine Ferguson Academy

Recently I published a post about Catherine Ferguson Academy (CFA), a high school for pregnant teens with a working farm on its campus. They're keeping their minds open about the move to merge with Nancy Boykin, but they do have many concerns.

Here's a link to a video made as CFA defended its programs: http://www.youtube.com/user/mmforman01#p/a/u/0/2lPL6FOvMug

The most meaningful quote to me: "We are going to take some of our knowledge that we've learned about growing plants and animals. I also want to say about agricultural program. Agriculture is now the leading industry in Michigan again. It used to be autos, but they took a dive. So, we are on the forefront. There's a lot of jobs in agriculture. So we think we've got something going strong here."

Catherine Ferguson Academy

When we were beginning to plan UAID, a friend down at Wayne State tipped me off about a school in Detroit specifically for teen moms and pregnant teens that used innovative educational strategies, including parenting classes, an on-site garden, and livestock. Its name: Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women (CFA). I had to check it out, so last spring I went down to volunteer for a day. The scope of the agricultural project, the partnership with Greening of Detroit, and the leadership I saw from the schools principal all convinced me that this was a place where real learning was taking place. Later, I had the opportunity to read a dissertation done on CFA. For more information about the school, check out this article. You can also listen to a student interview on CBC Windsor.

We had hoped to partner with Ferguson, but it's now on the Detroit Public Schools list of schools to be closed. Their vision fits closely with ours, given that they're using education and agriculture to break cycles of poverty and empower young women. CFA should eventually be re-located to join with another school for pregnant teens, but there has been no mention of intention to keep the agricultural component of the project.

If this is an issue that interests you, here are a few ways to get involved.

1. Write to Robert Bobb and ask him to visit the school, review the programs, and consider how to keep the school open or maintain current programs at a new site. His e-mail address is robert.bobb@detroitk12.org.

2. Watch for news about public hearings and attend them.

3. Volunteer at Ferguson. You can write to Dana Applebaum at applebaumdana@googlemail.com for more information.