Blanca Caxaj Aguilar and Casandra Henry Receive CUNY-wide Laurel Award and Scholarship – BMCC

In commemoration of National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York (BMCC/CUNY) is hosting a series of events focused on providing adult learners with opportunities to explore returning to school.

Opportunities through BMCC’s Adult Basic Education program

Many of these opportunities are provided through BMCC’s successful Adult Basic Education program in the Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development, which offers a wide range of courses and trainings, including preparation to pass the High School Equivalency (HSE) examination.

This year, two BMCC Adult Basic Education students who passed the HSE—Blanca Caxaj Aguilar and Casandra Henry—were among the 16 Laurel Award winners across CUNY who received a $1,000 scholarship and were honored on June 13 in CUNY’s midtown offices, as the CUNY Adult Literacy/HSE Program hosted the 21st annual Peter Jennings Scholarship and Continuation Award Ceremony.

Ms. Aguilar is now majoring in Science for Health majors at BMCC and plans to enter the Nursing program next year.

Ms. Henry, a Human Services major at BMCC, is completing an internship through the Human Services department, at the BMCC Counseling Center.

The Peter Jennings Laurel Award scholarship was established in 2003. Peter Jennings, renowned journalist and anchor of ABC World News Tonight who was himself a high school dropout, spoke at the Laurel Award ceremonies until he died in 2005, and his wife, Kayce Freed Jennings, continues to participate in the annual ceremony. To date, 201 students have been nominated for the Laurel Award Scholarship with 187 awardees matriculating to CUNY (93%). Over 70% of the awardees are over 25.

Learning English, earning an HSE and entering a degree program are possible with the right support.

In 2017, Blanca Caxaj Aguilar moved to New York and began living with her sister in Brooklyn. “I wanted a better future for me and my son, who is now in the second grade,” she says.

At the time, Ms. Aguilar found work as a babysitter and began studying for the HSE but felt that she wasn’t moving along fast enough in her efforts.

“I tried to find a new program that could help me. I went online and I saw that BMCC had continuing education, and it was free, so I went there.”

She attended classes in the Adult Basic Education program at BMCC in Spring 2023, Summer 2023 and Fall 2023, before taking and passing the HSE in January 2024.

One of the teachers who had an impact on her progress at BMCC was Mark Lance, who teaches math in the Adult Basic Education program but is also a novelist and was supportive of Ms. Aguilar’s writing.

“He helped me a lot with my math, and he also was available for other things like my essay writing,” says Ms. Aguilar. “Anything I needed help with, he would help me.”

She adds that “English is my second language, so Charlie Brover helped me a lot, too.”

Mr. Brover assigned journal writing in his course, and while hesitant at first, Ms. Aguilar grew to appreciate the activity.

“My writing skills are really bad, so I had never done a journal, and I asked, ‘Why should I do a journal?’ and he said, ‘If you go to social media, whatever you do, just write about it. If you read something, just write about it. If something happens in your life, write.”

She describes her previous essay writing instructors as having a less-than-thorough response to her writing, “but Charlie, he would write specific things, line by line. He really reads the essay or the journal.”

Ms. Aguilar is exploring which area of nursing she would like to focus on. “I’m thinking of being a pediatric or general medicine nurse. I’m still looking,” she says.

She says that her mother was a nurse in Guatemala.

“Guatemala is a beautiful country, but we don’t have opportunities for everyone,” says Ms. Aguilar.

“If you don’t have connections, you are nothing there. My mother had to come to New York to get a better job and a better life and that’s how I got inspired. Also, my boss, when I was babysitting—she is a lawyer and her husband a doctor—she would always tell me that she could see me as a nurse. She said, ‘You have that ability to communicate with people, to care about people.’”

That encouragement, and the support she found in the Adult Basic Education program at BMCC helped Ms. Aguilar stay on track with her goal to improve her English, attain her HSE and enter an associate degree program at BMCC.

“All of that pushed me to go forward on becoming a nurse,” she says. “When someone tells you something nice, it pushes you to do it.”

“You can make a positive change in a lot of people’s lives, no matter which field you choose.”

Now in her first semester at BMCC, Ms. Henry is busy with both classes and an internship.

“I work with students who are on academic notice or are being reinstated as students,” she says.

“I point them to resources at BMCC like counseling, but also free tutoring, admissions staff, food assistance through the Advocacy and Resource Center, career services—there is so much support for them on campus.”

She adds that students having academic struggles sometimes just need someone to talk to.

“I am careful to never be not judgmental,” she says. “I don’t point a finger. I also like working with older people, and I’m looking at the field of gerontology as I think about my career plan. I haven’t decided which avenue I would take but I am looking at accelerated bachelor’s degree programs.”

Ms. Henry moved to New York in 2016, having grown up in Grenada, in the West Indies.

“I had a friend in New York who was diagnosed with colon cancer,” she says. “She asked me to spend some time with her. I was planning to just stay for six months, but here I am eight years later and by the way that friend, now, she is a miracle. She is still here and going strong.”

While she had actually graduated from high school in Grenada, Ms. Henry wanted to earn the HSE in New York so she would be better prepared to enter college.

She speaks highly of BMCC’s Adult Basic Education Program.

“I loved it there,” she says. “I loved the teachers, especially my math teacher Ramon Garcia. It was a very interactive class. He gave us additional resources, online practice. He pushed us to do our best.”

Math was one of her “weak points,” she says, “but by the time I finished his class—and the math was different than the math in my country—I was able to pass the math section of the HSE.”

She has advice for older returning students, or students coming from other countries to pursue their education in the U.S.

“Sometimes people limit themselves because of their age, but they don’t have to do that,” says Ms. Henry.

“We are capable of anything we want to do. Age and where we come from should never limit us. At the end, you can make a positive change in a lot of people’s lives, no matter which field you choose.”

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 4: Quality Education

   • Target 4.6: By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.
   • Indicator 4.6.1: Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex.

2. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

   • Target 8.6: By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training.
   • Indicator 8.6.1: Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment, or training.

3. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
   • Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by sex, age, and persons with disabilities.

4. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.
   • Indicator 17.17.1: Amount of United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The SDGs addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article are SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the article’s content, the specific targets identified are:
– Target 4.6: By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.
– Target 8.6: By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training.
– Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
– Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Yes, there are indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets. They are:
– Indicator 4.6.1: Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex.
– Indicator 8.6.1: Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment, or training.
– Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by sex, age, and persons with disabilities.
– Indicator 17.17.1: Amount of United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships.

These indicators can be used to measure the progress towards the targets mentioned in the article.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: bmcc.cuny.edu