Principal Bettye M. Adams of The Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Elementary School, which is among Promise Heights' Community Schools,
accepts a donation. Rite Aid Executive Vice President of Operations
Bryan Everett, right, is shown with Baltimore City Councilman Eric
Costello, center, and Catherine Pugh, state senator (40th District),
behind Adams.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com
which features a comprehensive Works List and a Bibliography by Dr. Dominique-Rene de Lerma, www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com.
Partnerships are an integral part of how Promise Heights, an initiative led by the University of Maryland School of Social Work
(SSW), improves the lives of Baltimore children. That was demonstrated
once again when the Rite Aid Foundation donated $10,000 to a Promise
Heights’ Community School upon reopening a riot-damaged pharmacy on Oct.
20.
Fire had destroyed the Rite Aid store at 300 N. Martin Luther King
Jr. Blvd., late last April during the unrest surrounding the death of
Freddie Gray. Since May, the store had operated out of a trailer.
Company officials chose the occasion of its celebratory reopening to make a gift to a nearby public school: The Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary School (HSCT).
Principal Bettye M. Adams accepted a large replica of the
check from Rite Aid officials. Bryan Everett, Rite Aid executive vice
president for operations and Susan Henderson, senior vice president and
chief communications officer, participated along with local elected
officials. Adams noted that HSCT is historic in that it was established
to educate African-American children.
In preparing to make the gift, Rite Aid had approached officials at
Baltimore City Public Schools, who suggested HSCT. The grant application
for equipment to be used for intramural sports for boys and girls was
prepared by Promise Heights program director Rachel Donegan, JD, and HSCT Community School coordinator Henriette Taylor, MSW, LGSW, both of the SSW.
“These funds given so generously will allow HSCT to purchase athletic
equipment, which will be used during the traditional school day as well
as extracurricular activities after school,” says Taylor. “Evidence
supports that children who are engaged in sports have better academic
outcomes and are healthier in their social, emotional and physical
lives. With strong partners such as Rite Aid and Promise Heights
working in collaboration at HSCT, our children are able to grow and
thrive in otherwise challenging environments.”
HSCT currently serves 407 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth
grade from the neighborhood of Upton/Druid Heights, an impoverished area
less than a mile from the rebuilt Rite Aid pharmacy. The store is
located across the boulevard from the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, whose professional schools are among Promise Heights’ partners.
“Last spring’s uprising brought national attention to issues and
concerns that many of us who have lived and worked in the community
already knew: challenging poverty, lack of available resources, and
intimidating environments,” says Taylor. While these affect many in the
community, she noted that, “sadly, some of the most vulnerable
populations include our most precious resources, our children.”
Progress depends on collaborative support, she says. “It is with the
assistance of partners such as Rite Aid who recognize these obstacles
within our community and then provide critical resources supporting the
positive work being done in our neighborhoods.”
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