Municipal Credit Union Brings Technology Upgrades To High School Students In The Flatlands

Funding Provides iPads, Benefitting More Than 300 Students And Teachers
Apr 14, 2016 11:00 AM ET
Campaign: EcoMedia

BROOKLYN, N.Y., April 14, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Thanks to a unique partnership with Generation Schools Network and CBS EcoMedia’s EducationAd program, Municipal Credit Union (MCU) is providing high school students at Brooklyn Generation School with important technology upgrades that will better prepare them for STEAM-focused fields, and enhance their educational experiences by bringing technology into classrooms.  

MCU is supporting nonprofit Generation Schools Network by providing iPads and Tablet Storage Carts for Brooklyn Generation School. MCU’s funding will provide the technology for the school’s 300 students and 30 teachers. It is part of MCU’s corporate mission to give back to the communities where its members live and work. The project is also part of Brooklyn Generation School’s larger initiative to transform itself into a one-to-one computing campus, will make technology more accessible to students, bring technology into classrooms, and ultimately expand its blended learning model where classroom instruction is supplemented by web-enhanced instruction.

Located in what was formerly the South Shore High School campus, Brooklyn Generation School serves 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students in the Canarsie and East Flatbush neighborhoods. Its strong partnership with Generation Schools Network enables it to expand learning time for students without increasing the work year for teachers. The partnership also allows the school to tap into resources that engage students and create enriching opportunities for learning. Through foundation, studio, and college and career-intensive courses, Brooklyn Generation School is uniquely positioned to expose its students to a variety of career choices, transform college and career guidance, develop and execute on post-secondary plans, increase graduation rates and ultimately close the opportunity gap.  

To celebrate MCU’s support of Brooklyn Generation School’s education technology upgrades, MCU employees were invited to tour the Brooklyn campus and participate on a job and career panel with students as part of the school’s Visiting Professionals Day. MCU also gave a financial literacy presentation to students following the job and career panel segment. Attendees of the event included Kam Wong, President/CEO at Municipal Credit Union; Lydia Colón Bomani, Principal at Brooklyn Generation School; Jonathan Spear, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer of Generation Schools Network; and local CBS television station WCBS. 

“We’re very proud to support the Brooklyn Generation School,” said MCU President/CEO Kam Wong. “Education empowers young people to thrive, and we are happy to aid in the learning experience of these students through our donation that will help provide new high-tech learning equipment and through the valuable knowledge shared in our Financially Fit program.  Together, our efforts will give these students the tools that are necessary for success both in the classroom and in life.”

“It's exciting to know that through this partnership with Municipal Credit Union and CBS EcoMedia Inc., Brooklyn Generation will bring technology into the classroom, creating a nimbler technological structure, enhancing classroom pedagogy, and building student capacities,” said Jonathan Spear, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer of Generation Schools Network.

 “We’re thrilled to partner with Municipal Credit Union and Generation Schools Network to put education technology into the hands of bright young minds,” said Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder of CBS EcoMedia Inc. “The financial support provided by Municipal Credit Union through participation in our EducationAd program ensures that students at Brooklyn Generation School have the tools necessary to prepare them for college and beyond.”

About Municipal Credit Union
2016 is Municipal Credit Union's Centennial Celebration year. Called the Credit Union of Employees Conference Committee when it first opened its doors on October 15, 1916 in Manhattan's Municipal Building, MCU has been growing strong ever since. Today, MCU serves more than 385,000 members. MCU is celebrating its 100th anniversary all during 2016 through various programs to give back to the communities it serves. Its support of the Generational Schools Network is one of MCU's Centennial Celebration initiatives, which also include its 100 Acts of Kindness initiative, MCU Day at Coney Island to be held in July, and initiatives to recognize employees and members.

Municipal Credit Union (MCU) is the oldest credit union in New York State and one of the oldest and largest in the Country. Established in 1916 and headquartered in New York City, today MCU has assets of more than $2.3 billion and offers a full range of financial services to its more than 385,000 members. With branches in New York City, Westchester and Long Island, its members also have access to the credit union’s large and growing ATM network. Eligibility to open accounts at MCU is available to New York City and Yonkers municipal employees; state and federal employees who work in the five boroughs; health care professionals who work in New York State; members of select industry groups; employees of private colleges in New York City and private and public colleges in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester; all students enrolled in a college, university, school, or institution in the City University of New York (CUNY) education system; certain family members, and qualifying retirees. MCU is an equal opportunity lender, and deposits are federally insured to at least $250,000 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. government agency. For more information about Municipal Credit Union, visit www.nymcu.org.

About Generation Schools Network
Generation Schools Network™ is the first in the nation to implement public school solutions that expand learning time, reduce core class size, transform college and career guidance, integrate blended learning and increase common planning and training time for all teachers. GSN accomplishes this and more -- through cost-effective strategies while seeking to operate within key parameters of teacher contracts.

Generation Schools Network leverages the following evidence-based strategies in the model:

  • Smaller class sizes and longer learning blocks in core subjects.
  • Technology supported instruction in each classroom to differentiate and personalize learning.
  • A school culture committed to college and career preparation.
  • Dedicated time for health and wellness supports.
  • More time for daily teacher collaboration and regular high quality professional development.

GSN's team works with schools and districts in three ways to advance system change:

Generation Schools: Starting new schools including Brooklyn Generation School launched in 2007.

Generation Coaching and Technical Assistance: Partnering with existing schools and districts to support and implement whole-school redesign.

Generation Learning Opportunities and Resources: Disseminating effective policy and best practices and developing resources to support programs within the Generation Schools model.

About CBS EcoMedia Inc.
EcoMedia was founded in 2002 by social entrepreneur Paul Polizzotto. The company's mission is to harness the power of the advertising dollar to make tangible, quality of life improvements in communities nationwide. In 2010, after successfully partnering on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia was acquired by CBS Corporation, exponentially scaling its reach across television, radio, interactive, and publishing media.

Through EcoMedia's patent-pending EcoAd, as well as EducationAd, WellnessAd, Viewers to Volunteers and Volunteering with the Stars advertising programs, national brands and local businesses provide millions of dollars in financial support to some of the nation's most effective nonprofit organizations, funding critical veterans’, education, health and wellness, and environmental projects nationwide.

EcoMedia's innovative and proprietary business model has fundamentally altered the advertising and nonprofit landscapes, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change.

EcoMedia has earned numerous awards and recognitions for its work, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors Award for Excellence in Public Private Partnerships (2009), Edison Awards for Social Innovation and Social Impact (2012, 2013), and the Starlight Children's Foundation's “General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Leadership Award,” which honors individual and organizational leaders who are doing extraordinary work to advance the common good and strengthen their communities. 

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By participating in EcoMedia's EcoAd, WellnessAd, EducationAd, and Viewers to Volunteers advertising programs, EcoMedia's advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities. EcoMedia's advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.

 

Press Contacts:
CBS EcoMedia

Theresa Schieber

Theresa.schieber@ecomediacbs.com

212-975-3471

 

Sherry Goldman

Goldman Communications Group

sherry@goldmanpr.net

718-224-4133

                    

Michael Mattone

Municipal Credit Union

mmattone@nymcu.org

212-238-3512