November 3, 2011
"Sustaining our economic vitality in the Motor City -- and across our country -- over the long haul requires an educated workforce well-prepared to compete in the 21st-century global marketplace..."
Get to Know Western International High School
Just a few blocks from the Canadian border, Western International High School is one of the most culturally diverse high schools in the Detroit Public School district. Of the student population, 68% identify as Hispanic or Latino, 25% are African American and 6% are White. Seventy-eight percent of students receive free or reduced lunch.
The school offers several academies for students to choose from, including the STEM Academy for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, the International Business Academy, the Fine and Performing Arts Academy, and the Ninth Grade Ambassador Academy. Within its individual focus, each academy teaches self-management skills, learning and study skills, and social skills.
Six Teach For America corps members currently teach at Western International High School. In 2011, the school underwent a renovation that includes a new athletic complex with a swimming pool and an exercise facility. A visual and performing arts wing was also built, including a black box theater, two dance studios, language laboratories, and art classrooms in addition to a cultural center to serve as a community marketplace.
Western International High School believes that teachers and students must have ownership over student achievement. Honesty, clarity, collaboration, and accountability by all stakeholders in an open and supportive environment are key levers in achieving their mission and vision.
Region Timeline
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A fire destroys nearly all of Detroit. After the fire, Justice Augustus B. Woodward designs a plan for city redevelopment that includes main thoroughfares radiating outward from the city center like spokes in a wheel. Detroit’s famed Woodward Avenue bears his name.
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Prior to the American Civil War, the city's access to the Canadian border makes it a key stop along the Underground Railroad. The First Congregational Church of Detroit serves as the last waypoint for many making the journey.
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Detroit emerges as a major center for commerce and global trade. Its location serves as a convenient hub for trains, as well as for ships traveling the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
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Henry Ford builds his first automobile factory just outside of Detroit. Rival automobile manufacturers soon adopt his innovative techniques and establish their headquarters in the city.
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As the automobile companies grow, the city draw tens of thousands of new African American and white residents, particularly workers from the southern United States.
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The influx of new residents and growing influence of the labor unions creates social tensions among different groups in the city. The Detroit Race Riot results in the deaths of 34 people in less than two days.
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The Supreme Court rules that suburban students in mostly white schools cannot be bused into Detroit to attend predominately black schools in the case of Milliken v. Bradley.
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From 1999-2005 and 2009-present, Detroit Public Schools is placed under emergency management by the state of Michigan.
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The 2010 census reveals that Detroit's population has fallen to just over 700,000 people from a high of 1.8 million just 50 years earlier. The departure of such a large percentage of the popultaion results in decreased tax revenue for the city and swaths of abandoned homes and unoccupied office buildings.
Overheard
I felt very prepared on Day 1 with how to set goals for my students, but I never expected to feel this connected to a group of children—as well as a city—that I have only resided in for a few months. Detroit is the place to be right now to truly make a difference in education.
Detroit Corps 2010
Press
April 21, 2011
"Today ... Brown is the executive director of Teach For America Detroit region, where she supervises and supports 100 TFA corps members..."
April 1, 2011
A Q&A with Executive Director Annis Brown, named one of Detroit's Twenty In Their Twenties
