Introducing the Jones Scholars!

The Jones Scholars Internship Program provides Tulane graduate students with a hands-on experience in public education, while increasing the capacity of local charter and traditional public schools.

A list of the cohorts of Jones Scholars and their projects is below:

Spring 2010
Margeaux Randolph, a first year MBA with a concentration in finance and strategic management, will work with FirstLine Schools on development of its internship and Apprentice Teacher programs. Margeaux received her master’s in public policy from USC prior to enrolling in Tulane’s Freeman School of Business. She has worked with the California Charter Schools Association and as a former math teacher. She also completed a summer fellowship with Education Pioneers.

Ravi Prakash, also a first year MBA candidate, will intern with Lafayette Academy Charter School, supporting its data-driven decision-making and interim assessment project. Ravi possesses a background and experience in technology as well as data and statistical analysis. He previously served as a volunteer for adult education classes and also tutored school age children while attending college.

Fall 2009
Laura DeBoer, a Masters in Public Health student is working with Pride College Prep, a PreK-2 charter school on a data-driven decision-making and interim assessment. DeBoer will play a key role in the development and implementation of the data-driven culture at Pride College Prep. She holds a bachelor of arts in biology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Northern Iowa.

Bradley Hentschel is a PhD candidate in Latin American Studies and has previous degrees from Spring Hill College and Tulane University where he studied English and Hispanic Studies and Latin American Studies. Hentschel will be working with the Sci Academy Youth Internship/Employment Project this and the Spring 2010 semesters. The purpose of this project is to guide the scholars through the process of finding summer internships that will have positive effects on the community around them.

Savannah Solomon, a second year MBA candidate with the A.B. Freeman School of Business is working withthe Sci High Post-secondary College and Career Readiness Program during this and the Spring 2010 semesters. She will be developing and implementing the College Ed Program as a year-long college prep program for all grades. She’ll be working with the Academic Counselor to develop a comprehensive ACT and SAT prep program for grades 10 through 12. Her work will also support other high schools participating in the Cowen Institute’s AdvanceNOLA program. Solomon holds a bachelor of science degree in Economics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Amrita Datta, a second year PhD candidate in Pharmacology is working with the Young Leadership Council College Admissions Project on a data collection and program evaluation during this and the Spring 2010 semesters. Datta will work to create a system for effective data collection, storage, organization and program evaluation. She holds a bachelor of technology from the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology in India and studied school education as a science and math major at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya also in India.

Byron Hughes is currently studying with the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and is working with Lusher High School on the Higher Education Community Partnership (HECP). The HECP would be a partnership between local universities/colleges and members of the Lusher community. In recognizing the limited exposure students, their families, and secondary educators have to various aspects involving higher education and being aware of the great potential of all students in New Orleans, Lusher Charter School has designed the HCEP for the purpose of leading the way for greater exposure of what higher education has to offer the children of New Orleans and what is expected of college-bound students.

Amy Brumfield, an MBA candidate with the A.B. Freeman School of Business is working with the Foundation for Science & Mathematics Education, Inc. on its Business Industry Partnerships during this and the Spring 2010 semesters. The mission of the Foundation for Science & Mathematics Education, Inc., a Louisiana nonprofit organization, is to foster financial and community support for two open admission high schools in New Orleans — New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School (Sci High) and New Orleans Charter Science and Math Academy (Sci Academy). Brumfield will play a major role in assisting the Foundation’s Industry Partnership task force to develop a program establishing industry-school partnerships. Brumfield holds a Bachlor of Science from the University of New Orleans.

Spring 2009
Nicole Lee, then a fourth-year medical and Master of Public Health student, and David Durand, then a third year law student, worked with the Parents Energizing Parents Inc. Community Outreach Program with two charter schools in Algiers, O. Perry Walker Senior High and John McDonogh #32 Elementary. The project aimed to create a Community Outreach and Resource Center where local schools can serve as centralized facilities in their communities enabling parents, students, and the community to receive resources and needed services.

Edward Crawford, then a joint degree candidate in Business Administration and Latin American Studies, and Justin Val Alstyne, then a third year law student and a former Teach for America corps member, worked with Green Charter School’s Library Project where they worked with teachers to develop a resource library that will help raise student achievement and provide students with life-long reading habits.

Fall 2008
Ian Furman, then a joint JD and MBA candidate, worked with the Children’s Bureau of New Orleans in an evaluation of its Grief & Trauma Group Intervention project.

Brigham Hall, then a finance student at the Freeman School of Business, assisted The International School of Louisiana in developing a business plan for program expansion and replication.

Diana Marker, then a School of Public Health student, was assigned to Akili Academy to help this new charter school develop Akili Ascends, a literacy and numeracy tutoring intervention program.

Courtney Massaro, then a second year Master of Public Health student, worked with Harriett Tubman Charter School evaluating reading and math strategies to improve students’ academic performance and developing a resource library for teachers.

Jacquelyn Vasquez, also from the School of Public Health, supported Laurel Academy in the development of its Parent-Teacher Organization and also worked to identify community partnerships and volunteers.

Spring 2008
Olurotimi Adeola, in the Freeman School of Business, worked with NOLA 180°/Langston Hughes Academy Charter School, on issues relevant to human resources development and training.

Nana Hanson-Hall, a former student in the School of Public Health, was assigned to the International School of Louisiana, a charter school in New Orleans. Nana worked in the area of donor/volunteer relations, enhancing the School’s community and external affairs.

Roberta Horth, then a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Public Health, worked with Audubon Charter Care, a before/aftercare program of Audubon Charter School. She researched and developed a policies and procedures handbook for staff and parents based on review of best practices, as well as operational, organizational, and programming assessment.

James Lukens, also in the School of Public Health, was assigned to Warren Easton Charter High School. His project included grant writing, along with researching best practices for development of an online training module for new teachers in the areas of classroom management, parental involvement, and effective instructional delivery.

Lisa Deininger, from the Department of Neuroscience, focused on program evaluation for Tulane University’s Upward Bound Program. She also provided assistance in the area of student interventions that promote academic success and retention.

Sylvia Vellino, then a second year law student, worked with New Orleans Outreach developed an organizational and business plan for the nonprofit organization as it considered expansion.