Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Back to School 2020 | Page 17

READY TO LEAD Marcia Hicks (center), coordinator of the Minority Achievement Community Scholars program at Columbia High School, stands with (from left) Ava Byrd, Kyla Hector, Anthony Offiah, Clarence Carnell Jones and Maya Mitchell. what social justice means in other parts of the country,” she says. Cha’Nel Ellis, a 2014 graduate who went on to receive a degree in criminal justice from the University of New Haven, attended a MSAN conference at University of Massachusetts-Amherst as a senior, along with Hicks and other students. The experience convinced her that Columbia’s existing minority achievement program, which focused on students who needed to catch up academically, could bemuch more ambitious. The students and Hicks drew up plans that the superintendent approved, and Hicks took the reins. “If it weren’t for this program, I would not have developed the leadership and self-advocacy skills I needed throughout my college and professional career,” says Ellis, who currently works at Apple as a technical specialist. MAC Scholars also get help on their public speaking skills —and in speaking up in general. “We wanted to spread the leadership role across a number of students of color,” says Hicks. Instead of deferring to students who are used to taking center stage in public, she tells MAC members, “You have to step up to your shine. You could be agreat speaker with bad grades. You could be aquiet kid who does alot of community service.” In light of the killing of George Floyd, the importance of being able to express themselves within the community is more important than ever, she says. “We had to have students be able to say how they felt without worrying how they look in front of white faculty and teachers,” she says. “I love the platform MAC gives me, enabling metobealeader inthe community,” says Anthony Offiah, a rising junior. “(It) has always had a huge impact on Columbia High School’s social climate.” What’s unique about MAC isn’t the opportunities it offers, Hicks says, but the fact that they’re free to its members. “People with money can pay to get their kids these services. In MAC, the kids take the initiative,” she says. She is currently trying to secure grant money to duplicate the program in other schools, and to get an “alternative school” up and running. ■ For information on how to be part of a program like MAC Scholars, email [email protected] MILLBURN &SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE BACK TOSCHOOL 2020 15