Indochinese American Council Supports Jay Cooke School and Greater Logan Community, Too
The Indochinese American Council (IAC) started in 1984 in Philadelphia’s Logan neighborhood to support minority refugee and immigrant communities through education and community resources. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Logan was known to be home to a large Southeast Asian population, but it has since become a transitional neighborhood for African and South American refugees, who often settle in Logan once they arrive in Philadelphia, and end up moving away from Logan once they find their footing in the city. This widely multicultural community often lacks support.
The IAC, under the leadership of Executive Director LeQuyen Vu, aims to build a community where education creates opportunities and growth for all immigrant, refugee, and minority children and families via afterschool programs, summer programs, and adult classes.
IAC’s emphasis on education keeps Ms. Vu engaged at Jay Cooke Elementary School, which has faced challenges since converting to and from a charter school. Now run by the School District of Philadelphia, Cooke has been led by a new principal this year, Tara Brown. Ms. Vu, Principal Brown, and several other key members of the Cooke community, have worked together to develop a supportive partnership that prioritizes family and community engagement.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to pull everybody together and generate buy-in,” Ms. Vu says. She is not alone in this task. Supporting the school community has been a collaborative effort among the Friends of Cooke organization. For a school that is working to rebuild its academics, its infrastructure, and its school climate and culture, it’s been difficult to make the School Advisory Council (SAC) a priority for the school leadership. Since Ms. Vu has been such a support to the school and so willing to help with improvement projects, Principal Brown has entrusted Ms. Vu with more responsibilities and project management. Ms. Vu is not only a Logan community member, but she is a true partner to the school.
The trust that has grown between Ms. Vu and Principal Brown has allowed Ms. Vu, with the Friends of Cooke, the SAC, and the Home and School Association, to contribute to rebuilding the outdoor play area at the school. “She sees the value in these groups, and that’s given me hope for what we can do together next year,” Ms. Vu says.
Four key community stakeholders are responsible for reinforcing community engagement at Cooke: Ms. Vu of the IAC, Kathy Nixon of Beloved St. John, Charlene Samuels of the Logan Civic Association, and Deborah Azore of Cooke’s School Advisory Council. These four women worked together to create the Friends of Cooke, a coalition of stakeholders that value community engagement and support in Philadelphia schools. The overarching belief is that the success of a school comes from the surrounding community, and that supporting public education can lift up the neighborhood. Ms. Vu explains that though she has been instrumental in developing support around Cooke, the work has certainly been a team effort.
As she worked closely with Ms. Azore, Ms. Vu started to get involved on the SAC. Her work there has initiated projects and events that will engage the families and community better than a meeting can. The IAC helped organize a “Star Party” that was held at Cooke in April as a part of the Philadelphia Science Festival, where they had a telescope and other space-related activities to teach the whole community about science. Events like the Star Party are essential in bringing people together and getting them excited to be a part of rebuilding the school and the surrounding community.
“This is not a group where you just put in one minute, it’s a lot of work,” Ms. Vu explains. Community members are essential neutral contributors to the school. Community organizations like the IAC have the necessary resources to serve schools and can provide those needed resources at times when the District cannot.
“I’ve worked in this community for thirty years, and we believe strongly that in order to transform the neighborhood, you have to start in the school,” Ms. Vu says. “A good school will change the neighborhood. The quality of the school will change the quality of life in the neighborhood. That’s the motivation that binds us together in this volunteer effort.”
The work that Ms. Vu has done to support Cooke and the Logan community is centered around sustainability and capacity-building. She is not a resident of Logan, but she is there to provide support so that the local community can take over her work and take ownership of their progress.
Ms. Vu closes with her explanation of true community empowerment and sustainability: “The model may change,” Ms. Vu says, “but for now I believe that the grassroots community needs to come together first, and then hopefully the parents can take on the leadership roles in improving Cooke once our work is in place. We won’t go away, but we will step back and be supportive as we pass it on to the families to take over. And then we can move on to support another school.”
