She said she received dozens of messages from parents and alumni who support her and want her to stay. More than 50 years later, Kenner is the now the long-serving principal of Whitney Young, one of Chicago’s most selective high schools, named for a civil rights leader. Her silence and her enabling of the systematic oppression that her black and low-income students face should be condemned.” So far it’s gained more than 800 signatures. Work Experience. Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, (commonly known as Whitney Young), is a highly selective Chicago public school that opened its doors to students on September 3, 1975 as the city's first public magnet high school.Located in Chicago's Near West Side community area, the school has earned numerous accolades and consistently scores among the top high schools in the state of Illinois. The charges against former Whitney Young High School coach Andrew Parro and the suspension of one of the district’s most respected principals, Joyce Kenner… The school is still very diverse, but its African American population has shrunk to 19%, with another 19% Asian, 28% white and 29% Latino students. Whitney Young boasts a diverse student body: 25.1 percent African American, 24.4 percent Latino, 16.7 percent Asian, and 29.3 percent Caucasian. “We have a black police chief. Jackson’s son Jonathan Jackson, national spokesman for PUSH, attended Whitney Young in the 1980s, as did his older sister, who was a classmate of the school’s most famous alum, Michelle Obama. Now, after 25 years at the helm of Whitney Young, she finds herself the target of an online petition, posted by unnamed “disappointed alumni,” calling for her to resign, claiming she has “silenced student activists speaking against all forms of injustice. Vice President. Decatur Classical School, Hancock High School, Jones College Prep, Lenart Regional Gifted Center, and Northside College Prep also were honored with the 2020 Blue Ribbon Award. WHITNEY M YOUNG MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL ILLINOIS. More than 50 years later, Kenner is the now the long-serving principal of Whitney Young, one of Chicago’s most selective high schools, named for a civil rights leader. She said she’s tired of trying to explain her position in life, and that all she’s been through has made her a better person. In a letter to administrators, some members of the senior class wrote they hoped Whitney Young would not be neutral while students demanded justice, voicing frustrations that Kenner initially rejected a video submitted for the school’s virtual graduation in which a student holds up a sign in support of George Floyd while singing the national anthem. The parent chair of Whitney Young’s Local School Council, Kristin Boeke-Greven, said she believes Kenner has the best interest of students at heart. Teachers do not engage in innovative or collaborative planning, professional development, or reflection related to 21 st century skills and STEAM education so students are not … I’m not resigning. The three had to walk 10 city blocks to get to grade school, and Kenner always got there first, said the youngest triplet, James Dorsey. Kenner said the school was about 60% black when she took over. Even their birth, to a 19-year-old mother and 18-year-old father, made headlines. Several students told the Tribune they were offended by statements Kenner made in a video address about unrest sparked by George Floyd’s killing, in which she asked that if students do protest, they not participate in violence or looting, and said the way to seek change is to get a degree and get a "seat at the table.”. Gallery: Beyonce, Harry Styles, Gayle King and other stars who are speaking out against racism (USA TODAY). “My father served 11 years in prison. “If one student was negatively impacted by my statements or my non-actions, then I have to address that,” she said. Available for sale from Geary, Suzette Bross, Dr. Joyce Kenner, Whitney M Young Magnet High School (2018), Photograph, 40 × 26 in So now, (after) 50 years, it’s a different environment where now the discussion is had," Allen said. Connect with friends faster than ever with the new Facebook app. I still have a lot of work to do for my African American students,” Kenner said. 211 South Laflin Street • Chicago, IL 60607 Phone: (773) 534-7500 • Fax: (773) 534-7261 Contact Webmaster Joyce Dorsey Kenner, the principal and CEO of Whitney Young Magnet High School fixes Matthew Burzec’s toga during the Whitney Young Magnet High School … She is also the mother of a black son who once had to explain to police that he had a baseball bat in his trunk because he played for the Whitney Young team. Whitney M. Young Magnet High School of Chicago. “You could go by your experience, and the only thing I've ever tried to do is get our black kids educated so they have the opportunity to be part of this world,” Kenner said. You feel it as an African American person on a day-to-day basis, but it’s painful to talk about.”. “Sometimes it’s painful for us as adults in authoritarian positions to accept how our students advocate their positions, but I listen, I reflect, I hurt. Their early jobs were at their father’s three record stores. By the turn of the millennium, about 41% of students were black, 24% white, 19% Latino and 16% Asian, according to CPS data. Kenner said she has tried her best to support students and is responsive to other viewpoints. But in some ways, she said, the country feels like it did during the civil rights struggle of the ’60s. Further, she calls it “nonsense” to say she doesn’t support Black Lives Matter. Whitney Young opened on Septe Joyce Dorsey Kenner from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School located in Chicago, IL US | Rate My Teachers Look for your teacher/course on RateMyTeachers.com in Illinois, United States Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Always the first one in line — starting at birth. Whitney Young High School consistently ranks among the highest performing schools in the nation (Washington Post, Newsweek, US News and World Report, Niche). "You don’t have to talk to feel racism, you don’t have to speak it. Joyce Kenner Work Experience and Education. Joyce D. Kenner, Ed.D. As those surveys are completed, they will replace the results shown here. The student-approved new survey is much more useful. I don’t support the cause or that I don’t understand the cause.". Principal Joyce Dorsey Kenner recalled that the autistic student “always had a smile on his face.” Principal and CEO. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker. “We can’t have a seat at the table if we’re dead because we were shot by a cop,” one senior said, who added she doesn’t want Kenner to resign but that students deserve a bigger voice. Absolutely. Attributing shifting demographics in part to changes in the selective enrollment process, Kenner said she hopes her student body continues to be among the most diverse in the country. Whitney Young Magnet School wins Blue Ribbon Award for the second time. Whitney Young Magnet Principal Joyce Kenner said she was assured by authorities that neither she, nor the school, are at the center of the investigation, the Chicago Tribune reported. Whitney M. Young Magnet High School (locally known simply as Whitney Young) is a public magnet high school and middle school located in the Near West Side neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, United States. At the same time, Jackson said that since his time at Young, he’s seen more upper-middle-class students move in. Microsoft may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. But we still have racism in our society and black men being targeted for no reason at all.”. “Nobody is going to push me out. Whitney Young Among 6 CPS Schools To Receive National Blue Ribbon Award. View Full Caption It will make the results better for everyone. Thank you! Whitney Young Magnet maintains one of the premier high school soccer programs in the city of Chicago. Like many of the district’s most elite schools, Whitney Young’s enrollment is disproportionately white compared with CPS overall, where 11% of students are white. https://wybeaconnews.org/10092/uncategorized/dr-joyce-kenner-a-legend PROBLEM. School Rating ? 6:12. She recalls her father writing “black-owned business” across the window of his record store so protesters would spare it from damage. “Those discussions weren’t necessarily had, but you saw. In recent weeks, as protests gripped her adoptive city after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Kenner has been working and babysitting her granddaughter. Published on … Whitney Young competes in the Chicago Public Schools' Soccer League. Whitney M. Young Magnet High School: | | | Whitney M. Young Magnet High School | | | ... World Heritage Encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most definitive collection ever assembled. Absolutely. Kenner said she rarely speaks about the fact that, later in life, he was imprisoned for a drug conviction. “We were always in the spotlight.”. Last season, the Dolphins advanced to the City Semifinal and IHSA Sectional Cha... Read More. Have I apologized? After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, an 11-year-old Joyce Kenner witnessed people take to the streets in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio, “for the same things we are marching for today." Prior to working for Chicago Public Schools, Kenner was deputy director of PUSH for Excellence, the education arm of renowned civil rights leader Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition. JOYCE KENNER WHITNEY YOUNG HIGH SCHOOL & COACH MAYDEN ... Whitney Young Community Trailer - Duration: 6:12. “His response was, ‘Absolutely,’” Kenner said. Whitney Young Forever Take your virtual tour of Whitney Young and see what it is like to be a Dolphin: Arts as Advocacy project DANCE THE VOTE performed by H. Dance IV & Guys & Dolls Dance Company Ours dancers are learning about how the arts can help us understand current events and work together to move through them. 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