Maplewood student wins Princeton Prize in race relations.
As a freshman at Columbia High School in Maplewood, Toibat Ayankunbi began to see a disturbing academic racial divide in her district.
In honors classes, oftentimes she'd be among two or three African-American students in a class that was predominantly white. She wondered why there weren't more students who looked like her.
"You can walk around the halls and see the leveling," Ayankunbi said.
It's a practice the district has been accused of for years by parents, who say black students are placed in lower academic tracks and white students are assigned to advanced-placement courses.
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In 2014, the ACLU New Jersey chapter and the Civil Rights Project at UCLA filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, alleging academic tracking in the South Orange Maplewood School District. The district reached an agreement to fix racial disparities in advanced-level courses, but the Black Parents Workshop of Maplewood and South Orange filed a lawsuit in January that says the district is still segregating black students into less challenging courses.
Ayankunbi, 17, said the history is unsettling, but she sought to do something to help close the achievement gap and bring about inclusion and diversity in higher-level courses. In her sophomore and junior years, she took a leadership role with the Minority Achievement Community (MAC), a program in the district that prepares students of color to take honors and advanced placement courses.
Ayankunbi explained the benefits of rigorous instruction to students, even though some of her peers were not confident about their ability or expressed apprehension about being the lone minority in a class. She, too, had reservations, but settled into an AP class her junior year and aced it.
"It's not that they don't want that kind of achievement," Ayankunbi said. "I was trying to help students who I saw who could succeed in higher-level courses."
Ayankunbi's advocacy hasn't stopped since becoming the senior class president and a MAC squad leader. Her work in the program was profound enough to win first place last month from the Princeton Prize in Race Relations of Northern New Jersey.
"Being an African-American in an all-white class, that's tough," said MAC director Marcia Hicks. "She offers support to those kids."
Ayankunbi meets one-on-one with 20 underclassmen twice a month for study groups, checks grades and sets academic goals. She reads essays, tutors juniors, doles out advice about college -- anything to help them get ahead.
At school board meetings, she has addressed racial disparity in AP course placement as an injustice, and has participated in discussions with teachers, students and administrators about discriminatory leveling and biases in the classroom.
The Princeton committee was moved by her commitment and entry. Established in 2003 by Princeton graduate Henry Von Kohorn, the Princeton Prize recognizes high school students' work on race relations.
Seven other students across the state were honored with certificates for dealing with a racial issue in their school or community, but the committee found Ayankunbi's work to be the best. She received $1,000 and joined 26 other Princeton Prize winners from across the country at a leadership symposium at Princeton last month.
"It was really astonishing and wonderful to read the application from a young person who was tackling something so bravely, something that most teachers and administrators are even afraid to touch," said Stephanie Greenberg, a committee member.
Ayankunbi confronted the problem through education, and MAC has been the platform for her to have an impact.
"She's a young person that said, 'I'm not just going to join this group,' " Hicks said. "She said, 'I'm going to be a leader.' "
As one of several MAC squad leaders, Ayankunbi plays a critical role, conducting study sessions and writing workshops, reviewing report cards and discussing ways to improve. If a student is not doing well, squad leaders report problems to guidance counselors, who seek out tutors and academic support.
Raina Hackett, a senior who is a member of the MAC executive committee, said her friend keeps the group's focus on academics and doesn't allow students to get distracted.
"She made sure we were serious and always thinking clearly and logically," Hackett said.
MAC is about the business of scholarship, and the members are finding their places in the classroom. Seven years ago, the program started with 20 students in the high school. Now, there are 100 and Hicks said 90 percent of them are in advance placement and honors classes.
Trevon Valentine, 16, considers himself a good student, but the junior said MAC pushed academic excellence and gave him the confidence to sign up for two advance placement courses when school starts in September.
"I didn't think I could handle the work, but the upperclassmen in MAC tell you that you can do it," Valentine said.
Kaitlynn Henrilus, 17, said she was slipping in chemistry until assisted by MAC.
"If you fall through the crack, it helps you get back up and on your feet," said Henrilus, who also will take two AP classes next semester.
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MAC filters down to younger students, as well. Throughout the year, Ayankunbi and her MAC peers are guiding the little ones. They call it Mini-MAC.
There are 80 students from the elementary schools and 30 from the middle school who are members. At the grammar school level, Ayankunbi said, the focus is more on good study habits and setting goals. When they reach eighth grade, she said, the conversation shifts to what's ahead in high school.
"You want to build that trajectory where all kids see themselves on the path to the highest level of courses," said Columbia High principal Elizabeth Aaron. "We want to make them feel like you're supposed to be here."
The district has implemented an Access and Equity Policy to ensure barrier-free access to advanced courses. In February, the Board of Education voted to reduce 11 levels of math and science, a realignment that interim Superintendent Thomas Ficarra has said is necessary to bring about change when data show that there is segregation in the elementary schools and the high school.
Ayankunbi has done her part. As she heads off to Rutgers University, she's confident that the underclassmen will continue the scholarship that MAC has started.
"They know how to lead," she said.
They should. They've had you as an example to follow.
Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or
nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL
