After two years of hard work, Rena Chambers is selected for second ‘Student of the Year’ award With her casual smile and black leather book bag, Rena Chambers is the first student to enter Room 304 at the Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center on a Thursday afternoon. It’s the end of another school week for South Side resident Chambers — who …

Residents of the South Side discussed the importance of public service and civic engagement during Umi and Associates’ first-ever MLK Community Conversation. The conversation took place last month at the Abdullah Muslim Masjid on West Brighton Avenue in Syracuse. This conversation was part of a larger program offered by the New York Council for the Humanities called Community Conversations for …

Mikell Clemons leads his teammates both on the basketball court and in the classroom Mikell Clemons sits in the front of Stephanie Sobon’s social studies class. He is jammed in the corner where two chalkboards meet, and it’s easy to miss him when you walk in the room. But Sobon knows exactly where he is. As the students sit at …

Local women praised for inspiring through teaching, music, worship March is set aside as Women’s History Month to show appreciation, love, respect and honor for women and their achievements in areas such as arts, culture, business and politics. Its roots can be traced to the early 1900s when women stood up in solidarity to create a day in which to …

On Saturday, March 3, the Syracuse Poster Project will collaborate with The Stand for the second year in a row to present the South Side poetry workshop. The workshop, which will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the South Side Communication Center, is a free event designed to help people with their Haiku writing technique.

Lanika Mabrey volunteers her time to improve her community For Lanika Mabrey, sitting down to talk about all of her achievements is not easy. “I must admit, talking about myself isn’t something I’m particularly used to,” she said. “But I think that this is a good way to give voice to some great things happening in our community.”

HOW TO GIVE TIME The Partnership for Onondaga Creek meets the first Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is March 6 at 6 p.m. in Brady Faith Center, 404 South Ave. For information: http://www.onondagacreek.org/ Syracuse United Neighbors SUN is made up of four neighborhood coalitions on the city’s south, southwest and near-west sides. Each coalition has a monthly meeting run …

Syracuse Alliance Church welcomes all with open and loving arms Just three months before Hayward and Nonie DeBose were due to have a baby in 1980, they were looking for a church to serve as a foundation for raising a family. At the recommendation of Nonie’s OB-GYN, an Egyptian man, the two visited the Syracuse Alliance Church at 3112 Midland …

Dunbar Center puts major plan into action to keep its doors open When you walk into the office of the Dunbar Association’s new executive director, Julius Edwards, you will see a man grinning from ear to ear. As someone who understands the impact Dunbar can have on a community, he has an open-door policy. With the doors wide open, people …

Clary Middle School puts boys and girls in different classrooms Clary Middle School is halfway through its first academic year of gender separation in the classroom, and one constituency enthusiastically endorses it. Others are still adjusting. Clearly loving it: parents. Not quite so much: some students.