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Delray Beach official details youth programs, workforce push and new focus on early screening
Summary
Janai Bowens, the city’s education and external opportunities manager, described programs including Hacktivate Delray, workforce tours with the Chamber of Commerce and a shift toward early developmental screening to address student needs intensified by the pandemic.
Janai Bowens, education and external opportunities manager for the City of Delray Beach, outlined a series of city-backed efforts to support student achievement — from a civic-engagement program for middle and high schoolers to partnerships with local businesses for workforce pathways — during a recent Village Vibes podcast interview.
Bowens said Delray Beach plans to reengage stakeholders on the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, expand Hacktivate Delray (a six-month civic-engagement program for about 25 students run in partnership with local out-of-school providers), and increase coordination with the school district and community providers to address attendance, behavior and enrollment trends. “We are fostering the next generation of leaders,” Bowens said.
The nut of Bowens’s argument: city actions outside the classroom affect school outcomes. “When we think about all of these things and how we interact ... if we have an absence of one that could be detrimental to our overall success,” she said, listing housing, food stability, workforce development and access to medical care as systems the city can leverage to help students.
Bowens gave data and program details to explain why the initiatives matter. She said, “currently 98 percent of our students are considered economically disadvantaged according to Florida Department of Education,” and that Delray Beach high-school graduates have a postsecondary continuation rate of about 63 percent. She described Hacktivate Delray participants working in five teams on topics including food scarcity, homelessness, education quality and mental health, reviewing citywide data and proposing policy suggestions; she said the program culminates in a public event on April 26.
On workforce development, Bowens credited a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Stephanie Immelman for a series of industry tours that connect students to local automotive, health care and construction employers. “If there was a time for our businesses to step to the plate, it would be now,” she said, describing internships, apprenticeships and industry tours as pathways the city hopes businesses will expand.
Bowens identified family engagement and cultural relevance as priorities. She said about 30 (as stated in the interview; transcript did not specify percent vs. count) of Delray Beach families speak languages other than English and stressed that outreach must be accessible and culturally responsive. She urged bringing parents and service providers “to the table” to build a continuum of care and said the city is talking with leadership and elected officials about next steps.
On strategy, Bowens proposed shifting more resources earlier in children’s lives. “We can get them the assistance that they need before even entering into school,” she said, recommending a stronger emphasis on maternal care and early developmental screenings before the traditional third-grade reading campaign.
Bowens encouraged community members and businesses to get involved through grassroots conversations and partnership with city programs. She offered to be contacted directly and provided an email address on the podcast; the address appears in the transcript as bowensj,b0wens,j@mydelraybeach.com (as spoken).
