I remember the great promise of the Hubert H. Humphrey Occupational Resource Center/Madison Park complex when it was first constructed — it was hailed as Boston’s own vocational educational high school.
Beyond the promise of nurturing the city’s young ?entrepreneurs, some hoped the school would allow unions to develop a better working relationship with the African-American community by ?allowing officials to collaborate with our young people and prepare them to take part in union apprenticeship programs.
As executive director of the MassAlliance for small contractors, then-former city councilor Bruce Bolling — my late husband — insisted that young people, particularly those from HHORC/Madison Park, had access to convention center opportunities. Together, with support from then-convention center Director Jim Rooney, Mark Erlich of the Carpenters Union and Kwaku Jackson, father of City Councilor Tito Jackson, we designed opportunities with unions and held youth fairs across the city aimed at providing young people with opportunities, other than college, and provided hands-on learning experiences designed to lead to real jobs.
It has been painful to see the community’s dream for the school decline.
The lack of resources, the ?total inattention, the bureaucratic infighting and, in some cases, what could be tantamount to criminal neglect by those in charge of the school, has been heartbreakingly ?inexcusable.
Thank God for Mel King, Bob Marshall, Louis Elisa and the many Friends of Madison Park who have been wrapping their arms around the school and fighting for our young people.
I am all for embracing a new day. I believe the turnaround opportunity gives reason to be cautiously optimistic. ?Superintendent Tommy Chang and Mayor Martin J. Walsh have made Madison Park a top ?priority. That’s a good thing.
There are programs at Madison that have remained superb through all the ups and downs.
The students are Madison Park’s best assets and they want to and deserve to learn.
Perhaps the mayor can ?expand his Building Pathways program there. The new teachers, I hope, will bring new ideas.
By all accounts, Executive Director Kevin McCaskill appears to be the right man for the job.
But nothing will work unless the school gets the resources it needs to realize its promise. The community is still holding out hope that it will succeed for our kids — and not end up another dream deferred.
Joyce Ferriabough Bolling is a political strategist.