Detroit School District Makes Connection to Minorities

The Detroit School District is making an effort to connect to the minority students and minority businesses in the community.

Detroit School District Makes an Effort to Attract Minority Businesses

The Detroit School District's Department of Contracting and Procurement has created a special community outreach program which gives immediate notification to certified minority businesses when bids are posted. These bids are used to determine which businesses will provide construction or services for the Detroit School District. This program, known as the Detroit Public Schools Small Contractor Development Initiative Program, provides businesses notification when the Detroit School District's Department of Contracting and Procurement bids are solicited. The Detroit School District has created DemandStar.com, bidding notification system. It informs businesses about, among other things, invitations to bid, Request for Proposal, Request for Qualification and Request for Information.

This could become a huge boon for minority businesses in the area because large some of money are spent each year by the Detroit School District's Department of Contracting and Procurement. The District is reaching out to minority businesses in several other ways as well. It advertises regularly in the newspapers that target the minority communities including the Michigan Chronicle, El Central and the Arab-American News. The Detroit School District has fostered connections with various chambers of commerce or business groups that have large minority memberships, such as the Arab-American Chamber of Commerce, the Detroit Black Chamber and the Booker T. Washington Business Association. The Detroit School District's Department of Contracting and Procurement also has plans to help minority own businesses make connections to major contractors and encourage them to use the minority businesses as sub-contractors.

The Detroit School District Encourages Minority Students

In 1980 the Detroit News and the Detroit School District created the Rosa Parks Scholarship Awards. These awards are given every year and all Detroit School District high school seniors are eligible but an emphasis is placed on minority students who want to pursue journalism in college. The awards are administered by the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation. The winners are selected based on the community service, financial need and academic achievement of the students. While the Detroit News awards two additional scholarships to students who are aspiring journalists. The scholarship awards are worth two thousand dollars each. In 2006 Rosa Parks Scholarship Awards yielded a wide variety of students from different high schools across the Detroit School District. Some of the winners this year of the Rosa Parks Scholarship Awards were: Ronald Berry, Chadsey High School, Rebrika Blalock, Detroit Technology High School, Adrienne Carter, Northwestern High School, Ashley Carter, Northwestern High School, Danielle Clayton, Denby High School, Latisha Gladney-Taylor, Davis Aerospace Technical High School, Veronica Grandison, Communication and Media Arts High School, Anthony Head, Jr., Mumford High School, Dana Hill, Mumford High School, Delissa Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, Angelina Jordan, Renaissance High School, Daryel Peake, Mumford High School, Samuel Williams, Jr., Davis Aerospace Technical High School, Noelle Williams, Renaissance High School, Darryl Woods, Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School. One of the Detroit News Rosa Parks Scholarship Award winners was Redell Willis, Chadsey High School. Miss Willis plans to head to Wayne State University in the fall, where she will major in journalism.