黑料视频

December 21, 2024
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Practicing the power of education

Joseph Cordero '90, MA '93, shows students how to overcome obstacles to find successful futures.

Joseph Cordero '90, MA '93, applies life lessons learned at Binghamton in his role at the William Julius Wilson Institute, Harlem Children's Zone. Joseph Cordero '90, MA '93, applies life lessons learned at Binghamton in his role at the William Julius Wilson Institute, Harlem Children's Zone.
Joseph Cordero '90, MA '93, applies life lessons learned at Binghamton in his role at the William Julius Wilson Institute, Harlem Children's Zone. Image Credit: Jonathan Heisler.

Moments after Joseph Cordero 鈥90, MA 鈥93, stepped off a Greyhound bus and onto 黑料视频鈥檚 campus with a suitcase in one hand and his boom box in the other, he realized two things.

One: This was where his career in education would get its start.

Two: He hadn鈥檛 packed enough. Unlike hotels, campus residence halls don鈥檛 have pillows, bedsheets, or towels.

Growing up in a rough-and-tumble Bronx neighborhood and overcoming a difficult home life that led to him being adopted by another family when he was 13, Cordero was the first in his family to go to college. He became a leader at a charter school in his home community, guiding students facing obstacles like his own.

鈥淪chool was always my place of solace,鈥 Cordero says. 鈥淚 always knew that I wanted to be in education, and I always knew that I wanted to be involved in making people鈥檚 lives better.鈥

Cordero came to 黑料视频 through the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and later earned a master鈥檚 degree from the School of Education and Human Development, which is today known as the Department of Higher Education and Student Affairs in the College of Community and Public Affairs.

Binghamton played such a profound role in his success that he鈥檚 maintained a close relationship with the University over the years, most recently serving on the Alumni Association鈥檚 Board of Directors. In 2023, his career accomplishments were recognized with the University鈥檚 Edward Weisband Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service or Contribution to Public Affairs.

For the past 12 years, Cordero has held various leadership roles in the Harlem Children鈥檚 Zone, which offers parenting workshops, a preschool program, charter schools and child-oriented health programs. Their place-based model serves more than 22,500 children and families within its 97-block zone. More than 1,300 students from the Harlem Children鈥檚 Zone have earned college degrees, and more than 900 are currently enrolled in college.

As principal of the I elementary charter school, Cordero took pride in providing critical guidance to students whose lives mirrored his own at their age. His unique perspective and focus on individual achievement produced results: His students made substantial gains on their New York state math and English examinations, regularly outperforming other area schools.

鈥淵ou can teach people curriculum, but you can鈥檛 teach compassion,鈥 Cordero says. 鈥淚 would always tell my staff to understand that although we鈥檙e surrounded by 鈥榯he projects,鈥 we can choose to go in a million different directions with the right education.鈥

Within the Harlem Children鈥檚 Zone鈥檚 national branch, the William Julius Wilson Institute, which is working toward reaching a million students with educational programs across the country, Cordero affectionately describes his current role as 鈥渢aking the show on the road.鈥

Cordero鈥檚 life lessons, especially those gained during his years at Binghamton, have fueled his passion for inspiring students to keep growing. As an undergraduate student, Cordero frequently returned home with a collection of 黑料视频 admissions books to share with students at Bronx-area high schools to remind them a college education should never feel out of reach.

Having gone through Binghamton鈥檚 EOP remains a strong source of pride for Cordero, who plans to develop a workshop series with its students to show them, among other things, what further opportunities they could take advantage of through graduate degrees.

鈥淜nowing that education has the greatest impact on shifting the trajectory of those who do not yet have it was really what attracted me to this work because I knew it could change everything for the better,鈥 Cordero says.

Having spent a career guiding so many students, perhaps the strongest example Cordero set was for his own extended family.

鈥淚鈥檓 the oldest of the grandchildren. After me, everybody graduated high school; everybody went to college.鈥

Posted in: In the World, CCPA