December 15, 2010
“I also have the opportunity to be in schools,” said Kira Orange-Jones, executive director of Teach For America, “where every day our principals and our teachers struggle with the fact that there are so many opportunities that our kids do not have outside the classroom that they deserve.”
Kira Orange-Jones now has the chance to change things at NORD. She is one of thirteen members of the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission. Others include Mayor Mitch Landrieu; his chief administrative officer, Andy Kopplin; deputy mayor Judy Reese Morse; City Council President Arnie Fielkow; Recovery School District Supt. Paul Vallas and Woody Koppel of the Orleans School Board, plus a representative from each council district.
The district A representative has family ties to NORD. Corinne Marcus is an attorney and local playground booster, whose grandfather was Mayor deLesseps ”Chep” Morrison. Morrison, along with legendary coach Johnny Brechtel, helped found NORD in the 1940s. Brechtel is the father of current city council member Jackie Clarkson.
“So many of us have such incredible memories of growing up on a New Orleans Recreational Department playground when our New Orleans Recreation Department was the best in the country,” said Mayor Landrieu at a Wednesday press conference. “The ladies and gentlemen standing behind me are committed to making it the best once again.”
The city has doubled NORD’s budget to $10 million, and commission members plan a national and local fund raising campaign, kicked off with a $1 million check.
“What we’re going to do is bring this community together,” said NORD Commission Chairman Roy Glapion. “We’re going to level the playing field, and we’re going to give these kids something to be proud of as they move through their lives.”
One step is already being taken. The city has a new, one year contract with the Red Cross to train life guards, and teach people how to swim. The swimming program starts after the first of the year, will last all year long, and can teach 2100 people how to swim.
“We’re going to save lives,” said Red Cross CEO Kay Wilkins.
The mayor said it won’t be long before you start noticing changes at city owned parks.
“As soon as the Red Cross can start training people how to swim, they’ll see that immediately. Secondly, you’ll start seeing openings like the pool at Joe Brown Park, and then there will be other openings of those as well,” Landrieu said.
But the mayor noted it will take years to complete the transformation of NORD.
In addition to the NORD members named above, the City Council District D representative is Christian Rhodes, a lawyer and former NORD athlete. Attorney and former interim council member Michael Darnell will represent Council District E on the commission.
by Bill Capo / Eyewitness News
wwltv.com
Biographies of the Mayoral-appointed Commission members follow.
CORINNE “RINI” MARCUS
Corinne Morrison Marcus is a lifelong resident of New Orleans and granddaughter of Chep Morrison, the former mayor of the city who established NORD with the help of the late Johnny Brechtel, Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson’s father. Rini graduated from Duke University in 1987 and received her law degree from Tulane University in 1993. She has also worked on behalf of New Orleans as a Legislative Aide and Projects Grants Assistant for Representative Lindy Boggs in Washington. She is currently serving as a Vice President and the only woman on the Carrollton Boosters Board. Rini is married to Wally Marcus, and they have five children.
KIRA ORANGE JONES
Kira Orange Jones currently serves as Executive Director of Teach For America-Greater New Orleans. In that capacity, Kira has overseen an unprecedented expansion, managing the program through one of Teach For America’s most ambitious growth plans, scaling the region from 100 teachers to 500 teachers in a 2 year time period. With over 500 teachers and 300 alumni working across 6 districts and in over 70 independently run district and charter schools, corps members and alumni in Greater New Orleans currently impact 1 in every 3 students in the region. Before joining Teach For America as Executive Director of the Greater New Orleans region in 2007, Kira served as Vice President of New Site Development, spearheading the opening of regions in three new communities. Prior to her tenure on staff with Teach For America, Kira founded and served as Executive Director of Right Quick Productions, a nonprofit media organization in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, dedicated to amplifying community voices through documentary filmmaking and media education. Kira also served for four summers as a school director at Teach For America’s Houston and Philadelphia institutes. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University with a concentration in filmmaking and an M.Ed. focused in school leadership from Harvard University.
ROY GLAPION
Roy Glapion P.E. is a graduate of the University of New Orleans where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering. He is currently registered as a Professional Civil Engineer in Louisiana and Mississippi. Mr. Glapion is also the founder and past President of Citywide Testing & Inspections, Inc. Based on his firms’ performance Mr. Glapion expanded his business to include Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He employed over 100 people and has provided his services on numerous projects located throughout South East Louisiana and surrounding River Parishes as a prime consultant. Recently, 2007, Mr. Glapion sold his firm to Professional Services Industries, PSI and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of this organization. He attributes his success to his family’s’ core values of education, hard work and building relationships. These values were enhanced greatly by his participation as a youth in the NORD programs.
CHRISTIAN RHODES
Christian Rhodes is a native New Orleanian and a product of NORD playgrounds. He attributes much of his success and confidence to the lessons learned at Pontchartrain Park and all the various other NORD parks. Christian graduated from Fordham University at Rose Hill in 2003, and earned his Juris Doctor from Loyola University, College of Law in 2008. He is an associate with Roedel Parsons law firm, and frequently has the privilege of representing interests which benefit the city. Christian also served on the Transition New Orleans City Contracting and DBE Task Force. He, and his wife Robin, have a 4 month old son, Claiborne, and they both look forward to cheering for him at his at his future NORD competitions.
MICHAEL DARNELL
Michael Darnell is a graduate of St. Augustine High School, Yale University, and Yale Law School. He is currently a partner in the law firm of Murray, Darnell & Associates, LLC. In 2007, Mr. Darnell was an interim appointment to the New Orleans City Council, serving as Vice President and Councilman-at-Large. He has served as an Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Judge by appointment of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and as an Ad Hoc Judge to the Municipal Court for the City of New Orleans. Mr. Darnell has also served as Assistant District Attorney in the 16th Judicial District of Louisiana, Assistant City Attorney in New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Courts, Deputy City Attorney in New Orleans, primarily responsible for enforcement and prosecutions for the Alcohol Beverage Outlet Commission, and Vice President and General Counsel for the Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans. He is a past president of the St. Augustine High School Alumni Association and was a member of the Advisory Committee for New Orleans Summerbridge. Mr. Darnell is a past member of a Mayoral Task Force on Small Business Development, and most recently served on Mayor Landrieu’s Task Force on Blight.
Biographies By: Ryan Berni, neworleans.com
