Local entrepreneur and philanthropist teams up with Fusion’s three Florida campuses to stand up against bullying.

OCA RATON, Fla. (Newswire.com) – Businesswoman and philanthropist Claudia Bartra and Fusion Academy in Miami, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach Gardens are teaming up to prevent bullying in their schools and communities. 

“We’re excited to have Claudia on board,” said Christina Seamster, Ph.D., Area Head of School. “She is a great community partner and we’re thrilled to be teaming up with her for our zero-tolerance bullying initiative.”

Bartra is actively involved in the community, notably with La Granja, her successful chain of award-winning Peruvian restaurants. Her philanthropic contributions include her work with ASPIRA, a youth organization for Latin American children, providing scholarships to students attending Palm Beach State College, and being honored for her support of children’s education both in the United States and her home country of Peru. Bartra deeply values the power of education, and her collaboration with Fusion Academy is no exception. 

Founded in 1989 in Solana Beach, California, Fusion Academy has 80 campuses across the U.S., including three in Florida: Boca Raton, Miami, and its most recent addition in Palm Beach Gardens. With one-to-one classrooms and personalized instruction, Fusion Academy can center every student’s needs while providing opportunities to interact with other students. During “Homework Cafe” time, students can work on homework collaboratively, play games, and eat snacks together. A student’s five-hour day at the school is built for their needs and encourages them to be the full version of themselves. Fusion campuses operate between 7:30 A.M. and 7:30 P.M. which gives students flexible learning opportunities that best fit their schedules. 

Every Fusion Academy location ensures each student experiences both academic and social-emotional core learner outcomes: being resourceful, critical thinking, self-awareness, and inclusivity. 

Claudia Bartra and Fusion Academy want to confront the nationwide problem of bullying and provide a resource for students where they can feel comfortable in addressing their concerns to their parents and teachers. Bullying not only affects the students who are being bullied, but also the school community as a whole. According to a 2019 report by the National Center for Educational Statistics, nearly 20% of students in the United States aged 12-18 reported being bullied at school.

Together, Bartra and Fusion Academy created actionable goals to prevent bullying in the school community and beyond:

1. Making every parent a partner in their child’s education and socio-emotional development. 
2. Providing holistic socio-emotional learning experiences. 
3. Being proactive and positive (for both teachers and students).
4. Provide safe spaces and teacher mentors for each student. 
5. Encourage peers to come to a common resolution with openness and inquiry. 
6. Inspire positive change to be a more reflective person.
   7. Identify individual biases and prejudices to become more self-aware and diffuse tense situations. 

Both Bartra and Seamster look forward to implementing the new initiative in 2023. Visit Fusion Academy for information, and to learn more about Claudia Bartra, go to www.claudiabartra.com. 

Source: Fusion Academy

Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year. Born in 1929, King’s actual birthday is January 15 (which in 1929 fell on a Tuesday). The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January 21.

King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. (wikipedia)

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CANTON, Mass. /PRNewswire/ — The Massachusetts Nurses Association Board of Directors – nurses and healthcare professionals elected by their MNA colleagues – have released the following statement in response to the violence and hatred being perpetrated against healthcare workers in Massachusetts and nationwide amid a dangerous political environment, and specifically the repeated bomb threats made against Boston Children’s Hospital for providing transgender healthcare.

“Above all else, our duty as nurses and healthcare professionals is to protect the health and safety of our patients. We fulfill this obligation through direct care and patient support, and by remaining vigilant about threats to our own health and safety. The highly charged political environment – whether bomb threats at Boston Children’s Hospital, white supremacists outside Brigham and Women’s Hospital, or attacks on reproductive rights – is obstructing healthcare access, endangering lives, and further harming caregivers already exploited by a broken healthcare system.

“We forcefully condemn any violence or hate perpetrated against patients, their families, or caregivers. The bomb threats and hate messages sent to Boston Children’s Hospital are despicable for their intent and their impact. No person should be attacked for who they are. No child should be made to feel like they do not belong. No family should have to consider the threat of violence when seeking healthcare. The gender-affirming care provided by our colleagues at Boston Children’s Hospital and other facilities nationwide is essential, holistic healthcare that treats patients as individuals whose identities matter. We feel intensely for those patients and families affected by the repeated threats at Children’s Hospital, and for the nurses, researchers, and other healthcare professionals who have been impacted by this hate. Political violence has no place in our society, especially in hospitals and other settings where our most vulnerable seek care. We denounce and will fight back against the anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ+ political agenda.

“As we have witnessed a resurgent campaign against bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, there has also been a dangerous rise in hate speech against members of the LGBTQ+ community. We have seen in Colorado Springs and elsewhere how toxic rhetoric and misinformation spread online can fuel deadly violence. In this political environment, we see legislative proposals that would criminalize trans health care and LGBTQ+ life, and influential public figures who feel increasingly comfortable demonizing people for their religion, gender, race, or beliefs. Elected officials are working across the country to erode or eliminate access to abortion. Fueled by a radical U.S. Supreme Court decision, state legislatures are weaponizing local zoning laws and seeking to pass extremely dangerous restrictions on what should be a fundamental human right to healthcare.

“We stand united in opposition to inequality and the vicious wielding of hatred and bigotry against any individual or group. As nurses and healthcare professionals we do our best every shift, every day to safeguard and heal our patients no matter their background or belief. As union members we will use our collective strength to defeat political hate and eliminate violence in healthcare.”

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association