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Grant helps PS 42 kids get biz skills

By Howard Koplowitz

The students have set up a T-shirt company they call Goldstar and pay themselves $7 an hour while selling the shirts for $10.Sanders said the money helps the school, which is considered a Title I school, participate in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, or NFTE, a federal program that helps students understand how businesses work. The Title I classification means the school must achieve certain benchmarks while it qualifies for aid under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.”I understand that the business of New York City is business, and if we're in the 21st century, if we're going to compete, we need to have a firm understanding of business,” Sanders said during a brief visit to the school last Thursday. The funding was allocated for the current school year. The councilman said it is important for youngsters in the Rockaways to have business skills.”We have to start with the youth. You have to start young,” he said. “If you are not getting them when their minds are soft and impressionable, you're not getting them.”Queen Makkada, PS 42's PTA president and Title I chairwoman, said aside from federal, state and local funding, the school is being helped out by the new Arverne by the Sea residential development.”We're trying to make (PS) 42 a bridge between Arverne by the Sea and the community that's here now,” she said.Sanders, a PS 42 graduate, said the school “started out as a jewel in the Rockaways” but has since fallen on hard times. But he said the funding he secured gives the student's potential.”I am anxious to see my future scholars earn dollars and become the future CEOs and owners of businesses and the titans of industry,” the councilman said.The students also attend business workshops through NFTE under the program.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.