Tracey Leads Flock To The Mountaintop

The prospect of an almost vertical climb 366 feet up East Rock didn’t faze New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey.

The students, staffers and parents alongside her?

“If I can do it,” the 66-year-old vegan educator declared, ​“they can, too.”

Tracey chose to lead school employees and families up the hardest hike in East Rock Park on Wednesday to challenge her students to get moving this summer.

The East Rock hike kicked off the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) ​“Summer of Fun.” The district is funneling part of the influx of Covid-19 relief dollars into a variety of summer camps and activities.

One purpose is to accelerate learning for students who struggled in remote school during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another is to rebuild families’ trust in the school district and its ability to keep their children safe.

This trust will be key, since Tracey plans to eliminate remote learning as an option in the fall, aside from snow days. Teaching both in-person and remote students simultaneously has been hard for teachers.

The hike itself launched the fitness portion of the Summer of Fun.

“We have all been cooped up behind the walls of our houses and offices,” Tracey told those gathered for the hike on Wednesday.

“It’s been hard on me as the superintendent. I get criticism, but I keep plugging on. I’m a superintendent on the move, and I’m going to continue being on the move,” Tracey said.

Joining the hike, Mayor Justin Elicker gave a small speech to the group about his excitement to walk with so many people he admires.

“We don’t always agree, but we all share the same goal” of helping students become successful, Elicker said.

His sometimes-opponent on the Board of Education, pediatrician Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, nodded and mmhmmed in agreement from the crowd.

“I encourage exercise every day in my office. We need more exercise in our city. This is where it starts,” Jackson-McArthur said.

Around 100 families registered for the hike. The children that showed up despite the cloudy day were largely kids of Board of Education employees.

For example, the full family of Wilbur Cross Principal Edith Johnson and King/Robinson Principal Joseph Johnson turned out for the hike. The power couple often takes their children on hikes like this, and they wanted to support the superintendent’s challenge, they said.

“We try to do this as a family. Why not do it with our New Haven family?” Edith Johnson said.

Jacob, the youngest Johnson, hitched a ride on his father’s shoulders the whole hike. Neither seemed too concerned that this might interfere with the King/Robinson principal’s balance on the winding steps at the top of the cliff. Joseph Johnson just felt more motivated to weight lift later that evening, he said.

“Do you see mommy’s school?” Joseph Johnson asked Jacob, pointing to the Wilbur Cross High School rooftop.

Tate Johnson (pictured above), age 6, completed the whole climb himself. He wanted to arrive at the hike in his Spider-Man suit. His parents convinced him to go with just a Spider-Man shirt instead.

He got to the top without seeming to lose any momentum. He high-fived the superintendent at his mother’s suggestion and then ran off to shoot imaginary webs from his wrists with his new friend, 4‑year-old Emmett Ellwanger.

Emmett kept up a constant stream of dialogue throughout the hike about spray paint on rocks — ​“Look, it’s another painting!” — and other treasures he expected to find.

Emmett’s mother, Natalie Ellwanger, is a new English teacher in New Haven Public Schools. She transferred from Bridgeport to Celentano Magnet School in January.

“I’m happy to be part of a community that does this kind of stuff,” Ellwanger said. ​“The female leadership is noticeable in the district and the school. It sets a different vibe.”

Tracey rested on a rock at the top of the mountain. School employees cheered as they made it up the last steps and then fussed over Tracey, checking whether she had water to drink.

Tracey admitted that she found the first stretch of path through the woods the most difficult. The tall, nearly vertical steps at the end were easier for her.

“I love walking and hiking. I haven’t done it for a while,” Tracey said. ​“I shouldn’t be panting.”

Her fellow administrators knew she would be game to lead the challenge, because she invited them to walk with her on the Farmington Canal one Sunday during the pandemic. Other favorite treks include those at Sleeping Giant State Park and the Y Mountain in Utah.

“The Y Mountain is dangerous, man! On the path, we met a Mormon gentleman who was almost 80 and moving like it was nothing. I thought, ​‘I can do this too,’” Tracey said.

After the adults caught their breath and admired the view, they headed back down the mountain by road. Tracey sighed as she passed a clear view down to New Haven. The steep drops reminded her of southern Manchester, Jamaica, where she lived until she turned 24. The roads wind tight around mountains and gorges, with little to stop a driver from falling off the cliff, she recounted. Her children were horrified by the drops when they visited Manchester with her.

Mailroom supervisor Amber Boykin stuck by Tracey on the hike down East Rock. She loved hiking in Los Angeles, where she attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. She hasn’t hiked as many trails since she’s returned to her hometown of New Haven and accepted a job in the school district.

Boykin herself is a product of New Haven Public Schools and was one of Tracey’s students at King/Robinson. Boykin remembered her now-boss as a kind and energetic principal.

“She treated us like we were part of her family. She spoiled us. Everyone felt like we were her kids,” Boykin said. ​“At assemblies, she would tell us, ​‘Come on, stand up! Shake your worries away!’”

Tracey’s health and energy inspire Social Studies Supervisor Sandra Clark (pictured above). Clark tried Tracey’s vegan diet for around eight weeks and surprised her doctor with how much her health stats improved.

“Now I’ll borrow this idea to go outside more with students and get this back to normal practice,” Clark said.

Chief of Youth, Family and Community Engagement Gemma Joseph Lumpkin (pictured above) handed out T‑shirts at the end, lauding the participants for surviving the hike. Her department led the planning for the fitness challenge and the Summer of Fun.

The summer camps for K‑8 students will focus on learning through projects in the morning, plus fun with the New Haven Youth Services Department in the afternoon. There will be a social justice and leadership camp at James Hillhouse High School especially for sixth through twelfth graders who struggled to log into remote class consistently. Other high schools are hosting other programs as well.

Weekends will give families free opportunities to swim, dance, see aquariums, learn archery and more, if all goes as planned.

“Parents cannot complain that there is nothing to do this summer. There will be something for everyone,” said parent engagement coordinator Danny Diaz.

Donald McAulay is organizing the rest of this summer’s fitness challenges. He is a third-year doctoral student in a University of Connecticut education leadership program. During the summer, his title will be youth program coordinator for the district.

McAulay has plans in the works to open high school gyms to the district’s families on Monday evenings. The idea is to bring in trainers from the gym mActivity to lead high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and weight lifting workouts.

“We hope this will create sustainable habits for later,” McAulay said.

Families can register for the activities online. So far, around 2,600 students have signed up for the summer camps, not including high school students.