Call it a fish fry, with a catch.
The Cotten family of Morristown is inviting you over for lunch on Friday, Aug. 31.
Your sandwich will set you back a few bucks. But consider it an investment. Nasier Cotten has been accepted to St. Andrew’s School in Rhode Island. His parents need help to send him there.
“We want to give him a fighting chance,” said Nasier’s father, Arik Cotten. “And then he can extend it forward and help somebody when he makes it.”
St. Andrew’s is a boarding school with an average class size of 10 students. Ninety-five percent of its graduates advance to college.
The school has awarded Nasier tuition aid of $27,000. But his parents still must come up with another $20,000 per year. They say that is a stretch. Arik works at Staples in Morristown and is an assistant basketball coach at Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta. Nasier’s mom, Heidi Mitchell, is a human resources project manager for AT&T in Bedminster.
To save money, the Cottens have moved in with their parents in Morristown, where their daughter, 10-year-old Ariyanna, will start classes in the fifth grade at the Sussex Avenue School next week. The Cottens are members of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Morristown.
When St. Andrew’s informed the family in April of Nasier’s acceptance into this fall’s sophomore class, “I said, ‘Thank you. We will find a way,'” said Heidi, a 1990 graduate of Morristown High School.
Arik and Heidi like the public education system. But they said the personalized attention their son will receive at St. Andrew’s is an opportunity worth pursuing.
Nasier, a sophomore at Parsippany Hills High School last year, attended preschool at the Morristown Neighborhood House and spent his early school years in Morristown. While he is a solid student and talented basketball player, he thinks his leadership potential most impressed St. Andrews.
He participated in a student leadership program, raising money for breast cancer research, and joined the African American Club in high school. He also was a member of the Morris County 4H Lafayette Chapter and a volunteer at the Sunrise Senior Living Facility in Morris Plains. One day, he said, he hopes to become an engineer and create jobs.
The family became aware of boarding schools through an old friend from Arik’s days at Salem State University in Massachusetts. The man had sent his own son to St. Andrew’s. Further encouragement came from another family friend, Charles Lamb, director of the Morristown campus of the County College of Morris.
“It’s a mistake that more minority students don’t consider boarding school. It gives students a head start on a life that is economically sustainable. They are at the top of the food chain when they go to college,” said Charles, whose son, Charlton, went from the Lawrenceville School to Harvard to Google.
Arik, who was a top-ranked high school basketball player at Parsippany Hills, at first could not interest Nasier in applying to boarding schools. The youth warmed to the idea when his dad coached at Newark Academy.
One of the sacrifices being made by Arik, 38, is his own education. A few credits shy of a degree in sociology and criminal justice, he had been taking courses at William Paterson University.
“The idea was to graduate, to show him, so he could have something to shoot for and do better than me,” said Arik, a former volunteer counselor for Teen Pride Inc. As a boy, he attended programs at the Neighborhood House while his mother worked at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital.
Arik has shelved his studies to devote himself to Nasier’s education. “I felt I could be the sacrificial lamb,” he said.
There is a lot of pressure on Nasier to succeed.
“I can’t let them down,” Nasier said, referring to his parents. “I feel I’m ready.”
His classes start on Sept. 10. So far, he is not worried about fitting in–at St. Andrew’s, or with his old pals when he returns for the holidays.
“I’ve moved quite a few times. I feel I can easily make friends again. And if they’re really my friends here, they’ll be around when I come back,” Nasier said.
The fish fry starts at 11 am at 84 Abbett Ave. in Morristown. Contributions toward Nasier’s education may be sent directly to the school:
St. Andrew’s School
Re: Business Office — Nasier Cotten tuition 2012/2013
Attention: Patrick Meehan
63 Federal Road
Barrington, RI 02806
Arik said contributions are tax-deductible.
