WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 15, 2018 25
BUZZ
Inter-school pep rally uplifts at-risk youth
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@CNGLOCAL.COM
A pep rally between different
schools across the greater
Ridgewood area was more
than just that with staff celebrating
the resilience and resourcefulness
of students who have experienced a
range of diffi cult situations.
P.S. 71 Principal Indiana Soto led the
rally with Greater Ridgewood Youth
Council President Bob Monahan, who
has worked to reinforce the well-being
of at risk youth in the community.
The Thursday night pep rally featured
student routines from Grover
Cleveland High School, who hosted
the event, P.S. 71 and I.S. 93.
One student, 17-year-old Naydia
Bolden, has lived nearly her entire life
in foster care aft er being abandoned by
her mother at a young age, according
to Soto.
But with help from the Greater
Ridgewood Youth Council and Soto,
Bolden has been able to build structure
as well as support in her life apart
from blood relatives.
“She used to sing in the train. Her
story is amazing,” Soto said. “With
cheer, she gets to have those, aka normal
experiences of a teenager. The
community, which is GRYC ... show
her how to have a work ethic, how to
have responsibility. She has to help
children with homework. She has to
help them with a skill.”
Bolden found work through the
GRYC’s aft er-school program and has
been commuting to Grover Cleveland
High School from Far Rockaway, an
hour and a half trek, to continue her
education and stay within her support
network.
Other students GRYC and Soto help
develop are living with one parent or
a stepparent.
“The apparent onion is, do you have
children that have the unspoken
stresses of managing their academic
expectations plus the social, emotional
challenges they go through, whether
it’s poverty or family composition,”
Soto said. “What’s amazing about this
collaborative initiative is that we look
at children and their families, we help
them own their story. We don’t want
to come in and want to change their
story, which is powerful.”
Children who have coping challenges
are taught to self-regulate
their emotions by focusing on moving
forward with their lives instead of
dwelling on what is missing, Soto said.
By learning healthy coping mechanisms,
these children will be at an
advantage when it comes to building
relationships by prioritizing the need
for maternal and paternal fi gures as
well as mentors.
“Taking those life experiences that
could create negative skillsets or have
a negative impact and turning them
into something positive,” Soto added.
Monahan’s organization helps fund
the pep rally though his benefactors
in government and has bought new
mats for the Grover Cleveland High
School that will arrive in December.
The pep rally is in its sixth year and
is growing in popularity.
Photos: Mark Hallum/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
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