Princeton High School Social Worker Earns NJEA Award

Princeton High School social worker Lenora Keel has been awarded the 2015 Ethnic Minority Affairs and Leadership Image Award by the NJEA Minority Leadership and Recruitment Committee.

The award recognizes those who have made a significant difference in education and the achievement of equal opportunity for those facing discrimination due to their ethnicity.

“I feel very humbled and appreciative to receive this award. I want students to recognize that the sky’s the limit,” Keel said. “They just have to believe, and they have to work for it. It’s gratifying to me to know that I make a difference.”

Keel takes the time to write notes to her student by hand to acknowledge their achievements and milestones, according to school officials. She has also stepped in to aid individuals in crisis.

Over the years, she has supported scores of students in reaching their potential as they go on to attend some of the top colleges across the country.

As student advisor to the Princeton chapter of the Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN), Keel promotes meaningful dialogues among students, between students and faculty. She also does so on a national scale, at the annual MSAN Student Conference.

In 2005, she reestablished PULSE (Pride-Unity-Leadership-Sisterhood-Esteem) a young women’s group that specifically speaks to the abilities of young women at Princeton High School and celebrates their community.

Keel has actively nurtured ties to a host of community agencies and resources, including Corner House, Princeton Human Services, Trinity Counseling,Princeton Behavioral Center, Princeton Housing Authority, the YMCA, Carrier Clinic, Commission for the Blind, as well as numerous mental health experts in the area.

Keel is an active member of the Friendship Baptist Church, where she serves as youth director and co-chair of the College/Scholarship Ministry.

The attached images of Lenora Keel were provided by Princeton High School.