For Our Kids NY Hosts Back-to-School Events For Rockland Students

NYACK, NY — For Our Kids NY hosted two back-to-school events to encourage and empower 300 boys and girls from three Rockland school districts.

The first one was a treat for 150 girls from the East Ramapo, North Rockland and Nyack schools.

"We focused on social-emotional development," Nathalie Riobe-Taylor told Patch. "The better you feel about yourself, the more you want to succeed."

The event took place at the Old Navy store at the Palisades Mall in West Nyack. Welcomed with a small continental breakfast, the girls then got to shop for back-to-school clothes.

It was a total surprise. "They had no idea," said Riobe-Taylor, who had worked with the guidance departments in the three districts on who to invite to an "empowerment workshop."

Thirty volunteers from local sororities joined them for conversations and affirmations, and one of the mentors organized an impromptu runway for a fitting-room fashion show. "I was taking a phone call in the middle of the mall and I could hear them screaming," Riobe-Taylor recalled.

The boys' event featured a video game truck, free books and complimentary haircuts — as long as they did some reading at one of four barbershops in Haverstraw, Nyack and Spring Valley.

Decades of data show that boys are struggling academically, and in particular, boys of color are below grade level in reading by eighth grade.

"That means every other subject is going to be difficult, and their job choices are going to be affected," Riobe-Taylor said.

The girls are also invited to another empowerment workshop in mid-October. They each received a complimentary copy of the book to be discussed, "Piecing Me Together" by Renee Watson.

Event sponsors included:

• Joe & Linie Rand
• The Paul & Mary Adler Charitable Fund for Good
• Unlimited Events & Marketing Inc.
• New Rochelle-White Plains Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
• Rho Gamma Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
• Beta Psi Sigma Alumni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
• Center for Safety & Change
• NAACP: Nyack & Spring Valley
• Naomi’s Program of Excellence
• The Brown Urban Mother Partnership, Inc.

Riobe-Taylor created For Our Kids five years ago while working with CEJJES, another local nonprofit organization. She credited the co-founder of CEJJES, Dr. Edmund W. Gordon as her primary influence.

"Our primary goal is to educate our youth through various supplemental education programs," she said. "What motivated me to create this organization is the love for children, teaching and learning from each other.

"In a world where academic skills are often held as a priority, research shows that social-emotional development and skills are crucial for children and adolescents to become successful both socially and academically."

To donate to For Our Kids NY, Inc. visit the website.