Ossining Thanks Brieant Youth Alliance for Its Work with Students

From leadership programs and career exploration opportunities to a generous donation to the Ossining High School Guidance Fund, the Brieant Youth Alliance has been a valuable resource in the Ossining community for many years.

So far in 2021, the BYA contributed $7,000 to the Guidance Fund to help pay for AP and SUNY college courses; launched the S.H.I.E.L.D. Program (Students Helping to Influence Environments with Leadership & Diversity) virtually at Roosevelt School; and announced it will award a $1,000 scholarship each year to a graduating OHS senior who is part of the BYA Future Young Leaders Program.

Superintendent Raymond Sanchez and Board of Education trustees thanked the organization and its director, Diane Magri Fraser, during a Feb. 24 board meeting. The alliance is named after the late Charles L. Brieant, an Ossining resident and former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It partners with Ossining, the surrounding communities, the Ossining Chamber of Commerce and Woodfield Detention Cottage for youth to provide free educational programs. In addition to S.H.I.E.L.D. for fifth-graders, the BYA offers the Life Long Leaders Program at Anne M. Dorner Middle School and the Future Young Leaders Program at OHS.

“The programs that you’ve been able to provide our students and also the contribution to the Guidance Fund, which is not insignificant, means a real difference in our efforts to support our students,” Dr. Sanchez said. “So thank you so much for everything that you and the rest of the board are doing on behalf of our children and our community.”

Board of Education President Lisa Rudley thanked the BYA for enriching the lives of Ossining’s youth. “We really, really appreciate it,” she told Ms. Magri Fraser.

OHS Principal Stephen Hancock, a member of the Brieant Youth Alliance’s Board of Directors, first learned about the organization when the then-Charles L. Brieant Center used his classroom for its leadership program. “They’ve contributed so much to our district, and I have evolved and grown with them because each school that I’ve been a part of, from AMD to Roosevelt to now the high school, we’ve fostered an even stronger partnership with a number of opportunities for our students,” he said.

Ms. Magri Fraser said the Brieant Youth Alliance is happy to be part of school systems in the region and provide programs that encourage students to recognize their own leadership potential. The alliance has served more than 4,500 children and teens to date, roughly 2,600 of whom have been incarcerated youth. In the summer of 2020, the BYA paid for two OHS students to attend the Shattemuc Sailing Academy at the Shattemuc Yacht Club, and it provided three scholarships totaling $15,000 to the Westchester Barber Academy for young people looking for career opportunities.

“We do it free of charge for the students and we bring in talented professionals to teach, and that has been just an amazing opportunity for the students and also for those who participate on the board,” she said.