Student Advocacy To Celebrate Four Westchester County Teens

Student Advocacy will be celebrating four Westchester County teens on Thursday, May 9, 2019 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm at Mulino’s at Lake Isle, 660 White Plains Road, Eastchester, New York 10709. Unlike other award dinners, Student Advocacy’s Overcoming the Odds (OTO) recognizes youth that have made school a priority despite life-changing obstacles and are now on track to complete high school. Jimmy Roberts, 13-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and writer known most recently for his work on NBC and Golf Channel as an essayist, interviewer, feature reporter and studio host to serve as the 2019 Master of Ceremonies.

“I can’t think of four more deserving teens,” said Lisa Syron, Executive Director, Student Advocacy. “This year marks our 24th OTO Award Celebration, and it’s such a wonderful evening, giving students that have had an extremely difficult life thus far, their time to shine.”

Nasir Browne (Ossining UFSD) was first diagnosed at 4 years old and suffers from development delays, persistent depression disorder, pervasive development disorder and anxiety, was given many different diagnoses ranging from ADHD to conduct disorder, has undergone 17 psychiatric hospitalizations, 3 different high schools and never gave up and is doing well and will graduate next year.

Matthew Connolly (Lakeland CSD) was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Tourette Disorder. Dealing with the above disorders, Matthew also lost his mother to cancer. He later developed a condition called Disordered Eating and became severely underweight. During this time, Matthew had to come to terms with the difficult knowledge that he had the intellectual capacity to handle rigorous academics, but his body was just not letting him. He compensated by doing a tremendous amount of self-study and ended up being quite successful, with an overall GPA of 91, despite the significant amount of time out of the classroom.

Brandon Thomas (New Rochelle UFSD) would wake up each morning from a cold, cramped car that served as his home for months. Brandon served as the adult figure to his siblings when he was in middle school, traveling with them on the bus to drop them off at their school and then he would hurry to his school. Throughout his hardships, he always remained resilient and made his education a priority. His teachers describe him as smart, hardworking and motivated. School is not only about academics for him, he served as an IGNITE Mentor to underclassman, a role model in the Young Achievers program, a Black History Month Ambassador, a member of the Black Culture Club and frequent informal volunteer. He tutors his younger siblings and friends and has been a member of the Varsity Lacrosse team for three years. Brandon will be the first in his family to graduate high school and attend college. He hopes to attend SUNY Cortland in the fall to pursue a career as a teacher or a psychologist.

Natalia Vera (Rye Neck UFSD) realized at first grade when she was asked to read aloud in front of the class that she could understand the words on the page, but she couldn’t translate them into speech. After testing, Natalia was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosistype 1 (NF1) and assigned to special education classes. Natalia’s mom who always supported her with a strong emphasis on being the best student she could, had to pretty much navigate on her own since her single mom spoke no English, and held three jobs to make ends meet. Natalia had the goal of taking more mainstream classes and worked really hard to achieve that goal. By her Senior year, she was in all mainstream classes except for one class, and a member of the National Honor Society, and she is college-bound this fall.

“At the core of Student Advocacy are the basic beliefs that every child has worth, every child has potential, and every child deserves an excellent education,” said Adrienne Vogel, Director of Philanthropy, Student Advocacy. “We had over 150 volunteers review and vote on our 2019 OTO Award Winners, and we are delighted to celebrate these four young adults. On behalf of Student Advocacy, we would like to extend a special thank you to our event sponsors RF Investment Partners, PCSB Bank, LF Levitt-Fuirst, and Silverman Realty; our OTO Co-Chairs Karen Millman and Elana Rothschild and the entire OTO Committee and Award Selection Volunteers.

About Student Advocacy: Student Advocacy provides an effective voice for children who face significant obstacles in school, so they receive the resources they need to succeed educationally and rediscover their lives. School is such a critical part of a child’s life and sense of self. That’s why it’s so devastating when a child repeatedly struggles and can’t realize their potential. Student Advocacy professionals investigate the educational needs of children and then work with the schools to create a program where they can succeed. Children who were floundering, gain the opportunity to thrive. For more information about Student Advocacy and/or the Overcoming the Odds Awards Dinner, please visit StudentAdvocacy.net or contact Adrienne Vogel at (914) 347-7039 x119, Avogel@studentadvocacy.net.

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Photos courtesy of Student Advocacy

1) Dora Taylor (Photo by Peter Grobe Photography)

2) Carey Lowell presenting award to Jonathan Valerio (Photo by Peter Grobe Photography)

3) (Left to Right) Joseph McMenimom, CJ Spence, Justin Archer, Barbara Rivero (Photo by Tom O’Connell)