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Students of NYC The future of our city is in our schools.

“To just ask the youth in our school, ‘Hey, start building relationships with police. …’ That’s too hard. We knew we nee...
12/21/2025

“To just ask the youth in our school, ‘Hey, start building relationships with police. …’ That’s too hard. We knew we needed to think of how we can connect people in a fun, engaging way that would get past preconceived biases. So we thought — let’s do a field day. Everybody loves games. We came up with the Bridging the Gap event and held our first one in March. We invited the local precinct, and we advertised and worked hard to get members of our school community to come. A lot of kids were reluctant — like, field day with cops? We knew getting them to come was just half the battle. We would need a way to get people to have fun and participate once they were there. We came up with a punch card system. Each time you played a game, you got a stamp, and if you got three stamps, you got a T-shirt or another prize. Six stamps, you got a gift card. We spent so much time planning that first event, and we were nervous. Would people come? What if we don’t have a good turnout? But it worked out better than we could have imagined. The games were fun. And to see all those officers show up, and the youth, then to hear from friends after the fact saying, ‘this was actually fun.’ It was like seeing the predetermined biases being squashed. When a cop and a student are trying to play head, shoulders, knees, and toes, there’s no difference between them in the moment. That was community. I hope even after I graduate, Bridging the Gap will be a thing.” - -
Yelani keep shining you are making a positive impact!

“There are a lot of blue chairs near downtown Brooklyn, and my friends and I — we’d want to sit, eat, chat and hang out ...
12/19/2025

“There are a lot of blue chairs near downtown Brooklyn, and my friends and I — we’d want to sit, eat, chat and hang out after school. But there was always pressure to go home. There’s a strained relationship between police and youth in downtown Brooklyn. We noticed the tension from both sides. As much as there were police telling students to keep it moving, sometimes there would be youth getting into altercations. We were in this weird middle ground like, I’m not causing the problem, but I’m still viewed as a part of the problem. At home, on the phone with each other we’d be talking like, man, why can’t we just hang out?

I started seeing flyers for the YLC in the staircase going to class. At the first meeting, I quickly realized that it was not just us seeing this problem. It was collective. So we brainstormed. I knew it would take time. Being in that room with like-minded peers, coming up with ideas — it was really empowering. Even if we can’t solve it, how can we work toward making it better? The power of organizing and working as a community for something better, especially when it’s going to affect us ... that was really cool. I hadn’t had an experience like that beforehand. Ms. Kelly runs the club. But it’s like she brings us together, and then during the meetings, she kind of steps back. Lets us do the work.”

Stay tuned for the rest of Yelani’s story or check it out now link’s in bio

Collabs: UFTNY Uftteamhighschool UFT_Brooklyn

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“Being a high school student is weird because you realize you already have so much influence. I was not prepared to have...
12/14/2025

“Being a high school student is weird because you realize you already have so much influence. I was not prepared to have that from such a young age. But for me, I just want to be the person that people can come to for anything — not just homework or test answers. If somebody needs a shoulder to lean on, they just need to vent, talk, anything… I want to be there for them.”
“I started doing morning scanning in 10th grade. I’m the first face a lot of people see every morning. They have to swipe their ID, but if they don’t have it, I type their names manually. At first I did it to help out, and yeah, it looked good for college. But what really kept me doing it was the kids. There are kids who come to school upset, crying, stressed. And if I could be that one face they know they’re going to see every morning, it’s like… okay, they’re not alone today.”
“Everyone knows my name now. I’ll be in the hallway and I hear, ‘Yvette!’ from somewhere and I’m like, who is looking for me now? Even though I know I’m not in trouble, I’m like, why do you know who I am? But I think people get comfort from me. I just… know a lot of stuff. If there’s an event, a dress-down day, a town hall, they know I usually have the answer. So I guess that makes people comfortable coming to me.”

“Being a high school student is weird because you realize you already have so much influence.I was not prepared to have ...
12/12/2025

“Being a high school student is weird because you realize you already have so much influence.
I was not prepared to have that from such a young age. But for me, I just want to be the person that people can come to for anything — not just homework or test answers. If somebody needs a shoulder to lean on, they just need to vent, talk, anything… I want to be there for them.”
“I started doing morning scanning in 10th grade. I’m the first face a lot of people see every morning. They have to swipe their ID, but if they don’t have it, I type their names manually. At first I did it to help out, and yeah, it looked good for college. But what really kept me doing it was the kids. There are kids who come to school upset,
crying, stressed. And if I could be that one face they know they’re going to see
every morning, it’s like… okay, they’re not alone today.
Stay tuned for the rest of Yvette’s story, or check it out now in full at the link in bio.

“When I started high school, I was ready to run again. Roosevelt doesn’t have the space to train year-round, so I joined...
12/07/2025

“When I started high school, I was ready to run again. Roosevelt doesn’t have the space to train year-round, so I joined a local track club called MNTC. We practiced in Central Park. I competed in the PSAL freshman/sophomore city championship event and came in first place in the hundred meter. When they announced it on the school’s loudspeaker, people were like, oh my god!That’s how Mr. Sargeant found out about me. He knew that I would flourish with more serious year-round training, and suggested that I go train with another school in Brooklyn where he had a connection.
At first, I didn’t take his advice.
But the next year, I noticed that I wasn’t getting faster. I said, something’s not right. I should be getting faster every race. So I approached Mr. Sargeant, and he connected me with the Frank J. Macchiarola Campus in Sheepshead Bay. But the time I got down there, practice was over. Sargeant had the coach text me their practice routine, and I’d train alone in the open gym every night. That’s when I began to see crazy progress. Sophomore year, I made the state championships.
Some days, I’d have trouble keeping my eyes open in school. I was so tired. Every day people would ask me, why do you do this? Why do you train every day? And I can’t explain the answer. There’s just something inside me that feels like if I don’t give it my all every single day, I’m not living. It’s hard to balance it all. But that sacrifice has never been a question for me. It’s never been a question. I applied to Cornell, early decision. I want to walk onto the track team there. I know I’m not the fastest I can be. And part of it is because I always prioritized my education. I still feel like if I hadn’t stopped running for those couple years, if I had the chance to be part of a team in middle school, I’d be further along. I’d be being recruited for a D1 school somewhere. I’m not the fastest, yet. I am going to keep running. I’m going to make it watch.” Watch Joshua soar as he proves that sacrifice and determination make dreams possible!

“Every day people would ask me, why do you do this? Why do you train every day? And I can’t explain the answer. There’s ...
12/05/2025

“Every day people would ask me, why do you do this? Why do you train every day? And I can’t explain the answer. There’s just something inside me that feels like if I don’t give it my all every single day, I’m not living. It’s hard to balance it all. But that sacrifice has never been a question for me. It’s never been a question.”

Stay tuned for the rest of Joshua’s story, or check it out now the link is in our bio!

“The brain is this amazing thing. It’s not spoken about enough. If you can understand the brain, you can understand how ...
11/21/2025

“The brain is this amazing thing. It’s not spoken about enough. If you can understand the brain, you can understand how to improve yourself — how you learn better, how you become a better person. Your brain lets you learn languages, complex topics, communicate with emotion. You remember what’s important to you. If I’m trying to get to know someone, I try to preserve what they tell me —names, hobbies, interests. People say ‘I can’t remember,’ but ask them about their favorite artist or team and they’ll rattle off facts. It’s not that your brain can’t, it’s what you deem valuable.”

Stay tuned for the rest of Josiah’s story, or check it out now at the link in our bio.

"I remember when I was little, facing poverty, I'd ask myself, can I do this? Okay, this is my dream, but can I do it? S...
11/10/2025

"I remember when I was little, facing poverty, I'd ask myself, can I do this? Okay, this is my dream, but can I do it? Society didn't think I could do it. American society in particular really expects us to fail. But humans, as a whole, we all have potential. It should never be defined by our social status, our economic status, our race. Those categories were all constructed by humans, and they are constraining us. Newtown High School houses a majority of, again, first generation and low-income students. I think that the public perception of us is constructed by this. I used to hear from people, oh, you don't want to go there. But they were so wrong. It feels like they don't even want to see what it looks like behind our doors. But I’d encourage people to take a peek inside. Come see who and what we are as a school. There are so many incredible students in my graduating class. It’s beautiful. And we are so much more than how the public defines us."

Check out the rest of Amelia's story at the link in our bio.

"I became a QuestBridge College prep scholar, which selects only a couple thousand of the most outstanding students from...
11/09/2025

"I became a QuestBridge College prep scholar, which selects only a couple thousand of the most outstanding students from primarily first-gen, low-income backgrounds in the nation. I noticed that the programs I was applying to, I was pretty much getting into all of them. I was like, okay, there's so many bright students in this school and in my wider community that have dreams as big as mine or even bigger and they want to genuinely make a positive change in this community, in this country, in this world perhaps, but they don't know how to start. And if I could be somebody that could help them to start, then that'd be my greatest honor. So when a few students reached out to me asking me, How did you get in? Can you help me? I was like, Sure, why not? I’d love to help you guys.

Now, I devote about eight hours a week doing my own academic and college advising. I started by mentoring kids and helping them through academic program applications, like Shape at Columbia, which a lot of my students have been accepted to. I help with college applications, too. Last year, I helped three students from this school and a student from Florida with their college application process. They got into Sophie Davis, which is one of the top biomedical programs and has a 6 percent acceptance rate, NYU, the Macaulay Meyer Scholars with honors program, Barnard, Brown. All four students I mentored got into Macaulay Honors. I usually met with them on Zoom, because school is so busy and loud, and they need to be able to focus. Sometimes I’d stay up until 1, 2 a.m. with them to finish. Now, I've expanded into mentoring throughout the country. I have one student from Tennessee, and I'm kind of guiding her through junior year. Because junior year is pivotal, you know?"

Stay tuned for part 2 of Amelia's story, or check it out in full in the link in bio.

“I became a QuestBridge College prep scholar, which selects only a couple thousand of the most outstanding students from...
11/07/2025

“I became a QuestBridge College prep scholar, which selects only a couple thousand of the most outstanding students from primarily first-gen, low-income backgrounds in the nation. I noticed that the programs I was applying to, I was pretty much getting into all of them. I was like, okay, there’s so many bright students in this school and in my wider community that have dreams as big as mine or even bigger and they want to genuinely make a positive change in this community, in this country, in this world perhaps, but they don’t know how to start. And if I could be somebody that could help them to start, then that’d be my greatest honor. So when a few students reached out to me asking me, How did you get in? Can you help me? I was like, Sure, why not? I’d love to help you guys.
Now, I devote about eight hours a week doing my own academic and college advising. I started by mentoring kids and helping them through academic program applications, like Shape at Columbia, which a lot of my students have been accepted to. I help with college applications, too. Last year, I helped three students from this school and a student from Florida with their college application process. They got into Sophie Davis, which is one of the top biomedical programs and has a 6 percent acceptance rate, NYU, the Macaulay Meyer Scholars with honors program, Barnard, Brown. All four students I mentored got into Macaulay Honors. I usually met with them on Zoom, because school is so busy and loud, and they need to be able to focus. Sometimes I’d stay up until 1, 2 a.m. with them to finish. Now, I’ve expanded into mentoring throughout the country. I have one student from Tennessee, and I’m kind of guiding her through junior year. Because junior year is pivotal, you know?”
Stay tuned for part 2 or Amelia’s story; or read it in full in the link in bio.

“AP Sattar told me about a grant opportunity. She knew I was creative and passionate about teaching others about plants....
10/31/2025

“AP Sattar told me about a grant opportunity. She knew I was creative and passionate about teaching others about plants. I created a Canva slideshow. I made a mission, and we thought of a name: The “Rhythm and Soil Garden Club.” Plants can be challenging, and I wanted to show that in the presentation. So we showed how to treat a pest infestation. What bugs can come and do to a garden is crazy — it happens so fast. We wanted to show that even if we faced problems, we can handle them. With the $5,000 we got, we decided to invest in a hydroponics lab. We chose this garden because it’s able to grow into fruits and vegetables. Being here, in our school, it could take planting beyond just beauty. To see what it could produce. That’s why plants are amazing — they show us we can do anything, even help kids who may not have food as often as they’d like. We’re going to harvest everything at the end of the year and plan an event in our school community where we can eat what we’ve grown. I’m passionate about this club, but I’m a senior, and after I graduate, I’ve given the next kids a baseline. That’s why the grant was so important to me. It’s not just about getting things in the moment. It’s about planting seeds for the future.

Every time I interact with a plant, they teach me something new. Plants teach you perseverance. Not everything comes at once. I connect this with my journey through dance. At the beginning of my journey, there were times when I felt stuck. Taking care of all of these plants has taught me that things take time. It’s a process. If you cut a plant in any place, it will keep growing and sprouting from where it was severed. People — we are the same.”

Gregory was so phenomenal, we made him into a series. Here is part one of his first post. Stay tuned for the rest of part one, or read it now in the link in our bio.

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