Five Towns Teens Lead program aims to build a better world

The Lawrence School District requires students to complete 20 hours of community service to graduate, and the Hewlett-Woodmere district rewards students who complete 120 hours over the course of four years with a silver cord at graduation.

Through a collaborative effort, the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC and the Five Towns Community Center gave more than 30 local students an opportunity to earn some of these hours with their Teens Lead program.

Funded through a grant from the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, a New York City-based philanthropic organization, Stacey Feldman, the associate executive director of the Gural JCC explained that they hope that the program can grow so that they can continue their working towards their goal of, “Bringing diverse groups together to help build better community relations,” she said.

Liz Gannon, the co-founder of the nonprofit organization, What Better Looks Like, ran the event, which took place at the Community Center in Lawrence on July 17. The group’s mission is to help people imagine their own visions for a better world. Gannon spoke to young people in eighth through 12th grade. She then worked with the three separate groups of the Center’s campers, who range in age from four to 11.

She had the participants create a visual representation of a story they love so that they can reflect on the lessons they could learn from that tale. Some of the children drew or sculpted their favorite superheroes or Disney princesses out of Play-Doh, and recited lessons about being kind or protecting others.

Gannon mentioned a drawing done by a young boy as another example, he drew the number 87 over some pinstripes, which represented the New York Yankees. The idea was to represent utility players, the players who while not the most gifted, often do multiple jobs for the team, but are often forced to wear the less popular numbers. “He explained that players who aren’t stars should be more appreciated,” said Gannon. “People should respect the guys who just show up everyday and do the job that they’re asked to do. And that should extend beyond baseball.”

Jose Hercules, a Lawrence High School junior, said that working with the younger children has helped spark his own thought process on what a better world would look like. “I just came by because I needed community service hours,” he said. “But working with the kids has helped me think about the subject, too.”

One of the Community Center’s youth counselors Veronica Ortiz, explained that just by participating, the teens are helping to create a better world by giving back and through introspection.

“Many of them come from these same programs,” she said. “They’re a great group of kids and were really excited to give back. I just hope we can keep some of the art to hang up. The answer to what better looks like is you.”