Saturday, October 3, 2026
Bringing students, families and the surrounding community together, Turtle Hook Middle School hosted its third annual Women’s History Month Tea Party on March 20 for an evening of celebration, mentorship and connection.
Organized by teacher assistant Valerie McFadden in collaboration with the Junior Lady Diamonds of Distinction and the school’s Student Council, the event drew about 150 attendees.
“This is about creating a space where girls can come together – have conversations and develop activities so that they can have positive initiatives,” Valerie said.
This year’s event emphasized collaboration across schools, bringing together students from Turtle Hook and Lawrence Road Middle School, along with performers from Uniondale High School’s dance team.
“I find that we do not do enough bridging of different schools that are neighboring,” Valerie said. “It helps young people to come together and see what each other’s doing and to support one another.”
The evening was built to encourage and inspire girls in the district through alumnae voice, Jazmine McFadden, who is a Uniondale High School Class of 2007 graduate.
Jazmine said she was invited to participate by her mother, Valerie.
“It was really one of those, ‘Hey, we have this opportunity, would you want to be a guest speaker?’ and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’” Jazmine said.
Returning to speak with students was especially meaningful, Jazmine added.
“Uniondale kind of created and started the forefront of who I’ve become to this day,” Jazmine said. “It was an amazing opportunity to be able to speak to the students from the perspective of ‘I used to be in your shoes once.’”
Now a full-time artist since 2022, Jazmine said her journey into art was not always straightforward.
“It wasn’t something that I was seriously into,” she said. “It was more so a hobby as opposed to a long-term thing.”
She began painting in 2017 and left her corporate career in 2022 to pursue art full-time.
“I started painting in 2017, but in 2022, that’s when I left corporate and took my business full-time,” she said.
Her work, which includes acrylic, oil, watercolor and digital art, focuses on empowerment and representation.
“I create work that is empowering, mostly to women,” she said. “A lot of inspiration comes from daily outings with friends, books that I read, events that happened throughout the world that impact the Black community.”
As part of the event, Jazmine led a “Color & Sip” activity featuring her own illustrations.
“I realized I’m always sketching something,” she said. “And so that turned into creating coloring books – one of the best ways to do that is coloring, it’s a way to find your inner child.”
At the event, students and families quickly engaged with the activity.
“They were supposed to wait till the end, but they just couldn’t help themselves,” Jazmine said. “It was a humbling moment to see that even in a coloring page, there’s impact.”
The event also included student performances, speeches from school leaders, a community meal and awards recognizing students and faculty.
Jazmine said events like this play a crucial role in building community and supporting students.
“Anytime you can bring the community together, it’s important,” she said. “These types of events matter… they are the reason why I’ve become the woman that I’ve become.”
She added that representation is especially important for young students.
“You never know who you’re sitting next to, you never know who you’re in school with,” Jazmine said. “It’s important for them to see someone who walked the same hallways as they’re walking now.”
For Valerie, the event’s success reflects the power of community involvement.
“The Junior Lady Diamonds of Distinction and all the mentors and volunteers were able to come together to make this a very successful, well-attended event,” she said.
