Welcome to the Champions of Change events.

We would like to take this time to introduce Miss Diana, Mr.

Johnny, and last but not least, Miss Sonia.

Woo.

We hope that you enjoy the rest of this ceremony.

Good evening, everyone, and thank you to Trifecta Steppers for that wonderful opening for our show tonight.

Um, my name is Diana Fosella, and I am the assistant director of the New Rochelle Youth Bureau and one of the youth council advisors.

My name is Sonia Spady.

I'm the NAACP Nerja High School Advisor.

On behalf of our team, our youth councils, and our partners, thank you for joining us this evening as we celebrate our champions of change, individuals who continue to uplift, inspire, and strengthen our community.

We are especially honored to have members of our city, state, and federal leadership with us tonight.

Your continued support of our young people and the work of the youth bureau truly makes a difference, and we are deeply grateful.

It is my honor to invite Councilmember David Peters and Deputy Mayor to bring greetings.

Please join me in welcoming him.

So hello everybody.

How's everybody doing?

Hello.

Welcome to City Hall.

Welcome to our conference area, and welcome to this wonderful event that's being staged today for all of you.

We're really, really happy.

I just want to extend our greetings on behalf of City Council on behalf of the city of New Rochelle.

Um, you know, this is a really important day, right?

This is a day where we're talking about champions.

This is a day that we're talking about change.

We're closing in on the last few days of Black History Month here, and that this act activity and this event is is a tremendous honor for all of you to be here.

Uh, I just want to read one one thing.

I just want to read very quickly to you as you consider and think about what today means and what your life means for many of you as champions and young people during this particular time in this environment that we live in.

A lie told once is questioned.

A lie represented often enough becomes accepted.

And once it becomes common sense, people stop investigating it.

That is how deception survives.

So keep that in mind.

Live in the truth.

We welcome you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

At this time, we would like to invite Deputy Manager City Manager Todd Costaldo to come forward and bring greetings on behalf of the city.

Please help me welcome him.

Good evening, everyone.

Good evening.

On behalf of our city manager, Will Melendez, I am honored to welcome you to City Hall for this champions of change award ceremony as we celebrate as we celebrate Black History Month.

Black History Month is a time to reflect, to honor, and to recognize the generations of black leaders, innovators, advocates, and everyday heroes, heroes whose contributions have shaped our community and our nation.

Tonight we gather not only to remember history, but to celebrate those who are actively making history right here in our own city.

I see our city clerk Kim Jones, our police commissioner Neil Reynolds, our Human Resources Commissioner, Michelle Oliveros, and our Parks Commissioner Vin Parisi.

I also must want to extend a special thank you to Kelly Johnson and his Youth Bureau staff, the Youth Bureau Youth Council, and the NAACP NRHS Youth Chapter for organizing this meaningful celebration.

Your leadership, energy, and vision are powerful reminders that the next generation is already leading with purpose and courage.

And of course, tonight is about our honorees.

To our champions of change award recipients, congratulations.

Your leadership and service have made a meaningful difference in our community.

We are grateful for your impact and proud to celebrate you tonight.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for your service.

And congratulations again to our champions of change.

Have a good evening, everybody.

Thank you.

We are grateful to have representatives from Senator Shelley Mayor's office.

Christine Fizeme and Luis Ochoa.

If you could please join me in welcoming them.

And we also have Miss Jean Anderson as well.

Thank you for attending.

Thank you again to all of our elected officials and representatives for joining us this evening and for your continued support of our community.

And now to officially get us started, please join me in welcoming a Johnny Thomas, who will bring our opening welcome and introduce tonight's MCs.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

My name is Ajani Thomas.

I'm the senior youth worker at the Neuroshale Youth Bureau, and it is my honor tonight to introduce the two young leaders who will be our serving as our mistresses of ceremony this evening.

Please welcome Valeria Carmen, President of the Neuroshell Youth Council, and Harmony Hopwood, president of the Neurochell NAACP Youth Council.

Help me give them a warm welcome.

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Champion of Change Award Ceremony.

We're so excited to celebrate the individuals who are making a real difference in our community, both adults and youth, through leadership, service, and action.

A champion of change is someone who doesn't wait for opportunity.

They create it.

And tonight we're here to celebrate those champions.

But before we dive into the awards, we're starting the evening with a performance that truly embodies unity, strength, and hope.

Wow.

Thank you to the Neurochel Black Youth Chorus for that beautiful and moving performance.

What an amazing way to begin the evening.

Music like that reminds us of the power of community, resilience, and coming together to create a change.

Next, we have a special moment of reflection and inspiration.

Please join us in walking welcoming Neurochell Youth Council member Misha Lamb, who will share an original poem titled Who Taught You That.

Good evening, everyone.

Who taught you that?

Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair?

Our beautiful soft hair that we platin the path of our past, our roots that have roots, our hair that we nourish and care for, whether bubbles or clips, wave brushes, or picks.

It tells our story.

Who taught you to hate the color of your skin?

Our beautiful soft skin that the sun had beat on in those beautiful memories of our childhood, our skin that we were born in, our bodies that are so made good.

Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose?

Your beautiful bulbous nose, the nose that takes in the sense of our food, the food that our mothers had taken their time with to ensure that our bellies were full.

And the shape of your lips, our beautiful soft lips, the big lips that told our parables and sang our songs, our lips that we decorate with colors or piercings, our lips that echo our voices like gongs.

Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the souls of your feet?

Your beautiful, beautiful self.

Thank you, Misha, for that powerful and God provoking poem.

Up next, we have another musical performance to keep this energy flowing.

Please join us in welcoming Jaden Cooper, who will be singing a hymn called Tis So Sweet.

How I prove him and Jesus Jesus.

Oh, for grace to trust him all.

I am so unjustly safe from sin.

Jesus so sweetly abides within there at the cross where he took me in.

Singing glory to his name.

I am singing glory to his glory to his name.

Glory to his name.

There at the cross was the blood applied.

Singing glory to his name.

I am so unjustly safe from sin.

Jesus so sweetly abides within there at the cross where he took me in.

Seeing glory to his name.

I'm singing glory to his glory to his name.

Glory to his name.

There at the cross where he took me in.

I'm seeing glory to his name.

Praise the Lord, everybody.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

We begin our award segment by honoring our adult champion of change leaders who mentor, advocate, and strengthen our community every day.

Please welcome youth council member Malia Paris to present the Champion of Change Award to Howard Golding.

Howard Golding is a lifelong New Rochelle resident and educator.

Howard Golding is a devoted mentor who has spent his career serving the community that shaped him.

After playing college, collegiate basketball at Virginia State University and earning a master's in education from Manhattanville University.

Howard returned to New Rochelle School District where he has taught physical education for years and spent 17 seasons coaching junior varsity basketball.

Alongside his mentor Rashawn Young, he was instrumental in leading the New Rochelle High School varsity team to two section championship titles.

Driven by gratitude, humility, and perseverance, Howard continues to inspire students and athletes alike, exemplifying the belief that true success is measured by the positive impact one leaves on the community.

Let's keep that round of applause going.

Hello everyone.

I just want to thank you for tonight.

Leaving and coming back and just you know helping the youth.

Um, as a teacher, you try to affect change in your subject area, but um once you you know get into it, you realize you affect change in different ways.

Just being a ear for students, um, being there to just guide them, help them is just you know, it's just amazing.

Um just from being a young kid from New Rochelle and to get this award from kids, um, the young black kids of New Rochelle just means a lot to me, and I really really appreciate that.

Thank you very much.

At this time, please welcome Youth Council Member Betsy Matthews to present the champion of change award to Stephanie Barty Allen.

A lifelong, a lifelong Neurochale resident raised in the Bracie apartments, Stephanie Lynn Bartie Allen is a dedicated community advocate whose career has been defined by a deep commit commitment to service.

After years of working in healthcare as a certified nursing assistant, she transitioned into a vital role as a community liaison, currently serving on the executive board of the NAACP and the Municipal Housing Board.

Miss Allen is a tireless champion for local families, managing charitable efforts through the Fuller Center and bridging the gap between residents and essential resources, including food food security, housing assistance, and youth borough programming.

A devoted mother and grandmother figure to many, she embodies her motto, I need to do good by consistency leveraging her time and compassion to uplift her neighbors and improve living conditions in her hometown.

Congratulations.

Hello, everyone.

I just want to say thank you.

And I just want to give a big shout out to Mr.

Johnson for all that he has done for my family here in New Rochelle.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for things.

Next, we are honored to recognize Valerie Cadet Simpkins.

Please welcome Hollis uh Bugar to represent the Champion of Chains Award to Valerie Cadet Simpkins.

A first generation Haitian American and a dedicated advocate for educational equality, Valerie Cadet Simpkins has spent over two decades transforming the lives of students across New York.

With a master's degree in English education and an educational leadership teacher from Teachers College, Columbia Unit University.

She has progressed from a founding charter school teacher in the Bronx took her current role as assistant principal in Neurochale High School.

Miss Cadet Simpsons is a fierce proponent in the closing opportunity gaps, a spearheading innovative no spearheading innovative like the Sisters Keeper program and increasing access to advocate advanced coursework for teach diverse students' populations.

Her impact expands deep into Neurochell community, where she has served as a PTA council vice president, a longtime ministry leader, and a vocal advocate for parent parental engagement.

Driven by her faith and family, she remains committed to building affirm and building and affirming environments where limited potential of every learner can be unleashed.

So thank you so much for this honor.

But as someone who uh chose this community, uh I am really honored to be here.

Uh New Rochelle, your roots run deep, right?

Y'all roots run deep.

And when my husband and I um chose to move here uh in 2004, so 22 years ago, right?

We knew we had chosen a special place.

It was right after we had gotten married, and it's where we decided to come and start our family.

And we have since uh given birth and raised three kids here.

Uh one who has graduated, one who's on her way to graduate this year, and another who's at Albert Leonard.

And uh the last 22 years in New Rochelle has been um uh quite a journey.

And I never thought or I never imagined that uh the community where I chose to, you know, come to live, but also be where my career would be.

And so this was like a dream, right?

To be able to teach in the school where I believed uh in for my own children.

And so to have those children where, you know, I I I'm not born and raised, right?

I'm kind of like an adopted new Rochelle kid.

Um so uh it really means so much uh to have those children see me and to see that work and see how hard we work just to make the schools amazing and excellent for them because it's what they deserve.

So thank you to the city of New Rochelle, thank you to the youth bureau, thank you to the students, you guys are the champions.

Thank you.

Thank you to all our adult honorees for their leadership, mentorship, and dedication to our community.

To continue our celebration, I will be sharing a poem that reflects the spirit of tonight of service, courage, and creating change.

This is an original poem of mine titled A History of Firsts.

The history of us is one of firsts, not one of bondage, it is a history of our feet on American soil, our hands framing American life and breaking through the very walls they had us build just to shut us out.

It's the first time I realized I was black.

When a teacher stuck her hands into a head of curls, seizing both my scalp and my dignity, adjoining lessons to discuss the discord that was my hair.

Or the first time I realized I was proud to be black.

It wasn't a roaring instinct, no ear-splitting proclamation, it was resigned, a warmth that was lit within me, a smile shared with a stranger who somehow felt familiar.

It was seeing that same amity and the way my grandmother's old records sing and Gampesino's uprising, rebellion proluding rebirth.

It's the way an uncle can sit at the dinner table and proclaim you're going to be the first to make it out.

Regarding you the way the same way a history book they are trying to erase regards those who made it out generations ago.

They are trying to erase what they've done, whether it be generations ago or just before the sun could rise, but it will rise just like it did the first time, just like we did for the first time and will do again and again and again.

Because the first time it's something powerful.

It's the act of embodying a spark, being the ignition that will blaze through darkness, splitting through ignorance and defeat, causing an eruption within a people, within our people.

The ash will scatter.

A lush soil surrounds a path for descendants to follow.

They can try to smother our light.

We have shined through shackles before.

They can try to set fire to what we have created.

We are stars.

We are no stranger to burning.

The fire that has ignited within us shines so much brighter.

Thank you.

Thank you, Harmony, for that inspiring poem.

Moments like that remind us why we gather to honor leadership, dedications, and the voices that shape our community.

Thank you for being such a wonderful audience.

Now we turn our attention to our youth champions of change.

These young leaders remind us that impact is not defined by age, but by courage, commitment, and heart.

Please welcome Amario Reed to honor Brianna Sinckfield Tyler as a youth champion award.

Hi everyone.

I'm happy to introduce Brianna Singfield.

Tyler, my apologies.

A high school senior from New Rochelle, an inspiring physician scientist, Brianna Sinkfield Tyler is a formidable advocate, health for health equity and biomedical research as a national gold medalist in the NAACP Axel competition.

Brianna conducted sophisticated genetic research on blood cancers at the Well Cornell School of Medicine.

An experience that inspired her to found hope runs red.

This student-led organization has raised $5,000 in blood disorder fundations and utilizing storytelling and media to uplift underrepresented voices in medicine.

Beyond her research, Brianna holds leadership roles in the Science Honor Society, the Human Rights Coalition, and the NAACP Youth Council, while consistently volunteering at the New York Blood Center at Wartburg Senior Rehabilitation.

Driven by a goal to obtain an MD PhD in hematology slash oncology.

Brianna exemplifies the next generation of leadership by blending rigorous science with a deep commitment to social justice and community wellness.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Hi everyone, my name's Brianna.

I want to thank everyone here, and I want to express my gratitude for this award.

My community has fed so much into me.

And so I just want to be able to kind of serve the community in a similar way.

Thank you.

Please welcome Isaac Evans to honor Kira Maureen as a youth champion of change.

Hey everyone.

How are you guys doing today?

It's good.

My name is Isaac Evans.

Um, I'm a member of the NAACP Youth Chapter at New Rochelle High School, and I'm gonna be presenting um Kira Mulrain.

Kira Mulrain exemplifies civic leadership through her commitment to environmental outreach and education.

As one of five student researchers and designers for the 2025 Air of Truth exhibit at the NRHS Museum of Arts and Culture, Kira worked with the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center to analyze local air quality data and illustrate connections between historical redlining and public health in New Rochelle.

She shared the findings as a speaker on the Earth Day Environmental Justice Bus Tour and at the Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation Civic Science Symposium.

Inspired by her community voices and concerns, Kira joins the City of Neurochell's ecology and natural resources advisory committee as one of its first youth members.

Give a round of applause, please.

Congratulations.

Next, please welcome Youth Council member Eliza Jennings to present the Champion of Change Award to Storm Pride.

Hi.

Eventually developing a successful science-backed, toxin-free hair growth oil that restored his own hair and became the foundation of his brand.

A dedicated high honor student with a 4.0 GPA, Storm balances his academic achievements, including internships and leaderships and the Young Achievers program with a disciplined commitment to fitness and mentorship.

Recognized by the city of New Rochelle for his business growth and community impact, Storm exemplifies the spirit of a champion of change, proving that through discipline and perseverance, one can transform personal adversity into innovative solutions that benefit others.

Hi, my name is StormProud, and I just want to say thank you to the New Rochelle Youth Bureau, the City of New Rochelle, Jeff Hobwood from Secure the Bag and DeParis Banks as well.

I mean, you should be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Okay.

Wow.

What a night, everyone.

To close out this amazing evening, we are honored to welcome two amazing leaders in our community for closing remarks.

Kelly Johnson, executive director of the Neurochell Youth Bureau, and Aisha Cook, president of the NAACP Neurochell chapter.

Thank you guys.

Okay.

That's something that's on the program.

Wow.

I have been smiling straight for how long?

An hour?

I forgot my watch.

About an hour.

Wow.

New Rochelle, we are we are awesome.

Yes, we are.

We are.

Give yourselves a round of applause from the top to the bottom.

We are we are what it is.

All right.

I am so proud of everybody who has come through this floor today, and those who we haven't seen because there is so much talent everywhere.

Um thank you for coming out to support the youth as they honor change makers in their lives.

The NAACP encourages all the local branches to have youth councils.

It's critical we allow youth pe we allow young people space to create, debate, preside, and decide on things that affect their lives.

We need to trust them.

We need to give them the space to be who they are and trust that they know who they want to be and just be there next to them.

They are the future.

There's a future scientists, teachers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, chefs, mechanics, psychologists, agriculturalists, presidents, and more.

They have chosen each of tonight's honorees because you have impacted their lives in a significant way.

Thank you all for showing up for them.

And let us all strive to play a pivotal role in the lives of the youth of New Rochelle.

Thank you all for coming out tonight.

Join us on Saturday, Saturday beginning at nine o'clock in the Linda Kelly Theater of New Rochelle High School.

We are having a Black History Month celebration.

We need you all there.

Thank you.

Look, 9 a.m.

Until one.

You I mean, you could come.

If you come after now, you're gonna miss me.

But you know, thank you.

Love you.

Thank you.

It's good to see you, Kelly.

It's a pleasure.

Good evening, everyone.

How are you?

Can we give a hand for Diana?

Fasella.

Sonia Spadey, Johnny Thomas.

And for our MCs tonight, can we just give thank you?

And for my other youth bill staff, Alex Avela, Mark Anderson, Stephanie Santiago.

Okay.

Um a year ago when we started this concept and had this idea.

I knew we should get better and better and better.

And I think tonight, as I sit here and I, you know, a week ago, we looked at the news, and you saw young people saying they're gonna take over, and they ran in Co-op City and other places.

And what the young man said, we have to do.

And you know what?

That might be true in some communities, but in Neurochell tonight, you witnessed a takeover by young people, and this is what young people do when they decide to partner with each other.

This is what young people do when they work with adults and they have input and a voice.

This is how they take over and become champions of change for their community.

We need to give both youth councils our pause and thank them for this takeover.

Now I've been asked to do some housekeeping.

So all the honorees tonight, please do not leave after the final performance.

We need you to come up front and take a do a photo op.

And youth council members, please do not leave as we want to take your photo as a group so we can put it on our social media so everybody knows how proud we are of you and what you done tonight.

Okay.

So I am allowed and privileged to bring these young ladies back to close out our evening.

Um the newest show, elite steppers and trifecta of being they've been around for the last three years, four years.

And they're making amazing progress in our community in our state.

Let's give them a round of applause as they close us out.

And we have refreshments and the retunda after they perform.

Ladies.

Hey, you forgot to introduce us.

Sorry, girl, go ahead.

We are leaked steppers.

And we are so excited to step here today at the Champions of Change event.

Let's take this time to recognize the youth honorees of Change Throwing Pride.

We will also like to recognize that we barely allen, Howard Bowden, and Value Cadet Stephen.

And just like that, the leader trifecta steppers are champions of change too.

Invest in kids ground with one clear mission.

To build leaders, inspire confidence, and create changes to the art of staff.

In just a short time, we have taken major stages and major statements.

We have received many awards and won medals from a few sex competitions as well.

Look at us.

Bringing energy, positivity, and leadership wherever we go.

We are Traffic the Steppers Incorporated Founded in Twenty Twenty One as a STEP team and officially established as a nonprofit in twenty twenty three.

With the mission to empower, inspire, and to lead.

And our motto is you not tea in every step excellence, every move.

We also held the title Regional Champions for Three Years in a row.