Believe in Each Other

About two years ago, my wife and I had the incredible opportunity to join a group of OLASTEO (our lives as seen through each other) scholars on their visit to our Nation’s Capital, Washington D.C.  While the purpose of the trip was for these incredible young people to explore our country’s history and culture, it provided the two of us with the opportunity to meet with these extraordinary future leaders. Learning about their personal triumphs over overwhelming odds to succeed was both inspiring on an individual basis, as well as, hopeful on a much larger human scale. We could see clearly the role that nonprofits such as OLASTEO could and would play in their lives. It has provided them with support to believe in themselves and expanded their awareness of the leadership roles that they will provide for their generation.

My wife and I are retired public school educators who taught in culturally and racially diverse school districts. I served as Superintendent of Schools of a large district in an urban/suburban community. It is from this background that I offer my perspective of the impact of OLASTEO on the lives of the young men and women who have been selected to participate in their outreach program in conjunction with College Track Watts. As I have observed, given opportunities, confidence, self-esteem, and creating a supportive student cohort will offer these talented and impressive young people an internal strength to succeed for themselves and others.

For many of these already successful students, they will be the first in their family to attend college. Hopefully, they will provide the leadership necessary to foster positive change for others so that they may also find equity and equality of opportunity. OLASTEO gives them greater opportunities to reach not only personal goals but also have a positive impact on the lives of others.