LETTER: West New York BOE ‘needs to continuously evolve’, candidate says

9

In a letter to the editor, West New York Board of Education candidate Boris Gresely says the school district “needs to continuously evolve.”

Photo via BorisGresely.com.
Photo via BorisGresely.com.

As a resident and proud product of the West New York School District, I am honored to serve this community and my alma mater as a candidate for the West New York Board of Education.

On June 2011, I along with 300 of my Memorial High School peers joined in the celebratory gesture of proudly tossing our caps into the air.

It was a majestic moment that was almost immediately followed by a set of daunting questions. We found ourselves asking “Am I ready for college?,” “Will I be able to afford it?,” or even “How do I apply?”.

Through hard work, persistence, and with the support of my family and mentors, this proud product of the WNY School District was fortunate enough to have secured an acceptance to Syracuse University.

Many of the students at SU came from affluent communities nationwide that had prepared them in various ways for a college education, a situation quite opposite from my own.

The more time I spent at SU the more I noticed the lack of support available for first generation college students, and set out to make a difference by helping Syracuse University become more inclusive and united.

By my third year in college I had become the second Latino Student Body President of Syracuse University.

Essentially, I found myself representing and advocating for over 14,000 undergraduate students on matters regarding: university policy, academic affairs, administration relations and overall student welfare.

Present day I have completed my undergraduate education with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Policy Studies. However, my relationship with higher education has not ended. I look to further enhance my skill set and interests in Law School while continuing to find ways to support my community.

In an era where success is constantly defined by a college degree, we find that access and aid to achieve this degree are difficult to come by, especially in communities facing social and economic challenges.

In our community we face many of these challenges. Obstacles such as: unemployment, public safety, and a lack of economic prosperity ⎯ all play factors in the success of our students and community alike.

Yet, we sometimes forget about two of the most important factors that play a role in our community: hope and persistence.

Despite tough circumstances, students, families and teachers in our community still strive to produce and provide their best work everyday to overcome these struggles.

Day in and out, I witness these acts of hope and persistence in my own household. I see my two younger siblings working hard and being guided by their teachers to overcome statistics that plague communities like ours.

Statistics that state low-income students are six times more likely to drop out of high school, or in our communities’ case a frightening statistic that states only 33% of our high school students are college ready.

It is because of the hopeful and persistent people of WNY, along with these statistics, and my own educational experiences that I would like to focus my efforts on improving the college preparation of high school students while on the Board of Education.

While college admission becomes more competitive and degrees are required for work positions, the West New York School District needs to continually evolve in order to meet the necessities of our student population.

Although faced by many adversaries, I am confident that through the work and support of the Board of Education, school teachers, staff, and administration ⎯ our students will be successful as they face their educational future.

Below I have laid out a couple of objectives I would like to see the West New York BOE focus on in addition to the work that is already being done:

Greseley1

For more information please visit www.borisgresely.com.


Warning: A non-numeric value encountered in /home/hcvcp/public_html/wp-content/themes/Hudson County View/includes/wp_booster/td_block.php on line 353

9 COMMENTS

  1. First, this kid needs to find a job, move out of her parents’ home before he plans to help others.
    Come on Boris! Once you get a real job, then come back and try to help WNY. Until then, good luck repaying your student loans, and making use of a useless degree such as political science (may be Memorial did not prepare you enough to study a harder subject)

  2. Best of luck Boris. I think it is admirable that you are willing to try to give back so soon after graduating. West New York needs more people like you. Rather than doing nothing but complaining you’re trying to make a difference. For those of you that are negative towards Boris, you obviously do not know him. He was the most professional focused student I ever came across at MHS. He will be an asset to the BOE in every way. Once again, best of luck.
    Scott Cannao

  3. Cannao you are the problem like so many hacks in WNY at the BOE.. Great try here to cover your bases Scott in case he wins….

    Tell your brother Lewis how lucky he is no one attaches his name to the grossly neglected parks in our town for the $129,000 he makes with OT from the parks dept.

    Now lets hear from other commenters how great the Cannao’s are.

    Hurry Dorrine post a comment to defend the Cannao’s

    (Great at cashing paychecks…Fraud)

  4. Cannao: it is people of people like you that WNY BOE is a disgrace. You have no honor, you just vote for any idiot who comes along as long as you keep your job. You only want a paycheck from town, and screw us the taxpayers who have to pay the bill for the crap of education this town gets. (have you seen the rankings lalety?).

    This kid is Pablo Fonseca’s boy. Like Juan Pacheco says, Boris needs to get a real job, get real life experience, help himself first before he can help others.

    This kids is the twin of Adam Parkinson, another moron who;s mother is a teacher.

    I am moving out of this town ASAP. All these cronies sucking money and jobs from the government.

  5. I don’t know who Boris is affiliated with, i am just congratulating him because I know him and he’s s good smart kid. I am not part of the boe decision makers at central office, so I ask that you don’t put me in that group. Say whatever you want but don’t trash a young man trying to give back.

  6. Juan Pacheco sounds like most of the haters in Hudson County. I love his passion and his desire to come back to this area and do better for so many that need it. I’ve pulled my son out of the WNY SCHOOL bc when I saw what children his same grade and age group in other county’s where learning was so different to what they’re doing to the demographics of the Latino community. I was born in this country but when I went to school al I knew was Spanish and had to learn English to move forward. We cater to so many and all we do is hold them back. So I’ve been wanting to know what qualifications anyone in that Bd of Ed have to challenge and put our graduates on the map.

LEAVE A REPLY