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| Hansel Rodriguez |
New York City Elementary School P.S. 128M
12-year-old Hansel Rodriguez sits in a chair in the teacher’s lounge and seems perfectly at ease talking to adults. It’s an amazing change for a young man who, only a few short years ago, refused to speak — even to his mother — hated school and fought every day with his classmates.
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Hansel
and His Mom | Hansel’s mother, Myra, still becomes emotional when she speaks of the transformation. A son she had almost lost to anger has now come to a point where he can tell his mother he loves her before he heads off to summer leadership camp.
If you asked Hansel what turned his life around, his answer would be simple: “Baseball.” Through a revolutionary program at his school, Hansel was able to join an after-school baseball team, and even hang out with his hero, legendary NY Yankee Derek Jeter.
But the true answer is even more exciting than a day with a baseball great. What turned Hansel’s life around was the vision of a social worker.
Dr. Evelyn Montanez
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Dr. Evelyn Montanez,
Social Worker | Evelyn Montanez, PhD, is a psychiatric social worker in the Washington Heights area of New York. Through her years of experience working with children in a clinical setting, she realized that the answer for children at risk was not one simple change, but a holistic one. “Everything goes into creating a healthy child with a healthy mind,” she explains. “It’s nutrition, it’s family, it’s mental health, it’s teacher awareness, it’s discipline…everything.”
The program, called “Turn 2 Us Healthy Lifestyles,” addresses every aspect of a child’s well being, both physical and emotional — and it doesn’t stop at individual children. It touches all 1100 children in the school, their families and reaches into the community. Young people learn everything from how to choose a healthy snack to practicing t’ai chi in class. Their parents and teachers can enjoy weekly yoga sessions together and nutritional workshops. The object: to encourage healthier lifestyles for families through a variety of “psycho-educational awareness activities.” The Turn 2 Us team uses these activities to prevent at-risk behaviors in children that can lead to obesity, early onset of diabetes, use of drugs, alcohol and truancy.
And it truly is a team effort — with impressive members. Dr. Montanez, the school’s principal Rosa Arredondo, teachers and parents are joined by professionals from the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, as well as Derek Jeter, his family, and their Turn 2 Foundation.
The Jeter Family and the Turn 2 Foundation
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| The Jeter Family | Derek’s father, Dr. Charles Jeter, is the Vice President of the Jeter family’s Turn 2 Foundation, and is himself a social worker. “We knew we wanted to reach into the community to help,” says Dr. Jeter. “And to do that, we had to create a complete program. When I met Dr. Montanez, I was immediately impressed with her vision. She already had plans.”
All these professionals teamed up and implemented a remarkable program that now has other schools and communities interested in its success. Of course, the greatest result is in the face of children touched by the program, like Hansel.
“This was a child with little academic motivation who became a elementary-schooler with confidence,” says Dr. Montanez. “I watched Hansel go from absenteeism to regular attendance, from impulsive action to thoughtful action. He is one of the strongest players in the Turn 2 Us/P.S. 128M Baseball Practice team because he has learned to channel his energy on the baseball field.”
But the true change for Hansel, as well as the other thousands of students and families who will benefit from Turn 2 Us Healthy Lifestyles Program, goes beyond connecting with a baseball. Today, through the efforts of a real team of professionals, and the vision of social workers, he has learned to connect with his school, friends, family — and most importantly, himself.
To read more about the Derek Jeter and the Turn 2 Foundation, click here to read the article "The Good Guys: Athletes Who Care," reprinted with the permission of The Sporting News. |