Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Children, Youth & Education Chair Adib Mansour hosted a May 12, 2022 event featuring PS/IS 217 Child Center of NY students reading essays they wrote expressing personal appreciation and thanks for the work of Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department Officers.
Adib Mansour reports:
As the Chair of RIRAs CYE Committee, I always thrive to get the youth of the island engaged in their community and open their minds to the endless possibilities for a bright future.
It has been my privilege to coach the students of the Child Center of NY a fun and educational program we call: Soccer for Success. They are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders that attend the after school program. Weve been learning soccer but at the beginning of each game we would spend 10 to 15 minutes learning about differentsubjects ranging from identifying healthy habits, learning how to read food labels, global warming solutions, as well as discussing what makes the Roosevelt Island Community so special.
Recently weve been discussing Public Safety and the work they do for our community in an effort to bridge the gap between the youth and PSD. Some of the students volunteered to write essays describing what they love about our beautiful island, and appreciating the role of Public Safety, otherwise known as Peace Officers. The students were touched to hear that 2 officers passed away during the pandemic and I told them countless stories of the late Chief McManus involvement in coaching soccer with me in an outreach to the Roosevelt Island youth.
Quite honestly, while I say that I have been teaching these students, I have to admit that I myself have been learning so much more from them. I noticed a common theme in their essays which was the importance of Public Safety’s role as Peace Officers. My goal in doing this work has always been to continually create opportunities where kids connect with PSD officers in a positive joyous way as well as with the Seniors. I believe this will make our community stronger. The students worked very hard on developing their essays and practiced numerous hours on their speech deliveries.
The Children, Youth & Education Committee, along with the Child Center of NY hosted an event last Thursday May 12th in the evening to read their essays in front of their families and to PSD represented at the event by Chief Brown, Deputy Director Amoroso and Sergeant Yulisa Santana At the event we all offered our thanks for the hard work of the PSD during the pandemic. We also thanked late Detective Wayne Jones and late Officer Corey Fisher for their sacrifices.
Orion Ding was the first student to read his essay:
Hello, my name is Orion.
I will be 9 years old in August.
Even though I dont live on Roosevelt Island, I spend most of my days on the island because I go to PS 217. What I like about Roosevelt Island is that the river gives you the feeling of peace and it calms you down when youre sad.
I have made a lot of friends on Roosevelt Island. I like that the island is very safe because the Peace Officers are everywhere to keep us safe. Basically what I like about Roosevelt Island is even though the teachers are strict I do like that because that would make us learn a lot.
A few weeks ago, Public Safetys Deputy Director came to introduce himself. I learned from him that one of his sons plays baseball and he is very good at it. I appreciate that he keeps us safe even though it takes him two hours to come to work in the morning and two hours to go home. This tells me that he really likes his job and he must love to work here.
I honor Chief McManus because he was a very kind man.
I was sad to hear the news that two officers passed away during the pandemic and I really thank them for their sacrifice to keep us safe.
I will remember this for the rest of my life.
Watch Orion read his essay followed by Deputy Chief Amoroso. Both are priceless.
Here’s video of the full event beginning with Mr Mansour, followed by PSD Chief Kevin Brown
and then all of the students reading their essays.
Here are all of the essays.
Very nice event. Wonderful job by the kids, Chief Brown, Deputy Chief Amoroso and Adib Mansour.