Honoring pillars of the community

Educators and community members gathered to recognize this year’s honorees at the Black Educators Committee’s fifth annual Legends Ball at the North Ritz Club last Saturday.

The 54-year-old organization, which is based in Freeport, created the event to recognize those who have long served the children and families of Freeport and greater Long Island.

“We decided to start this event in 2018,” committee President Claretha Richardson said. “We let it become our flagship event, with the goal being to honor the former teachers in the district as well as community representatives. We recognize those who work in the community that have been trailblazers, and have been creators and innovators in their own areas in order to build up the community.”

Nassau County Legislator Debra Mule presented citations to Michael Cohen, Judith Kearney, Denise Lloyd, April Francis Taylor and Clejetter Worrells for their contributions to the organization and the community. Brenda Leotaud was honored posthumously.

“Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘legend’ as an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field,” Legends Ball Chairwoman Angela Dickens said. “The Black Educators Committee defines ‘legend’ with the nouns Michael Cohen, Judith Kearney, Brenda Leotaud, Dr. Denise Lloyd, April Francis Taylor and Clejetter Worrells.

The 2022 legends have left a profound effect on the lives of so many children and the community.”

Cohen, who is retired, was the superintendent of the Brentwood School District, in Suffolk County. Lloyd, Kearny and Worrells are teachers who retired from Freeport Public Schools, and Francis Taylor teaches in the Uniondale School District. Leotaud was a teacher in Freeport.

The Black Educators Committee was founded in 1968 by James Crittenden and Harding Morgan, amid the turbulence of the 1960s, to help Freeport High School students in their academic careers in high school and beyond. For more than 50 years, the organization has awarded scholarships to college-bound high school seniors based on academic achievement and financial need.

The committee’s mission of fostering and improving community relations, engaging in educational and empowering community-service projects and events, and helping deserving students pursue higher education has not changed.

The organization is funded by membership dues and fundraisers, and several of its scholarships are provided by benefactors who include present and former school administrators, instructors, staff members, community residents, and local businesses.

“The recipients are not only in Freeport anymore,” Richardson said. “Now it has blossomed to where we’re honoring students from all over. We have different people applying for the scholarships from all over.”

Over the years, the committee has awarded scholarships to students from upstate New York, Pennsylvania and even Maryland as well as Long Island. The organization makes a point of making its scholarships inclusive, as long as a student is graduating from high school and planning to go to college.

“All students are welcome to apply,” Richardson said. “So it’s not just students that are African-American that receive these scholarships.”

Some of the scholarships have more specific criteria — like the Community Service Award, which honors students who take part in community service activities, inside and outside school; and the Ernest J. Knight Jr. Award, which recognizes budding humanitarians, students involved in activities that improve people’s lives and reduce suffering. The President’s Award is given to students who have served in leadership positions in two or more of their high school years.

Past scholarship recipients are invited to committee events such as the Legends Ball. One of those who attended last weekend was Victoria Wright, an honoree when she graduated from Freeport High School in 2017. Wright went on to study at CUNY Baruch, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2021.

“These scholarships are kind of special and different, because they come from community support,” she said. “That feels a little different compared to certain scholarships from larger companies. But especially in a community like ours, it provides relief to parents and to students alike for a lot of the very expensive costs that are associated with college. Because even if you get a full ride scholarship, a lot of the time, those don’t include things like books, and they don’t include technology fees and things like that. So this really helps (with) all those other fees that may be a hindrance to people going to college.”

In addition to its scholarships, the committee also provides free tutoring and information pop-ups at a variety of local events, and hosts a toy drive during the holiday season. To learn more, go to BlackEducatorsCommittee.org.