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Mostly Cloudy Lakeview NAACP president receives award
Bea Bayley honored for involvement in ACT-SO program
“If you’re not helping the young people, you’re not helping to move the world forward,” said Lakeview NAACP President Bea Bayley. “You see the direction that the youth are going, and it is not always in a good one.”
Bayley, who has been president of Lakeview’s chapter of the NAACP since 2007, was honored with a special award of recognition on June 10 for her volunteer efforts and involvement in the ACT-SO program — the Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, a youth program run by the NAACP.
ACT-SO, a yearlong enrichment program, is designed to encourage high academic and cultural achievement among minority high school students, and relies on community volunteers and business leaders to serve as mentors and coaches in promoting academic and artistic excellence among African American and Hispanic students. The non-profit program — established in Chicago in 1977 and implemented in New York City in 1987 — focuses on the sciences, arts and humanities.
More than 70 people turned out for the June 10 ceremony at the Joseph Loeffler American Legion Hall in Brentwood, where Bayley, a mentor and advocate for the local Long Island ACT-SO program, was honored.
“This is for the young people. I am extremely honored,” Bayley told the Herald after receiving the award. “They sprung it on me last minute. I was excited, of course. It’s always nice to be recognized.”
The New York City ACT-SO chapter, according to Bayley, has two major components — regularly scheduled enrichment workshops, held during the academic year, and the “Olympics of the Mind” competition and ceremony.
During workshops, she said, volunteer coaches work with students on projects and assignments meant to enhance students’ knowledge and skills in the sciences, arts and humanities. Other workshops are geared toward preparing children for college and the work force.
Bayley, who joined the Long Island program in 2008, said that her experience working with students has been rewarding, and emphasized the importance of the program. “Kids know when you care,” she said. “We talk about life issues, what is going on in their lives with school, friends and everything else. It’s great for the kids.”
