Lawrence High students learn about overcoming adversity

Teaching English and life lessons to teenagers is not easy, but Lawrence High School’s Dave Yaker has found a way to reach his students. For the past five years his BOND (Branching Out in New Directions) students participate in the annual “Ride for Life” walk that raises money and awareness about ALS (Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis) better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Miller Place resident Chris Pendergast, 62, and other ALS patients, founded Ride for Life, Inc., in 1998. Five years earlier, Pendergast was diagnosed with the disease that attacks the nerve cells used to control voluntary muscles. ALS sufferers lose strength and their ability to move. Most die from respiratory failure when their chest muscles fail and they can’t breathe.

The average life expectancy for an ALS patient to two to three years, and approximately 90 percent die within five. Though he is confined to a wheel chair, Pendergast has lived nearly 18 years with the disease and has retained a healthy sense of humor.

Asked what makes him such an inspiration to the young people who meet him he said, “When I figure that out, I’ll tell you.”

But Yaker has figured it out. He said that Pendergast epitomizes everything that he tries to teach these students. “His will to live is a motivating factor for all these kids,” Yaker said. “No matter the adversity, no matter how difficult it is, there is a fight to battle and you should never give up, things will get better.”

About 70 students, Yaker, Pendergast and his wife Christine, along with other teachers, Deputy Superintendent Gary Schall and Athletic Director Pat Pizzarelli completed the 10.3-mile walk from Long Beach’s boardwalk back to the high school on May 20.

Pendergast and Christine participate in the 12-day, 135-mile Ride for Life walk that begins in Riverhead and ends at Columbia University, Gehrig’s alma mater. Since 1998, Ride for Life has raised $3.5 million to fund research, patient services and scholarships for high school graduates. SUNY Stony Brook donates office space for the organization. The campus is also home to the ALS clinic, the Christopher Pendergast Center for Excellence.

“Schools across Long Island are our biggest supporters,” said Christine Pendergast. This year Yaker’s students raised $3,500.

BOND senior Oscar Aquino wrote a rap song about ALS and the Ride for Life that was played on KJOY that Friday morning. “It meant a lot to me to have it played on the radio,” said Aquino, who played the song through his phone during the walk.

Ashley Gutierrez, a sophomore BOND student, said Pendergast is an inspiration because he is not sad and his encouragement gave her the confidence to steer his chair during the walk.

“It’s fun being with different people and helping, why wouldn’t you,” said Gutierrez, who added that ALS patients want to be comforted and treated like everyone else.

It appears Yaker’s life lessons are taking hold.