For many students in Uniondale’s My Brother’s Keeper program, the school year’s final gathering, on April 28, was about more than celebration — it was about recognizing how far they had come.
During the culminating meeting, at the Uniondale Public Library, students shared personal reflections, honored mentors and discussed the lessons they will carry forward from a program designed to uplift and empower young men of color.
Former Board of Education trustee Terri Mangum, who served on the board for 12 years and was principal of California Avenue Elementary School for 15 years before that, received the event’s Legacy Award for helping lay the foundation for the district’s My Brother’s Keeper program.
“When I was thinking about not running again, I thought about the young men,” Mangum said. “It is so hard in this country to be a black young man — our country doesn’t love us that much, and so we have to work hard.”
Mangum recalled pushing district leaders to create stronger support systems for young Black male students before connecting with Anael Alston, who leads the state program, and helping bring the initiative to Uniondale.
“He actually came here to Uniondale after we met, and I am so overjoyed that after I left, it wasn’t just dropped and faded away,” Mangum said of Alston. “It was picked up and developed into such a wonderful program now.”
MBK fellows thanked mentors before being honored with awards for helping guide the younger students through academic and personal challenges, and describing how the program helped them develop leadership skills, improve academically and prepare for life after high school.
“MBK is a great way to help young men learn and grow into themselves, become more mature and understand life problems at an early age,” Darren Brown, a Uniondale High senior and a fellow, said. “I’m grateful to even be in this room. I’m grateful to be able to speak in front of everybody.”
Brown plans to attend Marist University, where he will major in athletic training and minor in journalism.
“I’m 17 years old — I think not a lot of kids experience adversity at a young age,” Brown said. “But MBK has helped me deal with it.”
Brown’s reflections echoed many of the themes shared at the gathering, as students, mentors and community leaders spoke about confidence, leadership and perseverance.
Students from middle school through high school talked candidly about overcoming obstacles and learning to communicate more openly through the program. Several credited MBK mentors and advisers with helping them build confidence and accountability while encouraging them to think more seriously about their futures.
“MBK has helped me in so many ways,” Lawrence Road Middle School student Adam Flores, 14, said. “I’ve become a better public speaker, a stronger leader and a more confident person.” He added that the program helped him “grow into the young man I am today.”
Flores joined MBK in sixth grade, he said, because he was interested in the field trips, but he soon learned that it offered so much more. He recalled trips in sixth and seventh grade to college football games and Washington, D.C., where boys explored the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In MBK symposiums, he learned that lessons could extend beyond the classroom.
Uniondale became a state-recognized My Brother’s Keeper community in 2021, and later earned national certification through the Obama Foundation, according to district Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil.
Felicia Thomas-Williams a member of the high school’s class of 1996 and Long Island’s representative on the state Board of Regents, praised the MBK program for helping students improve academically, prepare for careers and build confidence through mentorship and leadership opportunities.
“We are watching that transformation take place right in front of our very own eyes,” Darrisaw-Akil said. “What makes My Brother’s Keeper powerful is not just the initiatives. It’s the alignment. It’s the understanding that when we move together with purpose and intention, we can shift outcomes and expand opportunities for every student in this area.”
The meeting also highlighted Hermanos Unidos, a mentorship initiative connected to the district’s broader My Brother’s Keeper efforts that supports struggling ninth-grade Latino boys through academic monitoring, peer mentorship and leadership development. Organizers said that students in the program showed improvements in academics, attendance and confidence throughout the school year.
Joel Bonilla, a freshman at the high school, said he had been failing geometry, and couldn’t earn a grade higher than 55. After working with his mentors, however, he now has an 85 average.
Organizers of MBK celebrated milestones ranging from college acceptances to personal breakthroughs in confidence, leadership and perseverance. Several students reflected on how the program helped them navigate challenges while becoming mentors and role models in their schools.
