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PEP Archives | July-August
2002 Table of Contents | Public Employee Press Archives
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One of 125,000
DC
37 Everyday
heroes
Mentor for troubled teens
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From GED programs to nature trips, Recreation
Director Ronnie Sesso makes a difference for youths from group homes.
Just listening to Recreation Director Ronnie Sesso tell about her
work can be exhausting.
She coordinates an offsite learning center that prepares students
for their high school equivalency tests. For the third year in a row,
she has involved up to 25 teens in the Bronx River Project, cleaning
up the bushy banks.
Ms. Sesso is busy setting up internships for the youths with companies
like Prudential, as well as a two-week football camp and a six-week
art program, where teens hone their skills by painting outdoor murals.
And she's organizing an 11-day trip to Colorado with the Aspen Outdoor
Experience to open up the world of nature to her inner-city teens
and introduce them to Native Americans near Boulder and Denver.
Ms. Sesso is hardly fazed by the whirlwind of activity she supervises
from her office at the Bronx Teen Center, near the Concourse Plaza
commercial strip on East 149th Street. She sounds pumped and ready
to go.
"I enjoy the outdoors a lot and so do the kids," says the
Coney Island native and member of Local 299. The teenagers she works
with live in group homes supervised by the Administration of Children's
Services. Thanks to her efforts, they participate in an array of activities
available in few schools.
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"I feel that it's our responsibility to make sure these kids
are prepared when they leave the system," said Ms. Sesso. After
working in group homes for 13 years as a Houseparent and Local 371
member, she is very familiar with the problems. "If you can provide
them with some guidance and some opportunities, they usually respond
in a positive way," she said of the close to 50 teens that participate
in the program.
"It's a great feeling for me when they get accepted into a college
or land a good job," she said. "That shows that the system
is working for these kids." And it shows that Everyday Hero Ronnie
Sesso is working for these kids, making a difference in their lives.
— Alfredo Alvarado