“Everything in life is about energy. If we have enough positive energy, we can overcome any negative energy we may encounter,” said State Sen. Toni Harp as she helped to kick off the 15th annual summer training program for LEAP, a community-based literacy and recreation program that stands for “Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership” on Monday evening. And what positive energy they had.
After a ten-minute round of chanting and dancing to the “LEAP Disco” at the start of the ceremony, the teens sat down to hear about the serious nature of the work they perform.
“You are helping to mentor the people I serve, and for that I am thankful,” Harp said sincerely. “I look forward to the community you are helping to build.” With those encouraging words, the audience of teenage counselors leaped to their feet to give her a standing ovation.
Harp’s influential words were only the beginning. Che Dawson (pictured), the executive director of the LEAP program, recounted the turbulent and ultimately triumphant history of the program since its start in 1992, “when violence was at an all-time high in New Haven because of the drug war and people were afraid to step out of their houses because they were so afraid of teenagers.”
As a former LEAP counselor, at 19, Dawson had “sat right where [they] sat, and felt just as [they] did when the director charged [him] to help children,” a mission he has worked to fulfill ever since. “I understood finally that it’s not about helping millions of people; it’s about finding the good in my own community, right here, and bringing it out through LEAP.”
A native of Church Street South complex, formerly known as “the jungle,” Dawson was no stranger to facing adversity in his childhood. He thanked those who told him he “could be different” for his success, symbolic of the impact one LEAP counselor had on a child.
The LEAP program is fueled by the drive of teenagers from all around New Haven, who spend their summers teaching lessons in math, reading, karate, dance, step, and above all else, life to children ages 7 to 12. Serving five neighborhoods, primarily, Dwight Kensington, Church Street South, Newhallville, Farnam Courts, and Elm Haven, the LEAP program tracks the social and academic progress of its kids. “It’s all about the kids,” said Desiree Dixon, the training coordinator for the program. For the teens that give up their time to help children excel, it truly is about the positive energy they can bring into their lives.