When Mercedes Cotchery first visited Pride Academy Charter School, she was just a generous and kind-hearted volunteer from The Life Christian Church in West Orange who heard about our school and wanted to help out. Pride Academy later learned that Mrs. Cotchery was the wife of Jerricho Cotchery, wide-receiver of the New York Jets and the Board Chair and Executive Director of The Cotchery Foundation. We soon also learned that Mrs. Cotchery is a dynamic person with a real passion and gift for connecting with young people.
Her relationship with Pride Academy and its students began with the creation of a Girls’ Mentoring Group. Mrs. Cotchery developed her own curriculum to address some of the issues and challenges facing young women today. Mrs. Cotchery provided lunch for the girls during their weekly meetings where they shared and discussed topics like self-esteem, healthy relationships, goals, and life after high school. The Girls’ Mentoring Group was a great success, and Mrs. Cotchery soon set out to expand the program for the 2009-2010 academic year.
This year, The Cotchery Foundation made a greater commitment to the Pride Academy community. Jerricho and Mercedes Cotchery established The Cotchery Foundation to benefit inner city youth in January of 2007. The foundation's mission is to inspire children to conceive and achieve goals by providing programs and services designed to enhance their futures. The Cotchery’s have set out to help children understand that ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they have the desire and passion. To this end, The Cotchery Foundation has funded the expansion of the mentoring program to mentor all Pride Academy students in grades seven and eight using the RESH 180 Program. The RESH 180 Program is a course designed to inspire students to maximize their purpose in life through goal setting and planning.
Mercedes Cotchery trained community leaders to serve as mentors to Pride Academy students and help them reach their true potential. Mentor, Jared Winley, stated, “While growing up I lacked direction and was unaware of what existed outside of my everyday life. If it was not for people like James Flaherty who convinced me to attend college or Joe Browne who challenged me to change my thinking, as well as, my approach to professionalism there is no telling where my life would be right now.”
Pride students look forward to their weekly meeting and have learned and grown from the Cotchery Mentoring Program. However, the students are not the only ones learning! Mentor, Jaqueline Bruno, powerfully sums up her experience in the following words: “Although this class has been about me mentoring the students, I must admit that I have learned just as much from them. I have learned that it's just as important to be able to react positively as it is to plan. Each student has made a difference in my life and I am honored to know each and every one of them. They are the future and I am blessed to be a small part of their big journey.”
by Ms Dumenigo
