Bikes For Deserving Students

The Long Beach Firefighters of local station 372 donated new Huffy Beach Cruisers to four Poly students on December 3.

Seniors Myleenah Gray and Nomora Warren and juniors Perla Rivera and Leah Phillips were chosen by the Poly counselors to receive the new bikes. The bikes were meant for two boys and two girls. However, because there were no male candidates for the bikes, four girls were chosen instead. The Poly counselors decided on these girls for many reasons.

“These girls were chosen because they continued to show dedication to school while balancing problems back at home,” said Humanities Counselor Kalani Caldwell.

The students were awarded the bikes at the Bethune Transitional Center (BTC), a place where students with various problems receive counseling and other services. Since 2006, the BTC has helped students who persevered through high school despite problems at home. The Poly girls were very thankful for the bikes.

“They all gave me thank-you notes and big hugs. It made me cry,” said Rhonda Haramis, coordinator of the Bethune program, to lbschools.net.

The bikes that the Firefighters Local 372 donated also came with a helmet and bike lock. In total each bike set would cost about $205. Although grateful, the girls believed that the bikes should have gone to students who needed it more.

“The bike was a nice surprise, but I feel like there are students who are more deserving of the bikes,” said Rivera.

With the new bikes in hand, the girl show that with hard work comes some sort of award. This provides motivation for other students who have their own challenges at home. The four girls have advice for students who are in similar situations.

“Just continue to attend class and maintain your grades. As long as you do you work, you will always get something in return. In my case, I got a new bike,” said Phillips.

What Gray, Warren, Rivera, and Phillips have in common is that despite ongoing challenges at home, they still continue to stay in school, plan to graduate high school and ride into the college of their choice.