New Kensington Bridging the Gap graduates prepare for brighter futures

Gabrielle Ham sees so much potential in the students she mentored over the past 12 weeks even if, at first, they didn’t see it themselves.

Ham, director of Bridging the Gap at the New Kensington Salvation Army, said some of those kids were told the program was “for the bad kids.”

“Not so much,” Ham told them.

Bridging the Gap, held at the New Kensington Salvation Army, is a life skills program for at-risk youths between the ages of 12 and 17. The program’s goal, Ham said, is to decrease delinquent behavior, improve academic achievement, reduce absenteeism and enrich its participants’ lives.

Nine students graduated from the program this week.

Program goals included communication skills, goal setting, résumé building, developing a positive self-image, culture and diversity, budgeting, relationships, healthy living and conflict resolution, Ham said.

“Personally, being born and raised here, I think if you don’t have something like this in place, or someone to lean on, everyone’s (an) at-risk youth in New Kensington,” Ham said. “I’m happy to be part of building our youths back up, and being afforded this opportunity.”

Graduates showed family members, friends and school administrators the vision boards they made during the program. A’Daya Scott, 14, of New Kensington explained that the vision boards are what students want to see in their future.

On her vision board, she wants to graduate from high school and college, have her own house, travel and start a family.

Scott said she got a lot out of Bridging the Gap.

“It was actually fun because you would come here and just be yourself,” she said.

She learned to become more comfortable with who she is, she said, and students “learned to embrace yourself and be who you want to be.”

Adan Dukes, 14, of Arnold identified on his vision board that he wanted to have a nice happy family; a good job; and to live a happy life without regrets.

“They helped me know what my goals (are) and focus on my goals,” he said.

Ham said that, throughout the program, students became friends and were very supportive of each other. She said students also developed a trust with her, and they could talk openly about what situations they’re facing.

“It was like a family away from family,” Ham said.

Salvation Army Commanding Corps Officer Maj. Scott Flanders said seeing the students would always brighten his day. He reminded students that learning is lifelong.

“Learning goes on and on and on,” Flanders said. “It doesn’t finish when you complete a grade, when you complete high school, when you complete college. … I talk about learning like, ‘How do I handle this situation? How do I deal with this person? How do I learn to listen? How do I learn to love people in my life?’ These are lessons that we learn over and over and over and over again.

“You came with friends, you made new friends, but while you’ve been here, you’ve been learning.”

He told the graduates they are loved and, if they are ever in a situation that could turn dangerous, to leave; and be mindful of their surroundings. He encouraged them to “do hard things” — like get involved in school extracurriculars and in the community.

“Twenty years from now, you’d be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the ones you did,” he said. “So, do hard things.”

Flanders recalled that Reggie Jackson struck out 2,600 times in the major leagues, but no one remembers him for all his strikeouts — they remember him for his home runs. Thomas Edison conducted 1,000 failed light bulb experiments before making history, Flanders said.

“Fall forward,” Flanders told the graduates. “Every failure in trying, attempting and pushing through is one step closer to success, and becoming the person you’re meant to be.”