Students encouraged to make good decisions and change the world

Seven-dozen Voorheesville Middle School seventh-graders stood up and pointed at the eighth-grade class.

“I’m watching you,” they shouted, their voices echoing off the walls of the Performing Arts Center.

Eighth-graders are role models for younger students, which is why it’s so important for them to always be on their best behavior, said motivational speaker Akua A. Goodrich, who spoke at an assembly for Voorheesville middle school students on Sept. 11.

“The choices you make are so critical because you have younger people watching you,” Goodrich told the 286 students in attendance.

Goodrich, co-founder of the Power Unit for Motivating Youth, a mentoring and tutoring organization based in Syracuse. In 2005, Syracuse University honored her with its Soul of Syracuse Award. Her daytime job is working as a grants writer for the Syracuse City School District, where she has secured millions of dollars in funding.

Goodrich’s dynamic presentation forced the students to exercise their minds as well as their legs. On a few occasions, she asked them to stand up and shout, while at other times she had them sit down, shut their eyes and think about themselves.

In addition to promoting good decision making, Goodrich encouraged students to get to know themselves and think about the future, to envision where they will be in five years, what they will be doing, who will be with them, and who will benefit.

“You have to have a vision. Just because you’re in sixth, seventh or eighth grade doesn’t mean you can’t have a vision,” she said.

Goodrich also told students they have the power to change the world.

“You can’t do everything, but you can do something, and you must not fail to do the something you can,” she said.

Principal Theresa Kennedy invited Goodrich to speak at the school after she and six Voorheesville Middle School students attended The Sage Colleges’ fifth annual Youth Leadership Summit in March. Goodrich was the keynote speaker, and the students were so impressed with her presentation that they begged Kennedy to get her to speak at the middle school.

Goodrich’s speech at Sage and her presentation on Tuesday both focused on character building, an important topic for middle school students, Kennedy said. Students are reaching a point in their lives where their decisions could strongly influence their future.

“Character education is wrapped around everything we do here. The party line is, ‘You are the choices you make,’” Kennedy said.