LAWRENCE: Every Child Valued recognizes three educators

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Three women — two veteran educators and a volunteer — were honored by the Every Child Valued program for their role in supporting the mission of the non-profit group at its annual Trumpeting Our Success celebration Saturday night.
   Crystal Edwards, the school district’s superintendent of schools; Tonia Moore, who is the student assistance counselor at Lawrence High School; and Christina Shu, who serves on the Every Child Valued program’s development committee, were feted at the event, held at the Educational Testing Service.
   Thomas Wilfrid, chairman of the Every Child Valued program’s board of trustees, welcomed the attendees to the Trumpeting Our Success event. The program works in collaboration with the Lawrence Township public school district to help students who are at risk, he said.
   The Every Child Valued program is an after-school and summer enrichment program, based at the Eggerts Crossing Village affordable townhouse development. It grew out of the celebration of Eggerts Crossing Village’s 25th anniversary in 1999.
   While Eggerts Crossing Village has become an accepted part of the Lawrence community, it was a hard fought battle to create the affordable townhouse development at 175 Johnson Ave. more than 40 years ago.
   Diana Henriques, the evening’s keynote speaker and a former editor of The Lawrence Ledger, played a role in helping to move those plans forward in the face of significant community opposition, said Fred Vereen Jr. He is the executive director of Every Child Valued and the former manager of Eggerts Crossing Village.
   An award-winning financial journalist who also wrote “The Wizard of Lies,” which is about the Bernie Madoff investment scandal, Ms. Henriques offered some insight into what the Lawrence community — and the world at large — was like while she edited the weekly newspaper from 1969 to 1972.
   There was one department store in Lawrence — S. P. Dunham — and it was located in the township’s only shopping center, Ms. Henriques said. The township’s most prominent corporate citizen had one name — E. R. Squibb and Sons, which is now Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
   Although Trumpeting Our Success is honoring three “extremely” successful women, they were unlikely to have been accepted as such in the late 1960s, Ms. Henriques said. Women in that era did not have careers — unless they could not find husbands, she said. (All three honorees are married.)
   In fact, the topic of “working women” was the theme of remarks she made to a Lawrence Township civic organization at its annual “wives night” while she was editor of The Lawrence Ledger, Ms. Henriques said. She described the speech as perhaps her own personal feminist manifesto.
   One of the main points of her remarks to the civic organization was that men had to do a better job of raising their sons and daughters, Ms. Henriques said. And it is that dream that has kept her “plugging away” for so many years — that “may we see each other as people and not as stereotypes.”
   Maybe the times have changed, she said, pointing to Ms. Edwards, Ms. Moore and Ms. Shu. The landscape in Lawrence is much different today than in 1972, and that is due to “thousands of people who made thousands of wise choices,” she said.
   Turning to Eggerts Crossing Village, Ms. Henriques modestly described her role as the one who “gave a little nudge to the wagon you were pushing up the mountain.” She said she felt lucky to have covered the dawn of the effort to create the housing development, in the face of some residents’ opposition.
   ”The outcome hung in the balance, every step of the way,” she said.
   And for all the praise that Mr. Vereen has heaped upon her, Ms. Henriques said, “my role in (advocating for) Eggerts Crossing Village was a pennyweight on the scale.” It was the efforts of Township Council and the planning and zoning boards that made the tough decisions that produced “what we are celebrating tonight,” she said. Things have changed.
   That is why it is appropriate to honor Ms. Edwards, Ms. Moore and Ms. Shu who, with their daily achievements, can all help to shape a better world so that 40 years from now, people can sigh, “My, how things have changed.”
   Then, it was time to honor Ms. Edwards, Ms. Moore and Ms. Shu.
   Ms. Edwards, who is in her second year as superintendent of schools and her seventh year in the Lawrence school district, said that when she first arrived in the school district, she and then-Superintendent of Schools Philip Meara toured Eggerts Crossing Village and the after-school program. They were impressed.
   ”I have the best job in the world. You can’t fund, you can’t buy, you can’t train what the (Every Child Valued program) staff has — a passion for kids,” Ms. Edwards said.
   ”There is no course in college called ‘Passion 101.’ You tell the kids anything is possible and you keep telling them anything is possible and they continue to believe it, and you will see a difference in them,” she said.
   Ms. Moore, who is the student assistance counselor at Lawrence High School, thanked the Every Child Valued program staff. She said she toured the program and she was amazed at “what was going on there.”
   She has been a volunteer at the program for 11 years, noting that there are so many opportunities to become involved with the students. She thanked her family for being supportive of her efforts, noting that “it takes time to do (things) right.”
   And Ms. Shu, who serves on the Every Child Valued program’s Development Committee, said she became involved with the group four years ago. The goal of the program is to help every student reach his or her highest potential.
   As the operator of the Kumon Learning Center in West Windsor Township, she said she realized that forging a partnership between Kumon and Every Child Valued would help the students. The children are given a chance to succeed, she said.
   Wrapping up the event, Mr. Vereen thanked the honorees for accepting the offer to be honored for what they do — which is to improve the lives of others. He also thanked Ms. Henriques for her willingness to come back to Lawrence for the evening.
   ”We are like raindrops in the ocean. There are so many children who need help,” Mr. Vereen said.