By Michael Braithwaite, Director of Communications
posted 10.17.2014
This is Beling Todd!
Around PASA, Beling is known for her radiant smile, quick wit, and outgoing personality. And for being the first 8th grader to start her own AfterZone program. Beling has been dancing since 5th grade—it’s one of her many passions (as is acting, writing, and strategizing about getting into NYU). Having pursued her passion for hip hop dance on her own, she’d never signed up for the AfterZone, but she decided in 8th grade that she wanted to bring her knowledge and passion to her fellow middle school students at Roger Williams as an after-school program. She gathered her pitch, wrote a curriculum and presented it to AfterZone Site Coordinator Lauren Proctor, who was so impressed she gave her the go ahead with the caveat that she had to have an adult supervisor.
Long story short, her program “Showstoppers” was a huge hit with her peers.
Beling is now a 10th grader at the Met and while she’s older and wiser and busier, she’s still leading her Showstoppers program at Roger Williams. Because she’s also just generally an all-star, she decided that she also wanted to intern with PASA in order to deepen her knowledge of youth development and nonprofit administration.
While interning with us through November, she’ll be participating in PASA’s professional development and training series, doing a variety of different professional projects, and serving as PASA’s on-the-ground social media youth voice. She’ll be live Tweeting her experiences through our Twitter account (watch for the “Beling” signature on her Tweets) and blogging every two weeks about what she’s been doing.
We’re really excited to have her as part of the team!