Wantagh Middle School promotes positivity with Beautiful Me scholarship program

On Jan. 30, members of the staff at Wantagh Middle School volunteered to facilitate the Beautiful Me scholarship program to enhance the self-esteem and positive self-awareness in middle school girls.

The program was created by Warren and Jackie Hance in honor of their three young daughters who died in a car accident in 2009. The Hance Family Foundation has made it a goal to give back to their community and encourage other young girls to see the beauty in themselves and their peers.

Each participant introduced themselves with their name and added “I’m beautiful” at the end, which was initially an uncomfortable experience for some.

“You get used to it,” eighth grader Marissa LaMuro said. “It was weird to say at first because you may not feel that way but it’s easier to say now.”

Participants were encouraged to define what beautiful means and how they practice self-care. Seventh grader Elisavet German said that writing positive things about each other helped her learn not to focus on the negative.

Ariel Adrian and Jaclyn Williams, two Reading Teachers at Wantagh Middle School, oversaw this year's teacher training, scheduling, and material distribution, under the guidance of Principal Anthony Ciuffo and Assistant Principal Rachel Quattrocchi. Staff and students alike had positive feedback to the program and many of the girls realized they had more in common than they realized thus fostering the sense of belonging among them. Adrian said that maintaining empathy and respect goes a long way for the young people of Wantagh Middle School and for the people in the community.

“Watching the girls laugh and smile as they gave each other authentic compliments in their heart boxes was the highlight of this experience,” Adrian said. “I know the love shared in our small groups will ripple throughout the Wantagh community."

Assistant Principal Quattrocchi said she was proud of the staff volunteering to help build up these young girls.

“We had an overwhelming number of staff members volunteer and have received positive feedback from both our facilitators and students,” Quattrocchi said. “It is important to us that we continue to not only focus on academics, but the social and emotional wellbeing of our students as well. We felt bringing Beautiful Me back to Wantagh Middle School was a great start!”