Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Outward Bound Schools 2014 Annual Gala

June 19, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio: I think it’s a little bit of a letdown for Estiven to just introduce a lowly mayor. He’s already been to the State of the Union.

[Laughter]

Estiven’s been sent down to the minor leagues here but that’s okay. 

It is really an extraordinary honor to receive this award because of what it stands for and because of the organization giving it. I also have to say, to have Estiven present it is particularly moving because you think about moments like this, events like this – to have someone who has actually lived the life, gone on the journey as Estiven has, and benefitted so personally, but also now serving as such an inspiration to others. You could not ask for more in terms of someone to receive an award from. So let’s thank Estiven again for everything he has done.

[Applause]

The honorees tonight, I am really humbled to be among. Richard Stopol is the person who first guided me through the work of Outward Bound. And his passion for it – I think everyone knows – there is a cool, calm, quiet, yet incredibly passionate ability Richard has to show people the power of this work. I first visited WHEELS with him, and I’ll talk about in a moment what I saw there and what I saw the day of that extraordinary march. I do want to correct Estiven for a moment though. He said I walked the walk – no, I marched the march Estiven.

[Laughter]

It’s – nothing like that march, it’s an amazing thing, and I’ll speak about that in a second. But Richard showed me around WHEELS, and I literally felt with each classroom we went into as we deepened the conversation, that I was seeing the future. I was seeing what we could do if we applied ourselves consistently enough to our young people.

Richard’s done something that’s absolutely amazing. This NYC Outward Bound Schools trajectory is unbelievable. Starting with just a handful of programs, now serving over 60,000 students in over 300 schools in this city. That is breathtaking.

[Applause]

And we are so honored, the city of New York and our department of education is so honored to partner with Outward Bound to operate ten schools that have shown remarkable results, and Richard really needs to be credited for making that happen.

[Applause]

I know tonight you’re also recognizing Kimberly Scher, and I want to thank her for her extraordinary commitment to her students. And everyone associated with Outward Bound, this is a group of people who truly believe and put their heart and soul into it. One of them is a gentleman I had the honor of serving with in the City Council. He was my Speaker and my first experience as a councilmember. Now, he has stepped forward in extraordinary public service, again, as your Chairman Gifford Miller. Let’s thank him for all that he does.

[Applause]

I want to thank Arthur Sulzberger, he didn’t have enough to do with his day job, so he thought he’d get involved with a good cause. And his extraordinary work on behalf of Outward Bound is legendary, thank him for all he’s done. Now he’s Chairman Emeritus.

[Applause]

A thank you to all the students who put together tonight’s program. It is also a credit to Outward Bound, it is consistent with the philosophy that students are called upon to create the program, run the program, make it work. I want to thank all of them – I particularly want to thank our MC, Jovon Ferguson.

[Applause]

I was listening with admiration to Javon’s remarks. If he ever runs for office and he needs a campaign manager, I’m ready to serve. He will need no further polishing, he’s already there.

I want to thank finally all the members of my administration who are here with us tonight. One of them crosses over the work we’re doing in our administration and the extraordinary work of Outward Bound. He is your former Chair, now Chair of our City Planning Commission, Carl Weisbrod. Thank you.

[Applause]

And I want to thank two other members of my staff who really believe in this cause and wanted to be here in support of it: my Chief of Staff Laura Santucci and my Commissioner of Community Affairs Marco Carrion.

[Applause]

You’ll forgive me, we’re at the very end of the city budget process as we speak and I have very little voice left. So I’m just going to pull my way through this. I want to tell you about when I went to see WHEELS. I really – I had heard about Outward Bound. Arthur talked to me about it, Richard had talked to me about it, and then we’re actually in the building and I was just blown away because the ownership the students felt was so evident from the beginning.

The day I was there, the project being worked on was a disaster response exercise, and the different students had to play different roles, different officials, different members of the community responding to the disaster. And, I know something about teenagers. I am an expert on teenagers, I have two at home. Let us just say that some teenagers are focused, and others, at times, have trouble finding their focus. And so I didn’t know what to expect, it sounded like a pretty abstract exercise. So I go into these rooms and I watch these kids, and you would have sworn, you were in the middle of the disaster, and one was from FEMA, and one was from the fire department, and they were owning it and living it.

And it was immediately apparent to me that what Outward Bound does is it creates that self-possession, that sense of ownership for one’s path, that really is the key to so much that works in education, that I would dare say is the key to a successful life. So I saw with my own eyes, and then I got invited back, because I had that first connection to WHEELS. I got invited, as you heard, to the first march to the post office with the college applications. And I have to be honest, I said this to Arthur later on, ‘How is it that this extraordinary group of people in Outward Bound were the first to ever think of such a brilliant idea?’ Because it was brilliant. It was energizing. It was moving. Community members were lined up, cheering on the students. I’m going to borrow from a former employer of mine, a line she liked to use—it takes a village to raise a child. And you could see in that moment the village gathered together to salute the children and uplift them, and it was incredibly inspiring.

So, it’s not just about reciting the amazing numbers, the growth of this organization. It’s not just about acknowledging that so many of the children that you reached were struggling or below grade level and then in the end, at Outward Bound schools last year, 94 percent of graduates accepted to a college, 94 percent. And many, I might note, at some of our top institutions of higher learning. That, those statistics, those incredible achievements, the growth, those are powerful in and of themselves, but I am most moved by the idea. I am most moved by the notion of helping young people discover what’s in them, own it, develop it, and then be able to do that for life, and I’ve seen that with my own eyes, and I want you to know how committed I am, and how committed my administration is, to continuing to support Outward Bound and its growth, because it works.

Now, I’m just going to say a few other things quickly. I don’t think very many people in this room need much convincing, but I do need to tell you, it’s everything you think it is and then some. Let me offer you a story. Two 16-year-old siblings, twin siblings, who emigrated from Haiti a few years ago, after all the challenges and tragedies in Haiti, they come here, enroll in the Kurt Hahn High School in East Flatbush.

[Applause]

Alright, East Flatbush! I always support anybody who claps for Brooklyn. These two children did not speak a word of English, they started from scratch. They would’ve loved to have had more support at home, but they are immigrants with a family, struggling. The family members had to work constantly, they didn’t get the support they would’ve liked at home, but the family was working so hard to try and provide for them. So what did they do? They focused on school, they spent time in school – school was their refuge. And they became close to their Outward Bound crew leader, Jessica Kruse. You can clap for Jessica Kruse.

[Applause]

In literature we talk about foreshadowing, I have now introduced the notion that Jessica Kruse is going to be a hero in this story.

[Laughter]

Those of you who clapped were quick to gather the meaning of the introduction of her name. Jessica believed and lived out the principles of Outward Bound as a Crew Leader, and believed that these two young people could be shown their potential and could be shown to take charge of their own lives and their own education despite all the challenges they were facing. She worked with them straight on through, and guess what? Both of them graduated in four years, with Regents Diplomas, and have gone on to college.

[Applause]

One just finished her third year of nursing school; the other is studying sports therapy. And right before they went to college, these two wonderful children presented Jessica with a plaque. And they had saved up – these are not folks who had a lot of money – they saved up to get her a plaque, and one said to Jessica, ‘You mean everything to us’, and the other said, ‘I love you, you’re a mother to me’. That is such a powerful example of what Outward Bound creates in people: how the Crews become a true second family to so many young people, the support that they get one for another – and I have to tell you again, we at City Hall and our friends in the department of education, at the Tweed Building, we take inspiration from this. We take inspiration from seeing how much you can achieve if you really focus on a child and support them throughout.

We are pressing forward with a lot of things that are very kindred to the work of Outward Bound. We’re pressing forward with our pre-K program, we’re pressing forward with after school for every middle school student, we’re pressing forward with community schools – we just announced a $52 million program for 40 community schools, where there will be physical health services, mental health services, after school – a whole host of resources for children. All of this is kindred with what Outward Bound is doing. Together, we’re creating a new and deeper approach in our schools. And I think it is one of the things that you can be most proud of when you’re trying to help others: that you haven’t just helped them temporarily, you’ve helped them deeply and life-long, and you haven’t just helped those that you actually reached but you created a model that inspired and influenced others, and that’s what Outward Bound has done in this city.

I’ll finish by saying, you have a motto. It’s a powerful motto, it’s a simple motto, and I subscribe to it, the Outward Bound motto ‘To serve, to strive, not to yield’. That’s what we feel about the work we have to do with all our children and all our schools. And with your help, with your support for Outward Bound, you’re showing us all such a positive path forward. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much.

[Applause]