LatoyaBosworth -Program Director and Founder

misstoya@keepyouthdreamingandstriving.com

"Growing up in the Mason

Square area of Springfield

myself, I’ve become drawn to

inner-city kids. Where some

people look at our urban youth

and see trouble, I see promise.

I see the potential for

greatness that can only blossom

when nurtured by self-

confidence and a sense of

purpose."-Miss Toya

Miss Toya, as she is

 called by all of "Her

Kids" is a special

education teacher for

the Springfield,

Massachusetts Public

Schools. She has  

myriad of  Human

Service experience,

 particularly with at-

risk youth and

families.  Over the

last ten years,

 She has worked  

in programs  affiliated

with the Department

of Children and

Families, and

Department of

Youth Services. She

has also implemented

curriculum for after

school programs and  

summer camps.  Miss

Toya has made a

lifetime commitment

to inspire youth.

Miss Toya's Testimony

     My mother died six months before my fifth birthday. I was fortunate enough as a child not to feel her absence because of  my maternal grandmother. My“Ga-Ga,”as we affectionately called her, took responsibility for my sister and me after her twenty-three year old daughter succumbed to breast cancer. Ga-Ga became my mother and my best friend.

 
 On Christmas Day of 1991,Ga-Ga (pictured above) lost her battle with  ovarian cancer. She was 58. I  was 13 and traumatized. I still had five aunts in my life who  stepped up to care for my sister and me, but losing Ga-Ga left me with a void in my heart and a broken spirit. Each Mother’s Day following  Ga-Ga’s death, I smiled while attending church and family dinners.Inside, I was hurt and bewildered. But I could never share this with my family  because I didn’t want to make  anyone else as sad as I was; besides I was supposed to be  the “strong one” who never cried. 

    I felt I had no purpose. I  had no desire.Like a  programmed robot, I systemically marched through my adolescent years: school,  work and home. I made the honor roll, I participated in after-school activities, and hung out with friends. To the outside world, I was your average high school student. But inside, I was desolate, a candle whose flame had been blown out. I did things because I was expected to do them, not because I wanted to.

  Then in my senior year,the FIRE in me was re-ignited by my Psychology/African-American History teacher,Carol Hoffman.She saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. This teacher made me want to learn again and she made me feel special.To this day, I’m still not sure what it is about that woman that made me feel good inside, that compelled me to reach for goals for myself and not just for others. Whatever it was, I’m thankful for it.

 While I was in college, I wrote Mrs. Hoffman a letter telling her how influential she was to me. She had no idea that she’d made so much of an impact on my life in such a short period of time.That’s the thing about working with young people…sometimes you never know how much your time, love and support means to them until later.