“It’s important for the kids to know that they are supported by the community as they start their new school year, and what better way to do that than to give them what they need to do well and achieve academic success?” Judge Rhonda Tomlinson said.
“Throughout my career, I’ve participated in career days where I speak to kids, and I feel it’s very good to start interacting with them as early as possible.” Judge Ellen Spodek said. “It demonstrates that people care.”
Judge Lillian Wan called the event a “wonderful initiative.”
“I salute our president for being a part of this,” she said. “It’s really important for members of the judiciary to be active in this way.”
Wan’s son, Nathan, 18, has been involved in community service since his junior year in high school. “I love it,” he said. “I’ve worked in soup kitchens every Sunday for the past year. It’s rewarding and a lot of fun.”
Coming up for the BWBA
Fequiere told the Brooklyn Eagle she chose P.S. 241 because one of its members has a history there, “but we plan on expanding next year and going to different schools in various areas of Brooklyn,” she said.
P.S. 241 students alongside parents, judges and Principal Tamara Foy. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
Fequiere also discussed the BWBA’s upcoming events. “We have a lot of things planned this year,” she said. “We’re working on Hispanic Heritage Month, which will be coming up in September, and October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We also have our holiday party in December where we do a toy drive and give gently used coats to children.”
Fequiere also said she is looking to expand the BWBA’s membership. “We’re attending an upcoming New York Law School open house, where we hope to recruit some law students and even some attorneys,” she said. “Then, we are doing our annual membership event party in October, where we will be honoring Judge Marsha Steinhardt, a BWBA past president.”
Nine women lawyers created the BWBA in 1918 to improve equality, diversity, fairness and opportunity for women lawyers and all women. Since then, the association has grown to include several hundred members and is also affiliated with the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.