This year, Robert Salgado and Frank Cherichello are teaching a Learn to Learn class, which teaches what it means to be a true leader and how to have respect for all. They have set many goals to break stigmas and the cultural divisions that society has set into place. This course will take place during the second half of Pascack Period, in room 221.
Throughout his history of teaching special needs students, Salgado developed a strong belief in the “leading by example” ideology, or the mindset of leading others by your daily actions. Within the lessons, Salgado and Cherichello are hoping to change our points of view on the people around us, and to learn what leadership truly is, while also showing students that leadership is within everyone.
When asked why he is so passionate about the class, Salgado said, “Seeing the mass rioting in the past few months made me hurt, even though I am not directly affected, and it made me want to close the culture gap leading to these [riots].” Cherichello also responded stating, “My interest began during the summer of racism and how no one talks about it, so it has turned violent, was my main reason to collaborate with Salgado on the topic…. We can teach that through leadership standards you are able to have a conversation without violence.” Throughout the class, Salgado hopes to show students the importance of teamwork and what it means to put their “team” first.
The class’s goal is to open the eyes of students, by bringing in local police officers to start a conversation about cultural concerns that have been recently growing in our lives. There is also a possibility that students from Paterson will visit the class, so that students can see that, even with the differences between the two groups of students, we all can have common level of respect for each other and all have the ability to lead others within.
Salgado explains that when you start to believe in the “lead by example” principle, good will come out. Salgado said,“It is like following the Golden Rule, to do onto others as you want to be done onto yourself, and when we live without this rule the cultural division further grows.”
