Read the full story from Children’s Aid here.
“When Chanel A. Ramírez was in elementary school, she arrived at her after-school program dressed as Cinderella for a Halloween celebration. There was just one problem: she had forgotten the sparkly jelly shoes that completed her costume.
Devastated, she locked herself in a bathroom and refused to come out. A staff member patiently talked to her through the door.
‘Just wear the shoes you have,’ she said.
‘I can’t!’ Chanel replied. ‘They’re Timberlands!’
The staff member paused and smiled.
‘Then be Cinderella from the hood.’
Chanel emerged wearing her Timbs and spent the rest of the day proudly introducing herself as ‘Cinderella from the hood.’ More than two decades later, she still remembers that moment—not because of the costume, but because of how seen she felt.
Today, Ramírez is a neuroscience researcher and Community Research Liaison studying dementia in underrepresented populations. She credits her experiences as a Children’s Aid student, summer camper, and staff member with helping shape her understanding of what it means to support young people and communities.
Her story offers an important reminder at a moment when schools across the country are grappling with chronic absenteeism, student disengagement, mental health challenges, and widening opportunity gaps. A growing body of research suggests that community schools can address these challenges by creating conditions in which students feel connected, supported, and engaged. Educational success begins with human connection.”