Jonathan Noriega Returns to GPA To Offer Advice and Perspective
Private First Class, Jonathan Noriega returned to Garfield Park Academy this winter. The 2012 graduate met with staff and students, reflecting on what he learned at GPA. He took questions about hard work, life in the military, and how GPA helped turn his life around.
One of the things I learned here is that it is up to you to decide what you get out of life and what you do with it. This school helped me become a man – Now, I want to show others what “right” looks like.
– Jonathan Noriega ’12
Amanda Rossi, a behavior consultant in the Teaching-Family Model who worked with Jonathan through his years at GPA, asked him to reflect on his two ‘target skills’ when he was a student. Target skills are cross-cutting skills that students work on over a long period of time.
“We choose target skills carefully, because we want students to internalize them and use them, not only here at GPA, but in the world so they can become successful.”
“I have to say, my target skills – ‘maintaining self control’ and ‘thinking before I act’ – got me to where I am today,” Jonathan concluded.
From all of us at GPA, thank you Jonathan!
And thank you for your service to our country.
