Photo by Chris Sykes Darlene Reeves, right, of the Determined to Achieve parents network stands with Cub Scout Kyrie Jacobs, center, his older sister, Diamonique Jacobs, rear, and his other sister Kyra on Monday, May 29, during the township's annual Memorial Day commemoration parade.
Darlene Reeves, right, of the Determined to Achieve parents network stands with Cub Scout Kyrie Jacobs, center, his older sister, Diamonique Jacobs, rear, and his other sister Kyra on Monday, May 29, during the township’s annual Memorial Day commemoration parade.
IRVINGTON, NJ — Darlene Reeves founded the Determined to Achieve parents support network to provide much-needed services and socializing for children with developmental disabilities and their families, after her own daughter was diagnosed with a cognitive disorder.
Now Reeves has breathed life back into the town’s Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Brownies organizations and these newly re-established groups were on full display on Memorial Day on May 29, during the township’s annual commemorative event.
“As a parent coordinator in the Irvington public schools, it was brought to my attention that the boys would like to have a Cub Scouts program after school,” said Reeves on Monday, May 29, during the parade from Irvington High through Civic Square and up Springfield Avenue that ended at the Veterans Memorial Park. “The parents are engaged, its family driven and it’s the perfect program for families to be engaged in developing their young people with the curriculum that scouting offers.”
But as great as the individual programs’ inherent merits might be, Reeves said she would not have been able to bring the Scouts back to life in town without the support of University Elementary School Principal Sandra Boone-Gibbs and people such as the Jacobs family.
“I have to give great thanks to the families,” said Reeves. “I couldn’t do this without the families. It’s family driven. The family embraces the Scout and help them excel. That’s what we appreciate about this program.”
Kyrie Jacobs, 8, a third-grader at University Elementary School, said he’s proud to be a Scout.
“We like to help people and do fun stuff,” said Jacobs on Monday, May 29. “We like to do a lot of things and activities. I like it a lot.”
According to Kyrie Jacobs’ older sister, Diamonique, Reeves is right about the merits of Scouting for boys and girls of all ages.
“It’s good,” said Diamonique Jacobs on Monday, May 29. “It keeps him out of trouble. It keeps him doing something positive instead of being out getting into trouble.”
To learn more about the Cub Scout, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Brownies at University Elementary School, contact Reeves at 201-568-5178.
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