West Side High School Unveils Extraordinary Student Entrepreneurship Program For Newark Youth

West Side’s L.E.O. program began with an inaugural ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, October 28, at the high school in Newark. This event saw students and teachers celebrating this new work-study program with the leaders of the Leonidas Foundation, welcoming prominent figures like Don Bosco Prep President Joseph Azzolino, Jersey-born hip hop rapper Anthony “Treach” Criss, and Newark City Councilman Dupré Kelly.

Following the ribbon-cutting, West Side Principal Akbar Cook expressed his gratitude to the Leonidas Foundation for supporting his students’ education and careers with the L.E.O. program. Cook described this partnership as a “happy marriage” due to West Side’s status as a business and finance school and the Foundation’s focus on fostering entrepreneurship in high school students.

As the first nonprofit program of its kind to be implemented in a New Jersey public school, the L.E.O. program is designed to help students like those at West Side High School get far ahead in their professional careers by the time they enter college. This extraordinary program provides young adults with an innovative, creative education on navigating the business world and becoming self-starting entrepreneurs to promote positive change. 

“This is a unique program at West Side that will help make our school an important and valuable point for education in our great city of Newark, New Jersey, and we’re grateful for the Leonidas Foundation for its deep commitment to Newark and West Side, and the belief that a student should be provided an opportunity,” said Councilman Kelly.

Students participating in the L.E.O. program can engage in exciting workshops, connect with industry leaders, learn from mentor coaches, take business tours, and attend a summer retreat in Washington, D.C. They can even learn skills to increase eye contact and build confidence to present themselves in the business world outside of school.

“To be able to bring kids from Newark into a program [like L.E.O.] that’s at elite schools like Don Bosco and Mount St. Dominic and have them all [have] the same opportunity learning the same thing, it just gives me a sense of completion,” said Rhonda Clarke, Executive Director of the Leonidas Foundation.

Leonidas Foundation founders Fran and Theodore Vagias participated in West Side’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. The duo created and named their organization in honor of their son Leo, a Don Bosco student and apprentice of rapper Treach, who died in a tragic car accident in 2016. 

The Vagias’ nonprofit and the L.E.O. Program—named in honor of their son and King Leonidas I—embody Leo’s enduring influence despite his untimely passing. In continuing Leo’s legacy, the Leonidas Foundation has provided numerous young students from the West Side with enhanced opportunities for learning, networking, and personal growth within and beyond their community.

“Things will happen in your life. You’ll have good moments. You’ll have bad moments. You’ll have things that happen that shake your core, but you can still overcome, find something positive, and move forward. And that’s the example that [everyone] set with this program,” said Clarke.

Indeed, as the spotlight shined on West Side’s students, the ceremony opened them up to a new world of opportunity. The school even held a pinning ceremony where several students received pins representing the Leonidas Foundation’s spirit of perseverance and overcoming all obstacles. With that, the L.E.O. Program has left its mark on many promising young adults, granting them the chance to learn, grow, and succeed as new business and community leaders for years to come.

“This is a victory lap for me,” said Councilman Kelly. “That’s how I look at it, but not just for me. It’s a victory lap for West Side’s children. They get to network. They get to go around and learn from great people who have already done great things, so I salute you all once again.”