New White House press secretary gives nod to Hempstead students

WASHINGTON — Karine Jean-Pierre, conducting her first press briefing as White House press secretary on Monday, gave a nod to students at Joseph A. McNeil Elementary School in Hempstead who recently wrote her letters of encouragement.

Jean-Pierre, 44, the first Black and openly gay person to hold the post, grew up in Hempstead and briefly attended McNeil when it was called Franklin Elementary.

Asked by reporter April Ryan, of the website The Grio, about her appointment, Jean-Pierre said she was “moved” by a story in Newsday last week about students at McNeil who wrote letters thanking her for inspiring them.

“I have not read a lot of the things that have been written about me because I wanted to focus on the work at hand … but there was something that moved me,” Jean-Pierre said Monday before describing the letters from the McNeil students.

“In the letter they talked about how they can dream bigger because of me standing behind this podium, and that matters … representation matters,” said Jean-Pierre, who was born in Martinique to Haitian parents.

McNeil Principal Sandra C. Powell said Jean-Pierre's acknowledgment of the students shows them that when they reach out to people in higher positions they will reach back.

“It says to me there is always someone to reach out to and they don’t forget where they came from,” Powell told Newsday.

“It means to me and our students that she recognizes she stands on the shoulders of the giants of people who helped her become who she is today," Powell said.

Powell continued: "Even at this level, you never forget this is the foundation of greatness. She confirms what we tell our children to always be prepared and it's great she recognized them.”

Jean-Pierre, a graduate of Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, also worked in the Obama White House as a regional political director.

With John Asbury

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.