Denzel Washington School of the Arts Student Shines In The Community

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A remarkable Mount Vernon student has been giving back to the community she loves years, and we are all better for it.

From the Mount Vernon City School District.

Kaitlyn Leslie Smith, a sophomore at Denzel Washington School of the Arts, has helped create unity in the community through her organization Kaitlyn Cares, which was launched in 2017 by then 8-year-old Kaitlyn with the help of her mother.

Her goal is to create a brand that would incorporate her love of fashion, the arts and community service by building on a core set of values that supports her dedication and commitment to the well-being of children in her community and beyond.

When Kailtyn first began her organization, she started off by selling T-shirts. When she got her first check, she was asked what she wanted to do with it. She said she wanted to put it towards throwing an event for her community.

“I started it very young with the help of my mom, I was around 8,” said Kaitlyn, “Originally, it was selling T-shirts and stuff like that. When we got that first check, my mom was looking to figure out what I wanted to do with the check. She was expecting me to get something like toys or new clothes. I was like, ‘I want to do an event, I want to do something to bring in my friends from school.’”

This prompted her to host her first Pancakes and Pajamas event at the Mount Vernon Public Library, which is an annual event she hosts to bring the youth of Mount Vernon together. During these events, Kaitlyn Cares provides breakfast as children come in their pajamas to play games, sing, and bond with each other. Past themes for Pancakes and Pajamas include environmental change and being cautious of what we do and put into the environment.

Other programs Kaitlyn has organized include Teens to Senior Breakfast, where children from the Mount Vernon City School District and the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau volunteer to serve the senior citizens and spend time with them in exchange for community service hours. Additionally, Kaitlyn has run a program called Boss Up Through Entrepreneurship, where she spoke to other youth about how to start their own business and go after their dreams. She is hoping to relaunch it in the near future.

“Back in 2019 before quarantine, we did a Boss Up Through Entrepreneurship where I spoke to other youth about how to start their own business,” said Kaitlyn. “A bunch of these kids have amazing ideas, they come from amazing people with even better ideas, but they don’t have the platform to do anything with it. That was very important to me, to talk with other people who have great ideas just like me.”

Currently, Kaitlyn is involved in the Smart Scholars Program at DWSA, where she is planning to earn college credits towards her associates degree through Mercy University. She will begin taking college classes in her junior and senior year, but is preparing for them now through afterschool programs. Kaitlyn is currently taking AP World History and is planning to take AP Biology and AP Physics next year.

Throughout her academic career, she has been an honors student and is already thinking about where she wants to go to college. Her current top schools are American Musical and Dramatic Academy, the Juilliard School, and Columbia University. She is undecided on what she wants to pursue, but she is interested in the arts, sciences, and politics.

At DWSA, Kaitlyn is the treasurer for the sophomore class’s student government and is involved in the gospel choir and general choir. She also dances at her church and enjoys writing songs and poems to perform.

Kaitlyn has won numerous prestigious awards including the MLK Social Action Legacy Award and Scholarship from the African American Men of Westchester Committee, a silver medal in the NAACP Act-So competition and the Community Hero Award from the Mount Vernon City School District. She is a City Kids Foundation representative and has been on the Tamron Hall show for her community service in Mount Vernon.