“This is their office. I can walk out and come back, and there they are. No invitation needed. They know that door is always open.” -Principal Tyisha Bennette
By: Richard L. Smith
In the glow of the holiday season, when most high school seniors are thinking about gifts and are on winter break, three students at Irvington’s Rita L. Owens STEAM Academy are unwrapping something far bigger: the realization that college – a dream they once doubted – is now their reality.
It’s a fitting December chapter in RLS Media’s ongoing series, “Rita L. Owens ‘Road to Graduation,’” which we are on task for the school’s very first graduating class June 2026. 
During my intriguing interview, I got more than a story about academics. It’s honestly a story about a principal whose open door and honest conversations helped three teenagers see themselves as something more than just “getting by” – and gave them the courage to step into a future they once thought was out of reach.
At the center of it all is Principal Tyisha Bennette. Her office is less of a disciplinary space and more of a living room for ambition, doubt, laughter, and hard truths.
Unlike then days when I attended Hugh school, students don’t gather there because they’re in trouble – they show up because that’s where they feel heard, pushed, and believed in.
For seniors Lindsey Augustin, Jonathan Salas-Torres, and London Richardson, that open door became the most important room in their high school journey – and, in many ways, the reason none of them will be stopping their education at graduation.
A scholar who had to learn how to work:
From the beginning, Principal Bennette knew Lindsey was gifted. Before she ever set foot in the building, her test scores showed a strong student in both math and English. Lindsey took SAT AND on her first attempt revived a 1230 without any real studying.
But high school, especially at a rigorous STEAM academy, introduced something new: the need to grind.
“Things always came easy to her,” Principal Bennette recalled. “If you hand her a test, she’s going to do well. But high school is more than tests. It’s deadlines, projects, staying after school, using that lunch period to catch up. I knew she could be a 4.0 student, but she wasn’t giving 100 percent yet.”
Freshman year meant a lot of talks.
Sophomore year brought distinguished honor roll. Junior year, Lindsey started staying late, giving up lunch for dual-enrollment math at NJIT, and landing on the honor roll every cycle.
Still, she told me in the interview that when senior year began, her plan was to play it safe: attend county college, earn an associate degree, and go from there.
“There’s nothing wrong with county,” Principal Bennette told her. “But I think you’re choosing it because it feels easier – not because it’s where you belong. You’re capable of so much more.”
Lindsey listened. Over the fall, she quietly transformed that fear into action. She researched programs that matched her interests in mechanical engineering and industrial design, studied financial aid packages, and then started applying. A lot.
“I think I applied to around 18 so far,” she said, “and I’ve gotten into four.”
Between AP classes, engineering projects, effective speech, and manufacturing automation, Lindsey’s schedule is as demanding as ever.
Her weekends now include AP calculus work and polishing portfolios for college admissions. But what hasn’t changed is her safe space: she still finds herself in the principal’s office, this time not for motivation, but to share good news and talk about next steps.
Lindsey says she’ll leave behind one thing at Rita L. Owens STEAM Academy when she walks across the stage in June:
“My energy. I hope that the students keep lifting each other up. It’s rigorous here – if you talk to your classmates – you’ll make it.- Lindsey Augustin
A son who wants to give back what his family gave him:
If Lindsey is the quiet academic being pushed to reach higher, Jonathan is the big-hearted extrovert who made sure everyone knew his name – and his principal’s favorite student (at least confirms).
During my awesome conversation with Jonathan, I learned that he entered ninth grade full of enthusiasm, sitting at lunch tables where future valedictorians talked about being the best.
He joined those conversations without hesitation. But what most people remember isn’t just his grades – it’s his cheering section.
At awards celebrations, Jonathan didn’t show up alone. His family came out in numbers, filling seats and clapping loudly when his name was called.
“That spoke to me,” Principal Bennette said. “He had the largest cheering section every time – parents, relatives, all proud. I would always tell him, ‘Keep making them proud.’”
Like many teenagers, Jonathan eventually hit a rough patch. The enthusiasm dipped.
Honor roll slipped by a class or two. He wondered if the military might be a better fit than college.
But instead of shutting down, he did something important: he walked into the principal’s office and talked.
“I’m closer to you,” he told her more than once when she suggested seeing a counselor. So they talked – about life, about pressure, about the future – and she listened.
“I could see him doing well in the military,” she says. “He’s disciplined, athletic, and driven. But I could also clearly see him doing well in college. He just needed to see that in himself.”
With the support of his family, classmates, counselors, and a principal who refused to let him shrink his dreams, Jonathan decided to apply to college.
The process felt overwhelming at first, but he leaned on his community – asking questions, seeking help, and staying the course.
His reward? Acceptance letters. A lot of them.
“I applied 11 colleges,” and got accepted into 4 he said, still a little amazed. “It felt like a big accomplishment.” Jonathan Salas-Torres
He plans to study business administration and says his biggest motivation hasn’t changed: “I’m a big family person. They’ve always been there for me. Going to college is my way of giving back a little of everything they’ve given me.”
His mother gave him one piece of advice that he carries with him: do what you love and what makes you happy – not just what will impress other people.
“College is my next big step,” he said. “I know it’s going to be a challenge. But so is this school. If I can manage my time here, I can succeed there too.”
A three-sport athlete who learned she’s “smart enough”
If you ask around the building who knows everybody, many will point to senior three-sport athlete London Richardson.
She’s been the definition of a scholar-athlete from the start – juggling volleyball, basketball, and flag football while maintaining a solid GPA. But during my conversation with London, I learned that early on, tests weren’t her priority.
During her freshman state math exam, London put her head down. When the scores came back, something caught the principal’s eye. 
On day one, London had essentially slept through it. On day two, after a heartfelt talk, she tried. Hard.
The result? A score just a few points shy of a higher passing level – earned in a single day of true effort.
“I couldn’t wait to tell her in September,” Principal Bennette remembered. “I told her, ‘You were just a few points away from a higher score based solely on what you did day two. Imagine if you gave that effort from the beginning.’”
London listened. She “woke up,” as both she and the principal like to say, and began taking her academics more seriously.
By junior year, though, she quietly confessed a fear:
“I don’t think I’m smart enough for college,” she told her principal in the hallway. London Richardson.
That moment became another turning point. Side by side with her mother, who constantly encourages her to “go further” and be better than the generation before, and a principal who never lets her forget her abilities, London began to see herself differently.
Today, she’s applying to colleges and cannot picture a future that doesn’t include one.
She rearranged her priorities, even asking her coach to support her by building study hall time into practice days.
“If I’m not looking for an athletic scholarship,” she said, “then my academics have to be the priority. I realized, if I put all my effort into school, I can go as far as I want.”
Sports, she says, have given her experiences she never imagined – including her first plane ride, to Nike’s headquarters for flag football. But it’s the life lessons that mean the most.
“Sports taught me discipline, how to push myself, and how to work with people I never expected to get close to. School taught me that I can handle the work. Now I know I’m capable of both.”
She’s also become that encouraging older student for the rest of the building, especially the freshmen.
“I tell them, ‘Focus now so you can be better later,’” London said. “I know how it feels to be in their shoes.”
As Christmas lights twinkle across Irvington and families gather around trees and tables, the best gifts for these three seniors aren’t wrapped in paper.
They’re printed in black and white on acceptance letters and lived out in the confidence they now carry.
It’s the gift of a principal who does much of her paperwork at home so she can spend the school day listening, nudging, and making her office a safe space.
As a retired educator from Newark NJ, I spent 25 years in the classroom I can confirm that it’s the gift of parents who show up, even when they never had these opportunities themselves.
It’s the gift of a small school where every student is known by name, story, and potential.
“All three of these students once thought college might not be for them,” Principal Bennette said.
“Now they’re applying, getting accepted, and planning their next steps. That, by itself, is an accomplishment.”
As RLS Media closes out December with this installment of “Rita L. Owens ‘Road to Graduation,’” these three seniors stand as proof that when leadership, love, and high expectations.