Linden Student Appears on Nickelodeon
Submitted by Sonia Armstead
Lights, Camera, Action!
These are words that 10 year old School #1 student Kendall Pittman loves to hear. When she is not hanging out with her friends and being a typical kid, she is dancing, singing and acting, a passion that she has had for the past 5 years.
Kendall got her start in the performing arts when she began attending the Union County Dance Center as an after school program under the teaching of Patricia “Miss Pat” Kurasz. Like many businesses, the dance center was a casualty of the pandemic and had to close its doors and create virtual classes. With no physical place to dance, it left Kendall and other students without the structured dance, voice and performing arts classes that they were so used to.
Fortunately that didn’t stop Kendall from keeping her dance, music and acting know how on the front burner. She took all the things that Miss Pat taught and practiced on her own. It was no surprise that when she got the call to participate on Nickelodeon’s News Special “Kids and The Impact Of Climate Change” she was ready and excited to be a part of it. The special, which aired on April 17, 2021 on Nickelodeon, was an Earth Day special that was focused on kids and how they are helping to save the planet.
The special recognized Earth Day and educated the audience about its inception in 1970 and the great strides it has made over the past 51 years. CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas took a look at the history of Earth Day and the global reach of the movement.
Kendall was among a number of students who shared how they are taking action in their communities to help impact the Earth in a positive way. Kendall reflected back on when she was just 8 years old and worked with Mayor Derek Armstead and the City Council representatives by planting trees in the front of School #1 in Linden. She proudly says, “those trees are still there and I helped plant them.”
Kendall and the other young people in the special have shown that you can help save the Earth with simple changes, one step at a time, and that those little changes can have a big impact.
