Giovanni Negron Garcia goes by the name of Gio. He turned his name into an acronym – Go Inspire Others. Gio lives this acronym every day. This young man was junior class president and is aiming for Senior Class President at Reading High School for the class of 2017. He says other class presidents didn’t make connections with students. Gio’ s aim is to connect with all the students in his class, to know them by first name and see what their needs are and work to make it happen for them. Gio believes it is important to make connections face-to-face. He has become a mentor for other students and works hard to help them be their best selves. Gio tells them, “Continue moving forward, don’t stop or ever say anything is impossible”.
Giovanni works every day to help his classmates make the necessary connections to move in their right direction after graduation whether that means moving successfully into the workforce or into the next level of education. When connections are made and other students discover their own power he calls it the ‘GIO Effect’. Gio says, “It’s all about having confidence”.
Gio grew up in Reading and his motivation comes from his supportive family. There were some hard times and years of difficulty. He lost a friend to suicide. He learned from all these experiences and remembered what his parents told him growing up …. Don’t Lose Hope. He was tired of seeing opportunities fly by him, he wanted to grab them and help others grab opportunity as well.
