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Legacy Builders
& Preservers
Meet the Elders:
Joyce Lake
I am Joyce “Emerald” Lake.
I am from the Boogie down Bronx.
One thing you cannot tell just by looking at me is that I am creative with my thoughts and hands.
This is important for me to tell you because I would not have mentioned this in the past. I did not own up to it or recognize the beauty of my creations.
Meet Joyce
Ms. Lake's intelligence and captivating presence are infectious to everyone around her. With her wise words of advice and impactful stories, she always manages to make those around her smile. The way she speaks with such authenticity, Ms. Lake captures everyone's attention with both grace and kindness. Her experiences beautifully unfold through the stories she tells, making it easy to get lost in her every word.Ms. Lake's intelligence and captivating presence are infectious to everyone around her. With her wise words of advice and impactful stories, she always manages to make those around her smile. The way she speaks with such authenticity, Ms. Lake captures everyone's attention with both grace and kindness. Her experiences beautifully unfold through the stories she tells, making it easy to get lost in her every word.
Her Hands, Her Story
Her hands reflect against the vibrant nail polish dancing across her fingertips. Her ring shines brightly in the lights of the main office, where she organizes each new extravagant event for the students and staff. Her hands reach out to lift the people in her presence, with a welcoming smile and a comforting touch. Each line lying upon her palm tells a story — of her past and future both, tracing a new pattern of the journey forward.
These are the hands that have watered every flower and plant she gardens, that have lovingly pet the cat she adores. The hands that have held onto others, helped them through their pasts and led them toward their futures. The hands that have held the pen that graded papers across her years of teaching, that have flipped the pages of a new lesson she was about to share. The hands that have wrapped around someone else's in a supporting embrace, and made people grow to feel her comfort.
Having grown up in the projects of the Bronx, raised by her brother in the absence of a mother who was working to provide for her children, Ms. Lake holds herself to her past without ever letting it stop her future. She has found escape and beauty in the forms of creation — art that unites people, in all the ways that it can. She prides herself in bringing others together, in forming community through the differences we carry.
Beyond the challenges that have attempted to dim her light, she never let them have it. Ms. Lake owns who she is, every imperfect part of those hands that have experienced it all. Through surviving cancer, through grief and hardship, her hands hold a strength that she carries beautifully through life. They have not only led others — they have led herself.
Ms. Lake takes each step forward with her hands open and ready, letting them guide her toward the truths she upholds. Hands that have held, carried, felt, and given so much — her legacy will live on forever. Her creativity, her passion, her contagious spirit will envelop whoever gets to hear her story. Her contributions to this school, to everyone around her, will continue to shine beyond her years here.
The hands that have lifted so many will elevate an elegant, everlasting legacy for all who have the grace of holding onto the hands of Joyce Lake.
-Virginia Aquino, Allen Gaztambide & Olivia Lanzana
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Identity Map
The relationship Ms. Lake holds with herself and her identity is like no other. She never loses sight of the beautiful soul she is, whether that be through dancing, tending to her garden, or simply gazing at the stars on a warm night. She's a fighter, a survivor, and beyond that, a believer. Despite the challenges she's overcome, her light has never dimmed. She has faced hardships and struggled through grief and loss, yet she has never failed to come out stronger on the other side. No matter what, Ms. Lake stays true to who she is and what she believes in. She doesn't let others bring her down or stop her from being the fashionista she truly is. Her experiences only bring out the best in her, and that radiates onto the people around her.
-Virginia Aquino, Allen Gaztambide & Olivia Lanzana
Her
Object
A beautiful, glossy, glass memorial object with a picture of Ms. Lake's late husband in it was the object she had brought. This is a very special object, one that she holds close to her heart. Given to her by a good friend and made by the friend’s nephew, Ms. Lake feels very touched by the thought put into this everlasting gift. As it sits in her home right where she can see it, Ms. Lake often speaks to her husband — she sees it as a symbol of protection; that he's always with her. This blossomed into another wonderful story about who Ms. Lake's husband was and how much she adored him. Despite the age gap between the two, their relationship was loving and beautiful. Her husband, having been previously married and already having children of his own, Ms. Lake grew to love her husband's children as their time together passed. He was a very family-oriented man, she said, and that only made her respect him more. He was very well known — his friends would say "Yo, Binky man, so glad to see you," she shared. This picture in particular, however, was one she loved. She didn't know him when he was that age, but she said it showed his personality well. "It captures him. The brilliant smile, his twinkling eyes…"
Living with her mother-in-law wasn't always an easy task, but nonetheless, Ms. Lake always made it work for her husband’s sake, and she respected her mother-in-law deeply. Being a hardworking woman, she raised a very hardworking son. Ms. Lake speaks to her as well, along with the others she's lost.
Stories after stories bloom through that one special glass object. The memories it holds, the stories it carries, unravel with fondness as Ms. Lake smiles upon them. She finds comfort in this simple gesture, warmth in the love of her husband she always feels. Despite the grief of her loss, getting to see him and feel his love makes Ms. Lake smile each day.
-Virginia Aquino, Allen Gaztambide & Olivia Lanzana