me. as time went on, i saw the nypd pushing hard changing the relationship between the police and the community. this is when i realized i wanted to be part of the men in blue, better the relationship between the community and the police. joining me are jason rivera s high school english teachers from washington heights expeditionary school where he graduated in to 17, anthony and samantha, thank you for being with us to talk about your former student. anthony, to you first, can you tell us a little bit about him and how the community is reacting? sure. one of the biggest memories i have of jason is his smile. every day he would come in and say how is it going mr. v. he just radiated this kind of positivity to everyone around him. he was an eternal optimist.
that ranged from everyone, from his peers, his friends, his teachers, principals at our school and even out in the community of washington heights. he was this positive force which makes it all the more difficult that we lost him. he was just a positive force for this community. you can see it in the pictures, samantha. you can just see it, the light that comes from him, the smile that is always on his face. yeah. a number of us in the school community have been compiling pictures, and i m sure you see some of them and you see it in the pride in his nypd portrait.