Ayah was tired of being teased about her height.

“People would treat me like a child because I’m short,” says Ayah, a 17-year-old junior at James Madison HS in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. “I wanted people to take me more seriously.”

When a teacher recommended she take the Council for Unity program as an elective, Ayah found her voice.

“You let out all of these emotions that have been in you for a while,” says Ayah. “It was something I didn’t realize myself. Now I don’t let people’s words put me down.”

The Council for Unity was started 40 years ago by Bob DeSena, a former English teacher at John Dewey HS in Gravesend, Brooklyn, to help give high school students a path out of gangs and street life. By creating a safe space for teenagers to talk about their feelings, dreams and hopes, the council empowers those who were alienated or angry to turn their lives around.

It’s not just about gang members. At large high schools such as Madison, which has 3,200 students, the program has helped students like Ayah who might otherwise have fallen through the cracks.

“Every child should have the opportunity to evaluate the self,” says Michele Fienga, who teaches two council classes at Madison HS. “Self-work is the most difficult work there is. It’s the time when kids get to question things. What’s holding you back from reaching your goals? I love it because it’s real, and the kids are hungry for it.”

The Council for Unity operates in 25 schools throughout the city. Council courses are electives. Students can opt into the program on their own, but many times a guidance counselor will place a student in the program.

At Madison HS, students in the council elective are designing four wall murals that will go up in the school cafeteria. In addition to positive quotes, the murals will depict a U.S. flag with the names of other countries embedded in it; hands of different races joined together; and major world landmarks.

Designing the murals is just one of the many ways that students in the council program have the opportunity to express themselves and work as a team.

Every student in Fienga’s council elective also has to produce a deeply researched PowerPoint presentation on a topic of their own choosing; cars, sexually transmitted diseases and drug addiction were some of the topics. The students took turns in front of the class, leading the discussion and calling on other students.

Daniel, 18, a senior at the school, says he had no motivation to attend class, but the council gave him a path to himself. “I found who I am,” he says. “It helped me to appreciate things and take nothing for granted. I’d still be off track if not for the council.”

Daniel discovered he loves food and cooking, and in the fall he’ll begin his undergraduate studies in culinary arts at Mohawk Valley Community College.

Pamela Padula, a Madison guidance counselor, has recommended or placed many students in the council program. She says Michele’s role as facilitator is “a match made in heaven.”

“Sometimes all it takes is one teacher,” says Padula.