NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Niagara Falls City School District renamed an elementary school after a pioneer in the city's Black history.

Niagara Street Elementary School is now Bloneva Bond Primary. The organization, Men Standing Strong Together, is behind the change. MSST is a group focused on giving youth, especially Black youth, the resources they need in order to be successful and interrupt.

“I met Ms. Bond when I was 22 years old," said Gloria Dolson, founder of Men Standing Strong Together. "And Ms. Bond, not having children, she had a great desire to see children excel … and we just felt like all children have the right to see themselves in order to be the best that they can be. They need to see people that look like them.”

The late Bloneva Bond was the first Black woman to serve on the school district's board of education. She was a prominent member of the community who earned lifetime achievement awards for her work. She died in 2004 but her memory will live on through the school.