By Bret Nolan Collazzi
Neyda Martinez, the Bronx Leadership Academy guidance counselor who encouraged hundreds of at-risk students to attend college and who was named teacher of the year by a citywide nonprofit in November, died from cancer on Thursday, January 26, at Calvary Hospital. She was 54.
Martinez, praised by students and peers alike for her boundless energy and motherly nature, had been struggling with breast cancer for three years, and, despite her wishes, finally took leave from her work in October.
Two months later, Junior Achievement of New York (JANY), a leadership organization that introduces students at inner-city high schools to mentors and potential careers in the business world, awarded Martinez, its representative at the Bronx Leadership Academy, its annual teacher of the year award.
Asked in early December how she earned students
