AUDREY MILLER PORITZKY

EDUCATION FUND FOR CHILDREN

Dear Fellow Contributors,

It is late September and I am sitting at home writing my annual message to you. Most likely you will not receive our AMP Newsletter until sometime just before Thanksgiving but since I will be traveling for most of October, I decided that this would be a good time to write. I will be in Boston for a meeting and then later in the month, Anne and I will be traveling to Israel on a mission from the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, of which Anne is President. We are thrilled to have this opportunity since our previous trip to Israel was 25 years ago with Audrey who was 13 and Rob who was 16. It was a time of peace and we had a marvelous experience and so many memories. Thinking of our upcoming trip to Israel reminds me of a trip which Audrey took there as a young adult and . . . it is the story I want to share in this year’s message. Audrey was in her early 20’s and living in Philadelphia where she was working at Philadelphia Futures mentoring and tutoring inner city minority students. Her office was involved in developing a two week cultural exchange trip for eight of the young people receiving services at Philadelphia Futures with students from Israel. The only problem they had . . . who was going to chaperone the trip? Naturally, Audrey offered to go! In typical Audrey fashion, after offering, only then did she call us at home to ask our advice and permis-sion. What could we say? I wanted to say “No” and we did express our concerns but of course, it was already a “done deal”. As with every other experience in her life, Audrey immersed herself in every aspect of prepara-tion for the trip. None of these eight youngsters had ever been on an airplane nor had even ventured out of Philadelphia. Audrey, much wiser than her 20 something years, understood innately what it meant to volun-teer her services. She realized the enormity of this experience for the students and how over-whelming and anxiety provoking it seemed to them. She also knew that none of them felt com-fortable expressing themselves in such terms. Audrey knew that to volunteer meant to be able to put herself in the shoes of the youngsters, to identify with them and their issues and to empathize with them. It is a simple notion! Volun-teering means to be able to meet the needs of the recipients, not our own! Audrey spent weeks working with these youngsters. Knowing that most of them had little ex-perience eating in restaurants other than fast food places, she invited them to various local res-taurants at her expense and oriented them to dealing with waiters, menus, silverware, bills and tipping. Of course, she made it fun and lighthearted so they never felt demeaned, another sim-ple but important concept in volunteering. She also met with them to discuss the weather and what to pack and what to expect of the Israeli culture. She wanted them to feel prepared and confident . . . and by the time they left Philadelphia, they were ready. Well, for the most part. As soon as they were on the airplane, one girl got homesick, but Audrey reassured her and comforted her so that within a few days she was having a wonderful time. Off they went, eight inner city African American youngsters and their chaperone who had very fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. Wherever they went, everyone noticed the contrast but Audrey with her sense of good humor and grace turned it into a standing joke for the group.

President’s Message

By Laurence H. Miller, M.D.

Board of Directors

Laurence H. Miller, M.D. President

David F. Poritzky Vice President

Anne K. Miller

Vice President

Robert E. Miller Treasurer

Theresa L. Sweeney Secretary

Tara L. Benson

Richard R. Buery

Philip Coltoff

Wendy Flores

Marciene S. Mattleman

C. Warren “Pete” Moses

Ronald Thorpe

Student Advisors:

Kristina Bryce

Julissa Guevara

Mavis Gyamera

Florence Wen

Volume 6, Issue 1 November 2010

continued on page 6

NYC LEADERSHIP: New York Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott addresses students at our 2010 “Youth Speak Out” conference.

At the beginning of 2010, we had some questions to ask our-selves regarding the future of the AMP Education Fund. We had achieved some impressive results over the first half-decade: five “Youth Speak Out” conferences, five College Application Essay Workshop volunteer-driven sessions, more than a dozen AMP Fund scholarship winners, and nearly $40,000 in scholarship money given to deserving college-bound students. At the same time, we wondered if new directions were needed. After years of student-led conference presentations on the problems impacting New York City high schools, the sub-stance itself was depressingly familiar. Should we change the format or venue of the session? Should the program be ad-justed? And while the mentoring workshop had its strong points, perhaps we were missing something; was there more that could be done to enhance its value as well? Ten months later, I am pleased to report that many of these ques-tions have been answered, as our 2010 events have given us fresh perspective and renewed vigor to pursue our mission. For starters, it is safe to say that the 2010 Youth Speak Out con-ference was our best ever, giving us a truly tough act to follow in 2011. Thanks to the efforts of Board member Phil Coltoff, we were able to secure a modern conference hall at New York Uni-versity. And after years of “youth speaking out” on the issues plaguing New York City high schools, it was time for some an-swers. To that end, an unprecedented appearance by a panel of six New York City Council members joined Deputy Mayor Dennis Wal-cott in an exciting session to try and deliver those answers. Aided by moderator James Ford from WPIX Channel 11 News, students posed tough questions to the politicians. And many of those questions could not be answered so easily. “Why are you

AMP Fund Programming: 2010 Highlights by Dave Poritzky

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A Board Member’s View: Wendy Flores

Five years ago, I was a student at Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics. I vividly remember the high paced year as I was balancing my part-time job at The Chil-dren’s Aid Society, being the senior class treasurer, applying for different colleges and universities, my grandfather’s deteriorating health, and of course the typical social life of a 17-year-old. One of my goals that year was to help my mother out, not only by as-sisting her with the care for my elderly grandfather, but also by alleviating some of her worries such as paying for my college education. Hence, I applied to as many scholar-ships as I possibly could. Much to my surprise, I was a recipient of a few scholarships, one of them being the Audrey Miller Poritzky Scholarship. While I am extremely appreciative for all of the scholarships that I was awarded, this particular scholarship had the biggest impact in my life. While I was able to pay more than half of my tuition for my first year at City Col-lege, this scholarship did much more than provide monetary support. Those who loved Audrey the most compose the board of the scholarship fund: her family, friends, and colleagues. Winning this scholarship meant gaining these same individuals as an additional support system.

November 2010

speaking out so strongly against charter schools,” one student asked thoughtfully. “I am only where I am today, as a college-bound high school senior, because of my charter middle school." That was truly a memorable moment, as the Council member in question had just finished an eloquent statement about the charter school — public school debate (in New York, charter schools are often co-located with poor-performing public schools, creating challenging imbalances within their common school build-ings). Yet he was forced to listen. As one of the panelists, Coun-cil member Gale Brewer, said to me months later, it was a semi-nal moment for all the political leaders in attendance. Moments like these gave the conference an added dimension, one that not only involved students addressing problems and issues, but also seeking answers from those in control of the school sys-tem. In other words, students were demanding accountability from their leaders. Simply put, we could not imagine a stronger endorsement of the Youth Speak Out conference model. Moving into the Fall, we were excited to build on the success of our 2009 mentoring workshop, where, for the first time, we were able to attract volunteers beyond our immediate circle of friends and family...thanks to the efforts of the Manhattan JCC. We were also able to better track the progress of our students, as volunteer mentors received an April email with the list of students and the colleges they are now attending. Even better yet, several volun-teer mentors were able to tell us about “their” students well be-fore we heard the official news from Children's Aid Society. These developments represent some of the important new steps that we can and should be taking during the next phase of our growth. Having gotten something special off the ground, we need to continue to find ways to tweak, innovate and strengthen our program...for 2011 and for many years to come.

(continued on page 4)

AMP STUDENT LEADERS: Wendy poses with 2006 AMP Fund scholar-ship winner Donnell Cunningham. Wendy and Donnell served as co-moderators for portions of the 2010 Youth Speak Out conference

November 2010 Page 3

2010 College Application Essay Workshop Fredrick Douglass Community Center

October 19, 2010

For the fifth straight year, the AMP Education Fund and Children’s Aid Society’s Education Excellence Creating Empowered Leaders (EXCEL) Program co-hosted a drop-in workshop last month. Students brought copies of their college application essays and received guidance on editing and creative strategies from AMP Education Fund volunteers — Audrey and Dave’s family, friends and colleagues, as well as members of the local community. We thank our fantastic group of dedicated 2010 volunteers: Mindy Gabler (and Alexis), Randy Goldstein, Jennifer Lane, Louis Lazar, Maddalena Loeb, Albert Lojko, Rob Miller, Jen Patricio, Dave Poritzky (and Sophie), Eric Poritzky, Sandy Poritzky, Stacy Poritzky, Susan Poritzky, Cheo Rose-Washington, John Rudge, Tim Shaw, Carlee Warner, Sara Weale, Stew Whitman.

Dave...my student just got into college today! This is so...awesome! - Abby Peccoriello, 2009 Volunteer

Please tell Rob [Miller]that...his, charm, cha-risma and professionalism impressed these students so much and it may have turned them around. - Miguel Montes, EXCEL

The 2010 AMP Scholarship Winner: Kristina Bryce

For the sixth straight year, the AMP Education Fund for Children awarded a partial college scholarship to a New York City college-

bound high school senior. The award winner was selected from a pool of applicants based on the criteria of Leadership, Scholarship

and Community Service, qualities that Audrey demonstrated in her lifetime, and we are pleased to attach excerpts from her winning

essay below. In addition to a cash award, Kristina will also be joining us as a Student Advisor on the Board of the Fund.

Personally, excellence in education, community service and leadership matter a great deal to me because they are active parts of my life. My academic performance is im-portant to me because it shows my progress in whatever subject I am studying. It is key to really grasp a topic before moving on. I try to at least maintain my status in all my classes and to improve in the ones I struggle with. I have excelled in education by maintaining a 96.96 GPA in my challenging high school. I am also ranked first in my class of 360 students. Community service is the extracurricular activity I enjoy the most. My school does not have a community service requirement but I am always involved in community service activities. I give back to my community because I have received a lot from the community and I want others to receive the kind of assistance and interest I re-ceived, especially when it comes to education. Leadership is not only taking the initiative but also creating new ideas and helping an established idea to be successful. Education reform is important to me because I have been affected by people who are dedicated to making the best of my education so that I can succeed. Because of those people, I have succeeded and I want to make that same difference for someone else.

BOARD MEMBER VIEW (continued from page 2) Looking back, I remember writing an essay discussing how I exhibited leadership, community service, and excel-lence in education—only some of the attributes that Aud-rey held. However, the Miller-Poritzky family has allowed me to continue to express those same characteristics. After winning the scholarship, the board invites the recipients to function as student advisors for two years. As a student advisor, I helped create the College Application Essay Workshop, where New York City high school teenagers are paired with Audrey’s friends and family, along with other professionals who take an evening from their busy schedules. This was a direct result of something I men-tioned in my essay for the scholarship, as I discussed the unrealistic role of guidance counselors to meet with hun-dreds of teenagers to help them select and apply to college. Hence, this scholarship has not only had a positive impact in my life, but it has also had a positive impact in the lives of our Workshop participants. The Audrey Miller Poritzky Education Fund for Children has also helped New York City students voice their opin-ions about the public school system. For five consecutive years, the board has collaborated with The Children’s Aid Society in an event that allows for young students to speak

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directly to elected officials such as Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott. This Youth Speak Out Conference has sparked an ongoing conversation between young adults and elected officials that has rarely occurred in the past. Being a part of the Audrey Miller Poritzky Education

Fund has meant more than simply being on a board that

gives scholarships to high school students. This small

group of caring and passionate individuals have a genuine

interest in not only making an impact in the lives of those

recipients that win their scholarship; but a positive impact

in as many young adults as they can possibly reach. They

are not only continuing the legacy Audrey left behind, but

also encouraging young people such as myself, and all

other scholarships recipients that followed to continue

being invested in leadership, community service, and ex-

cellence in education. Being a permanent member of the

board has given me the opportunity to help them uphold

Audrey’s legacy, and to help ensure that young people

like myself that were fortunate to win this scholarship

contribute to the success of other young people.

Editor’s Note: In 2009, Wendy was asked to join the AMP Fund Board of Directors as a permanent member due to her outstanding contributions to our work. She graduated from SUNY Binghamton in May 2009.

FIRST PLACE: Kristina receives her award plaque from AMP Fund President Larry Miller and his granddaughter (Audrey and Dave’s daughter) Sophie.

November 2010 Page 5

2010 WINNER: KRISTINA BRYCE

I am enrolled as a first year student in the Pharmacy program at St. John's University and I have two loves—Medicine and Edu-cation. Even though I still remain active in Education—I am employed as a Corps member with Jumpstart New York—I have chosen to pursue an education in medicine full time at St. John’s University. I hope that what I learn as a Pharmacy major at St. John's will help me to grow as a scientist as well as an educator. Simply put, the Audrey Miller Poritzky Education Fund for Children has supported my pursuit of my dreams. The AMP award has emphatically lightened my financial load and has pro-vided me with lasting friends who share the same interests.

2010 2ND PLACE WINNER: MARIELLE RODRIGUEZ

I am attending State University of New York Stonybrook Uni-versity, where I am currently in my freshman year. I am cur-rently a psychology major. My plans for after undergraduate college is to attend grad school and study to get my masters in psychology. I do not know what specific field of psychology I want to do yet however, I am taking introductory courses in or-der to get a feel for what I am most interested in. I am also con-sidering being a sociology major but that is still in the works. Although I have not yet used the AMP scholarship money, when I do use it it will definitely help me with paying my tuition. Every aspect of college is expensive which makes me realize how helpful it is to have this scholarship.

2010 3RD PLACE WINNER: MEHEDI HASSAN

College has been pretty awesome so far! I am a freshman at Wake Forest University and currently interested in pre-med. The AMP scholarship has helped me pay for college ex-penses, including textbooks and meal plan. Thank you!

2009 WINNER: MAVIS GYAMERA:

I still attend the University of Pittsburgh and I am currently in my sophomore year. I am still in the pre-pharmacy track. I strug-gled quite a bit last year but I am trying harder this year. Also,

Fall 2010 Updates from our Past Winners: 2005-10

words cannot explain how grateful I was to win the scholar-ship, it definitely helped with my college tuition expenses.

2008 WINNER: FLORENCE WEN: I am currently a junior at Syracuse University dual majoring in biology with an environmental concentration and public relations. I am planning on studying abroad again next semes-ter, in Ecuador, and I am hoping to learn Spanish while living with a host family. After graduating college, I would like to pursue a career in conservation biology. The AMP scholarship has helped me finance many different things in college. The money has been used to purchase text-books and school supplies. I have saved some of the money throughout my freshman and sophomore year and was able to use it to pay for my study abroad program in Costa Rica this summer. The AMP scholarship not only provided me with financial security but it has also given me confidence because I know that I have people in the AMP executive board who believe in me.

OUR NEWEST WINNERS: 2010 scholarship winners Kristina Bryce, Mariellle Rodriguez and Mehedi Hassan proudly display their award plaques with members of the AMP Fund Board.

A Special Thank You: Tashema Sparrow

Editor’s Note: In 2009, the AMP Fund began to award a $25 honorarium to each student who wrote an essay for the AMP Scholarship Award. In this way, we wanted to recognize each student who took the time to apply. This applicant, Tashema Sparrow, did not ultimately win one of the scholarship awards. However, she took the time to write a special thank-you to the Fund and we are pleased to print it here. We wish Tashema, along with all of our other past winners, applicants and conference participants the best of success in all that they do. We are so proud of them. “….Thank you so much for the gift you gave me for the essay that I wrote for the Audrey Miller Poritzky scholarship. In writing my essay it helped me to have a better understanding about what I wanted to do for the future and how it will bene-fit me in the long run. I plan to use the gift to help me with my college expenses. So thank you once again for assisting me with my future goals.”

LEADERS ON EDUCATION: Emmy Award winning Channel 11 News anchor James Ford (standing) moderates a panel of NYC Council Mem-bers at our 2010 Youth Speak Out conference: (l-r) Gale Brewer, Charles Barron, Daniel Dromm, Fernando Cabrera, James Sanders, Luis Fidler.

The Audrey Miller Poritzky Education Fund for Children

P.O. Box 688 Summit, NJ 07902-0688

www.ampeducationfund.org

The Audrey Miller Poritzky Education Fund for Children is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization registered in 2004.

All contributions are 100% tax-deductible.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (continued from the first page) Even a near fiasco Audrey handled with maturity and a cool head. Instead of being guests on a kibbutz for several days, there was miscommunication with the trip organizers and they became stranded on a banana plantation with no indoor plumb-ing and terrible food where the youngsters were expected to rise at 5 am and work all day. Audrey worked side by side with them to ease their discomfort and got special permission from the director to take them to the Israeli version of McDonalds. Together they survived and could laugh about it once they were back in Philadelphia. Again, Audrey realized that she needed to understand what the “volunteer recipients,” her eight teenagers, were experiencing and meet their needs, not hers. Because of her approach, the youngsters felt important and valued, the most important con-cept! As you read on in this newsletter, I hope that you will see how we have learned from Audrey and, in our work on her behalf, continue to demonstrate these important concepts of keeping the needs of our recipients in the forefront of our work and valu-ing them for who they are and what they bring to our relation-ship.

Born and raised in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York, the son of a retired New York City public school teacher and a retired lab manager, Richard R. Buery, Jr. has dedicated his life to improving educational opportunity and life outcomes for young people in America’s most disadvan-taged communities. In October 2009, Mr. Buery was named the tenth President and Chief Executive Officer of The Children’s Aid Society. He is the first black leader of Children’s Aid and the young-est since Charles Loring Brace founded the agency in 1853. Children’s Aid is an independent, not-for-profit organization established to serve the children of New York City. Its mis-sion is to provide comprehensive support for children in need, from birth to young adulthood, and for their families, to fill the gaps between what children have and what they need to thrive. Mr. Buery previously co-founded and served as executive director of Groundwork, Inc., a nonprofit organization serv-ing the children and families of Brooklyn public housing

Our Newest Board Member: Richard Buery

developments. He also co-founded and served as executive director of iMentor, a technology education and mentoring program that each year con-nects New York City middle and high school students with professional mentors through on-line and face-to-face meetings. A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale Law School, Mr. Buery has a background in law, education, and politics. Mr. Buery was a staff attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice. He also served as a law clerk to Judge John M. Walker, Jr. of the Federal Court of Appeals in New York City, as a fifth grade teacher at an orphanage in Bindura, Zimbabwe, and as Chief Political Officer and campaign manager to Kenneth Reeves, the Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has also served as an adjunct lecturer at the Baruch College School of Public Affairs. He lives with his wife Deborah, a law professor, and his two sons, Ellis and Ethan.

Once again, I thank you for sharing our journey with us. With-out your financial support and working as our valued volun-teers, we could not continue to actualize Audrey’s dream of a quality education for every person, no matter their socioeco-nomic status or race. Thank you!

A STAR CHAPERONE: Audrey (r) takes a moment to relax during the Philadelphia Futures trip to Israel in 1995

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