Arne Duncan Called Me Yesterday!
Greetings All:
By the time you settle in to read this, I will be well on my way to Dubai for Global Teacher Prize. Regardless of the outcome, I already feel like a winner and want to thank all of you for your support and kind wishes – we will surely keep you posted in real time. In fact, just yesterday, Arne Duncan called to wish me well; you can only imagine how surprised and honored I was. Clearly, we are growing something greater! That said – our focus remains the National Health and Wellness Center at CS 55 – our facility and our students are at the heart of what we do and where we hope to go.
This week we had Omar taking home fresh produce in his new freezer bag courtesy of TEDxManhattan. He is tracking the temperature of his bag and the food he and his family are preparing and eating. He now understands that fresh food is not something with an infinite shelf life or an object in a sealed piece of plastic residing on a shelf. These are healthy life outcomes that translate into strong academic lessons related to graphing, data, prediction and analysis. And if that’s not enough, we’re helping to reduce our waste footprint and eating better too! Omar is thinking of creating a delivery service!
As I stated in my TEDxManhattan Talk, now that you know more, I expect you to care more! Please help us keep going and help us keep growing so our reach can forever exceed our grasp. Our goals include a Gala Opening for Fall 2015 so we can send home 100 bags of student grown groceries weekly, 52 weeks per year aligned to academic outcomes while we prepare and excite students to attend Bronx High School of Science. Now more than ever, we need your support. Please take the time to show how much you care and contribute to our Barnraiser Campaign – one dollar a day can change lives and outcomes for this and future generations. HELP US GROW! Together, we can do this!
Si se puede!
Stephen Ritz
