We’ve had another successful year, thanks to your support!
Thank you for your continued support of the Amanda Rose Laura Foundation. With your help, we’ve continued to enrich the educational experiences of students in need.
In this newsletter we are sharing testimonials from our grantees, fellows and scholarship recipients expressing the Foundation’s impact on their lives.
As you choose your year-end charitable causes, please consider making a donation to continue Amanda’s mission to level the playing field and enrich the lives of underserved students.
Updates from our NJLEEP Amanda Rose Laura Scholars
“I used my scholarship money to purchase a new laptop. I am still using it now that I’m at college, and I could not be more thankful. It helped me get through my last year of high school and I use it all the time to study, talk with friends, and occasionally watch a good movie or tv show.”
- Alisson, Rutgers University
“I want to thank the Amanda Rose Laura Foundation for giving me this opportunity and supporting me, through NJ Leep. With their guidance, I took a college level course, got into the National Honors Society at my school, and at NJ LEEP I won my debate room which was a first. I had improved a lot from sophomore year.”
- Joyce, High school senior
“I’m not sure where I want to go to college, but hopeful for my future. I want to study biology and one day to become a Dermatologist. I have for a long time wanted to do something in the medical field. I love science and medicine is something that combines my favorite things in the world. I’m currently an IB diploma candidate, which allows me to take challenging courses and give back to my community.”
- Anna, High school senior
“I was able to maintain a 4.2 GPA and was able to prepare for college with help from NJ LEEP and the support of the Amanda Rose Laura Foundation. Although last year was very difficult, I continue to be motivated to achieve my academic goals and to one day give back to people in similar situations as me. Amanda’s journey tells me that it doesn’t take a great deal to help others, but instead compassion, devotion, and kindness.”
- Jimena, High school senior
Donation to Chicago Math & Science Academy
This year’s donation to CMSA provided school supplies, social emotional strategies for students to navigate the unusual times we’re living under, upgraded classroom technology, and helped prepare to launch their new biomedical science program in the 2022-2023 school year.
“Your generosity has given our students much needed support and their parents a greater peace of mind. This wouldn’t have been possible without your support. You are funding the change we wish to create for our students and families. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!”
– Irene, Community Relations at CMSA
Our 2021 Fordham Law Fellow
We were are pleased to introduce you to Sadaab Rahman, our 2021 Amanda Rose Laura Education Law Fellow at Fordham University School of Law.
“Being chosen this year’s Amanda Rose Laura Education Law Fellow has not only been one of the greatest honors of my professional life so far but helped connect me to lifelong mentors such as Dora Galacatos, Lauren Kanfer, Karuna Patel, along with everyone else at the Feerick Center for Social Justice. It was with their guidance that I was able to secure a public interest internship with the Legal Aid Society over this past summer and find my footing as a first-generation law student after a challenging 1L year. Financial support from the Foundation has made it possible for me to pay for tuition as a 2L and lift my single-parent household out of poverty amidst the pandemic. Above all, this fellowship has gifted me with a purpose greater than myself in trying to carry on Amanda’s tremendous legacy of fighting for educational equity and access. To that end, I have gotten to study several school systems across the country this semester and research the changes many of them have made to remedy their high school admission processes since COVID-19. 1 I also got to assist in the creation of a report released this month called The Next Step: Prioritizing Equity and Recovery in NYC High School Admissions, which can be found here: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/300100745/.
In the coming months, I will be involved in attempting to improve civics curriculum for middle schoolers and explore other interesting ways I can contribute to the space. Along the way, I have already learned about the importance of movement lawyering and heard from pioneers in the field. Taking the advocacy skills I possess and turning them into concrete policy solutions is what I loved doing as an undergraduate at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and sought to do during my time at Fordham Law. Thank you again for empowering me to achieve exactly that and make a difference like fellows before me.”
– Most sincerely yours, Sadaab
Restorative Practices in Action
Once again, the Amanda Rose Laura Foundation paired with Restorative Practices in Action, whose mission is to develop a community of top-performing educators in urban schools. This year we funded two teachers in Philadelphia:
“I have always been a teacher who, even at my most inexperienced, has valued student creativity, joy and self-expression over compliance – the traditional measure of a class’ success – within my classroom. I believe that the children I teach are future leaders, changemakers and innovators and that the life experiences they bring to the educational setting is an asset. The children I teach and the community I serve are the reason why I love being an educator, and I teach at a Title I school in Philadelphia on purpose, because I want to be here. The students I teach bring incredible skills into my classroom, but they are often failed by the education system that is supposed to support them and give them the foundational skills they need. We owe it to children to change the structure of education in America, and it begins with efforts like Restorative Practices in Education. Prioritizing student voice, ownership and empowerment within the classroom leverages students’ strengths, their unique talents and abilities, and most importantly respects and cherishes their humanity. As a member of the RPIA cohort, I am excited to fight for the changes in education that I believe are paramount to creating a more equitable future in our country. The kids are always worth it.”
– Erin Edinger-Turoff, Middle School Teacher at Memphis Street Academy
“I joined RPIA because I saw the impact it had on students in Eva Worsely’s classroom last year (Eva was last year’s Amanda Rose Laura Teaching Fellow). I teach down the hall from Eva, and I saw how her students became more vocal, empowered, and successful as Eva went through the RPIA program. Eva told me about the ways RPIA pushed her to grow in her teaching practices, and that is something I knew I wanted to be a part of and I wanted my students to benefit from. Now that I am in the program, I am already seeing the positive impact of RPIA in my classroom. I have two students in particular, Alonzo and Tayanna, who are very bright but struggle to connect with their classmates. My fellow teachers in RPIA helped me think of restorative practices that will help them lean into their strengths and teach their classmates as a positive way to foster positive social skills with their classmates. I look forward to seeing them grow as leaders in my classroom!”
– Caroline Cacchio, High School Teacher at Overbrook School for the Blind
Teach for America COVID Support
We committed to fund a Teach for America proposal that will train TFA teacher coaches to provide better support to TFA teachers to manage the pressures in the classroom brought on by the pandemic. The coaches will provide one-on-one support sessions to the full corps of TFA teachers to manage issues such as teacher burnout and student trauma.
This program will serve 300 TFA teachers and, through them, over 20,000 students. Those same coaches will also work with next year’s corps of new teachers.