Atlanta - Marvin Donkor, an 18-year-old student associated with The Children’s Aid Society, has won a $5,000 college scholarship in a program sponsored by BrainstormUSA, an Atlanta-based marketer of educational software, videos and computers. Marvin Donkor is a student at the P.S. M079 Horan School in New York and aspires to be a photographer. His winning project included an impressive book made of unique black and white pictures that portray Marvin’s life and a poem that conveys his desire to become a photographer. Both the book and poem were touching, creative and well designed, but most of all they expressed a huge desire to fulfill a dream.
The awards are presented as part of BrainstormUSA’s 2nd Quarter 2007 Dare to Dream...Expect to Succeed scholarship program. These projects were chosen from among hundreds of entries.
In addition to Marvin winning a $5,000 college scholarship, three other students associated with The Children’s Aid Society won prizes in the same competition. The following students each won a personal computer with educational software: Christopher Gooden, an 8th grader at the C.I.S. 166 Roberto Clemente School, for an awesome painting showing his desire to become a cartoonist, and Joshua Torres, an 8th grader at the St. Ann School, for submitting a 76-page musical play and a letter conveying the dream of becoming a Broadway playwright. The fourth winner is 8th grader Wagner Marte from the C.I.S. 166 Roberto Clemente School and he won a bundle of educational software for a painting of the globe conveying his dream of becoming an archeologist.
“The Dare to Dream...Expect to Succeed program is designed to show children the value of setting goals, sharing their hopes and having the self-confidence to communicate their vision,” said Joe Galluccio, President and CEO of BrainstormUSA.
The competition is open to students across the nation, from kindergarten to high school. Entries are judged based on the child's age and the merits of the project. The student is asked to describe a personal goal, and how he or she hopes to achieve it. Any form of creative media may be used, like prose, poetry, photography, collage or drawing, depending on the interest of the child. In addition, along with the student entry, parents are asked to describe how they will support their child's efforts to realize his/her dreams. The intent is to increase communication within the family, as well as the parents’ commitment to helping their children achieve their goals.
BrainstormUSA developed the Dare to Dream...Expect to Succeed program as a way to encourage students to describe and pursue their dreams. “An integral part of the BrainstormUSA philosophy is to “give back’ to the children, schools and communities who cross our path on a daily basis,” says Mr. Galluccio. “We are fortunate and extremely pleased to be able to implement this type of program. We are especially pleased there were four winners this quarter who are associated with The Children’s Aid Society, an organization that provides so many worthwhile services to deserving children in New York City.”
Every quarter BrainstormUSA awards scholarships, computers and educational software to winning students. But children are not the only winners. In addition to Marvin winning a $5,000 scholarship, The Children’s Aid Society will receive two personal computers with a variety of educational software titles.
Since its inception in 1999, the Dare to Dream program has awarded over $2 million in scholarships, computers and educational software to students, teachers and schools across the U.S. This has been made possible partly through contributions from leading educational software, hardware and finance companies, including Orchard/Siboney Learning Group, CSI and Hy Cite. Through unique relationships with these and other education-related companies, BrainstormUSA makes available affordable computers and fun, interactive, curriculum-based K-12 learning software and other materials that complement school courseware and help parents participate more fully in their children’s education.
For more information about BrainstormUSA, please visit the company's website at www.brainstormusa.com, or call at 1-877-275-8754, extension 2221.
The Children’s Aid Society was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving more than 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with a network of services that includes community schools, neighborhood centers, camps, adoption and foster care services, teen pregnancy prevention, education, health and recreation. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.
###
Note to Editors: A ceremony to recognize all these winners will take place at The Children’s Aid Society, Next Generation Center, 1522 Southern Blvd Bronx, NY 10460 on Monday, December 17th at 6:00 p.m. To attend the ceremony or for more information, please call Lourdes Bray at 1-877-275-8754, extension 2221.