Sections
Neighborhoods
Features
Follow Us
NHI Newsletter
Legal Notices
Some Favorite Sites
- 5 Snacks After 10
- Abram Katz
- African independent
- At Risk for HD
- Back To Basics
- barista
- Branford Eagle
- Business NH
- Conn Art Scene
- Cornwall-On-Hudson
- Crosscut
- CT Business Litig
- CT Capitol Report
- CT Energy Blog
- CT Enviro Headlines
- CT Green Scene
- CT Law Tribune
- CT Local Politics
- CT Mirror
- CT News Junkie
- CT Watchdog
- CTV
- Design New Haven
- Gotham Gazette
- Hartford Guardian
- Josiah Brown
- Karman Turn
- La Voz Hispana
- Laurel Club
- Len's Lens
- Magrisso Forte
- Media Attache
- Media Nation
- Medical Intelligence
- Middletown Eye
- MinnPost
- My Left Nutmeg
- NBC Connecticut
- NH Advocate
- NH Register
- NH Review of Books
- NH Youth Map
- Northampton Media
- OneWorld
- Only In Bridgeport
- Oral History Project
- Reddit NH
- Road To Greenness
- Saved By Design
- See Click Fix
- Smartpill Design
- Specials In NH
- St. Louis Beacon
- Taste Of NH
- Tom Ficklin
- Valley Independent Sentinel
- Voice of SD
- VT Digger
- WFSB-TV
- WPKN Today
- WTNH
- Yale Daily News
- YourCT
Government/ Community Links
- Advocate Calendar
- Agency on Aging
- Animal Shelter Volunteers
- Arte Inc.
- Arts Council
- Beth El Keser Israel
- Bike New Haven
- Chamber of Commerce
- Children's Museum
- City of New Haven
- CitySeed
- Citywide Youth
- Community Loan Fund
- Community Mediation
- ConnCAN
- Creative Arts Workshop
- CT BAEO
- CT Tech Council
- Dariba Referrals
- Data Haven
- Elm City Cycling
- Elmseed
- Empower NH
- Friends Of Wooster Sq.
- GAVA
- Habitat For Humanity
- Info New Haven
- IRIS
- Jazz Haven
- Jewish Federation
- Job Finder
- Junta
- Labor History
- LEAP
- Legal Aid Network
- Literacy Coalition
- Magrisso Forte
- Mary Wade
- Music Haven
- New Haven 828
- New Haven Chorale
- New Haven Reads
- New Life Corp.
- NH Bulletin
- NH Land Trust
- NH Symphony
- NH/Leon Sister City
- NHS
- Orchestra NE
- PAR
- Parents Available to Help
- Pat Dillon
- Peace News
- PechaKucha
- Planned Parenthood
- Police
- Promoting Enduring Peace
- Public Allies CT
- Public Library
- Public Schools
- Public Works
- Rainbow Girls
- Register Calendar
- REX
- ROOF
- SAMA
- SCSU Events
- Share Our Voices
- Shubert
- Solar Youth
- Soul-O-Ettes
- Squash Haven
- United Way
- Urban Design League
- Urban Resources Initiative
- Ward 25 Blog
- Ward 26 Blog
- Westville Chabad
- Westville Renaissance
- Westville Synagogue
- Workforce Alliance
- Yale Events
- Yeshiva NH Shul
- Yeshiva Of NH
- Youth Continuum
School, Latino Network Rally For Star Student
by Adzua Agyapon | Jul 1, 2009 10:31 am
(8) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: Schools
Michelle Palma, a rising Amistad Academy senior, had a ticket to a prized summer stop on the path to becoming an architect. But she couldn’t afford the fare.
Palma was thrilled to be accepted to the prestigious Cornell University Summer College to study architecture. But her heart dropped when saw the $8,800 price. Her family couldn’t afford that. She applied for financial aid. Cornell turned her down.
Then teachers and benevolent donors stepped in, including a growing network of local Latino philanthropists. Palma is now on the Cornell campus in upstate New York.
All Amistad students must complete an enrichment program during at least one of their summers. This will be the third time Michelle Palma has gone away for a summer program, but the first time she is exposed to a rigorous academic program in the field of her choice.
Palma became interested in the Cornell program after hearing about it from one of her friends. A top student at Amistad Academy, Palma was accepted soon after she applied in March.
“The stars just aligned for Michelle,” said her guidance counselor, Emery Sykes (pictured).
They began aligning when Palma mentioned her predicament to an SAT tutor, David Noah.
“It’s the classic case,” Noah said. “She’s done everything right. Then she gets into this program and she can’t afford it. It sucks. She’s put in all that effort.”
Noah, then a third-year student at the Yale Law School, decided to draw on his connections to help Palma with the program costs.
“Teachers feel this way. You want to cultivate a sense of possibility. You want kids to feel like good things can happen. So I said, ‘Let me send a few emails. It’s the least I can do.’
“She’s an incredibly hard-working and really focused student, the kind every teacher loves to have. She’s such a deserving kid, so it was almost autopilot.”
Noah contacted his law professor, Robin Golden (who’s also a former official with the city schools system and housing authority). She emailed John Padilla, a senior fellow of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Padilla and his wife Frances Padilla helped found the Progreso Latino Fund to promote Hispanic philanthropy. Golden figured Michelle’s challenge would fit with that mission.
Padilla agreed. “I’d never met Michelle before, “he said, but she had a “really compelling story.” The same day he received the email about Palma, Padilla went to lunch with a philanthropist and shared her story. After lunch, his friend (who wished to remain anonymous) wrote a $4,400 check. That secured Palma a seat in the program.
Padilla (pictured) forwarded David Noah’s message about Michelle Palma’s need to 30 friends, many of whom are also members of the Progreso Latino Fund. He kept the fundraising ball rolling by donating another $100. “Within an hour we had $750,” he said.
A week later the group had raised $9,200 for Palma’s tuition, room and board, fees and books.
Donors wanted to “make something accessible for someone really deserving who we know will [have] a life changing experience,” Padilla said. “This was a really good way to build the community around one of our kids; a young Latina who is doing everything right.”
Before leaving for Cornell this past Monday, Palma expressed her gratitude to her sponsors. She said she looks forward to “meeting more people from diverse backgrounds and different countries” and gaining college experience and exposure to architecture.
Sponsors plan to hold a reception for her when she returns to Amistad Academy in the fall.
Post a Comment
Comments
posted by: Joshua Sloat on July 1, 2009 10:41am
Congratulations, Michelle. I can’t think of a more deserving student.
posted by: Seriously? on July 1, 2009 11:44am
Cornell (and all the other universities that pad their endowments with these ridiculously-priced programs) should be ashamed to be offering this program only to the scant few whose parents can afford to spend almost $10K on summer programming for their children. What a joke—to get into the best schools you’ve got to pad your resumes with this crap but this crap is only available to people with six-figure incomes.
But it’s lovely to see New Haveners coming together to support a young woman’s ambitions—congrats, Michelle, and best of luck.
posted by: Educator on July 1, 2009 12:54pm
Nice job, everyone. A perfect example of what can happen when a caring school reaches out to a generous community. This young lady’s success will raise us all up.
Sometimes ‘whatever it takes’ is its own reward…
posted by: Kim Mowery on July 1, 2009 1:05pm
A wonderful story about an incredible student. Reading it has brightened my day. Congratulations, Michelle! You are more than deserving.
posted by: Streever on July 1, 2009 1:12pm
What a great story! Not surprised to see Mr. Sloat in the comments.—a good teacher.
Congratulations Michelle.
posted by: rsmith on July 1, 2009 6:10pm
Great story. There’s a lesson here for many of us: put your money where your mouth is! I’ve seen this Latino group doing some interesting things and i am impressed. I tip my hat to the Padillas and the Latino Progreso FUnd for making this happen. Congrats!
posted by: Gimmicks on July 1, 2009 10:39pm
I too am skeptical about these programs that are really more about the self promotion of the institutions that are making these “opportunities” available for “city kids.”
But I too think it is great that the community turned out support for this worthy student. Have a great experience Michelle!
