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"BELMONT 112" ALUMNI COME TOGETHER TO HOST GALA DINNER AND "BACK
TO BELMONT" FAMILY FESTIVAL DURING WEEKEND CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY
OF SAY YES TO EDUCATION
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Media Contact: Alumni of National Education Program Celebrate Founder and Two Decades of Support that Provided Post-Secondary Educations for Hundreds of Inner-City Youth [Philadelphia, PA, June 22, 2007] -- Emotions were running high as alumni who received education support as children and full college scholarships, reunited to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Say Yes to Education, Inc.--the national program that provided those supports--during a special dinner and reception this evening in the Benjamin Franklin Ballroom of the Sheraton University City Hotel in Philadelphia. In 1987 Hartford money-manager George A. Weiss fulfilled a personal pledge to God by taking his own money and promising 112 economically disadvantaged sixth graders from one of Philadelphia's toughest neighborhoods that if they could make it through high school (with Weiss' support), he would pay for their college educations--that day Weiss' Say Yes to Education was born. Today, he and Say Yes are responsible for providing that same promise to more than 730 children throughout chapters in Philadelphia, PA, Hartford, CT, Cambridge, MA, and most recently Harlem, NY. "Tonight all of us have gathered to celebrate and honor Mr. Weiss and Say Yes to Education for making such an incredible impact on each of our lives," said Majovie Bland, a board member of the Belmont 112 Alumni Association, which organized the event. On behalf of everyone here I would like to say thank you to Mr. Weiss and everyone with Say Yes for believing in each of us, and for caring enough to give us the chance to succeed in life." The event was hosted by the Belmont 112 Alumni Association--comprised of alumni from the original 112 Say Yes students from the Belmont Elementary School--and featured a cocktail reception followed by a program including a recap of Say Yes' history from its founder and chairman George Weiss, acknowledgements of the different Say Yes chapters, dinner and award presentations. As part of the award presentation to Mr. Weiss, the Alumni Association also made its own pledge to give back to Say Yes each year via a scholarship, as a way to give back to the organization that had given them so much. More than 260 Say Yes alumni, current students and their families, from the Philadelphia, Hartford and Cambridge chapters attended the dinner--which was the first of two events celebrating Say Yes' anniversary. On Saturday, June 23 the "Back To Belmont" Festival will take place in the schoolyard of the Belmont Charter School, featuring a carnival with food, inflatable bouncies, music, performances, games and more "I have always considered all of you as my kids and part of my extended family," said Weiss. "I am overwhelmed with joy and have never been more proud of you. Seeing what you have been able to accomplish and the successes you have achieved, just invigorates me and gets me excited about what we will accomplish in the next 20 years." Twenty years ago Weiss recognized the daunting challenges faced by children living in poverty, and believed that children can overcome these challenges when given significant, comprehensive support. Say Yes is committed to providing this support to at-risk children and their families, enabling them to graduate from high school, accomplish post-secondary educational success, and achieve meaningful life goals, including giving back to their communities. Weiss has a lot to be proud of, as statistics show that the Say Yes model is successful. With the Belmont group, 63% of the students graduated from high school in contrast to 26% and 28% of the class before and after Say Yes respectively. Since then, on average its students have demonstrated significantly better high school graduation rates than national averages for students from comparable demographics: the Hartford Chapter achieved a 72% graduation rate (79% including students with GED) in 1998, relative to a 54% national graduation rate; the Toll Group from the Philadelphia Chapter achieved a 77% graduation rate (86% including GED students) at the conclusion of secondary school studies in 2000, relative to a 54% national graduation rate for the same year; and the Cambridge Chapter achieved a 75% graduation rate (87% including GED students) in 2001, relative to a 51.5% national graduation rate. Students in the Philadelphia Chapter's William C. Bryant Elementary School group and the New York Chapter are still in the K-12 phase. The inspiration for Say Yes came when Mr. Weiss was a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania and his fraternity hosted a Christmas party for 12 inner-city children. Nineteen years old at the time, Mr. Weiss struck up a friendship with the 12-year-olds, playing basketball and pool with them and listening to stories about their hardscrabble lives. Moved by their courage and resilience, he stayed in touch with all of them. When he returned to Penn seven years later for homecoming, he finally had enough money to take them out to lunch! At the restaurant, he learned that all 12 had graduated from high school. One of the young men told him, "We could not have dropped out and looked you straight in the eye." Inspired by these words, Mr. Weiss made a personal pledge to God then and there to help make a difference in the lives of children facing overwhelming obstacles. The son of parents who fled Austria during World War II, Mr. Weiss, grew up in Brookline, MA. His family was poor but taught him to value learning. After college, he took a job in Hartford as a stockbroker and in 1978 he started his own money-management business. Today, George Weiss Associates has more than 100 employees, manages more than $1 billion and has offices in Hartford and New York. Say Yes to Education, Inc. (Say Yes) is a national, non-profit education foundation committed to dramatically increasing high school and college graduation rates for our nation's inner-city youth. Say Yes provides comprehensive supports, including the promise of a full college or vocational education, aligned with what research indicates is needed to enable every child in the program to achieve his or her potential. The Say Yes promise and supports begin when a child enters kindergarten and continue through high school and beyond. The range of services Say Yes offers across its Chapters include everything from after-school and summer programming, mentoring, tutoring and schoolday academic support to family outreach, scholarships, and social work/psychological services. Additionally, Say Yes partners provide high-quality health care and legal assistance. These services help to create a positive, sustaining framework for each student's academic experience, one that encourages and rewards continued effort. For more information about Say Yes to Education, call 212-415-7194 or e-mail info@sayyestoeducation.org.
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