PEP, October 2008: Union scholarship winners head off to college

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

The DC 37 Education Committee presented 18 scholarships to the sons and daughters of union members Sept. 14 at its annual Scholarship Awards luncheon.

With the theme “A Celebration of Academic Achievement,” the luncheon brought together the recipients, their friends and families and union leaders to celebrate at Antun’s in Queens.

Keynote speaker Henry Garrido, assistant associate director of DC 37, stressed the importance of the union’s educational mission.

“Helping children get an education is perhaps our most important mission. And if we don’t help them to do that then we have lost a great opportunity,” said Garrido.

Most of the scholarship recipients had already started their college careers, some at schools in the city and others at colleges along the East Coast, including Boston University, the University of Maryland and Dartmouth College.

Memorial Scholarship Award winner Angela Vorilas is a nursing student at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and plans to seek a master’s degree in nursing once she completes her four-year degree. “Of course, I’m very proud of my daughter. Angela works very hard,” said her mother, Antoinette, a member of Local 372 who works in the cafeteria at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Brooklyn.

In addition to the 18 scholarships awarded by the DC 37 Education Committee, locals 957, 1113, 1407 and 2054 awarded an additional 13 scholarships to local members’ children.

Shirley A. Williams, chair of the Education Committee and president of Real Estate Employees Local 1219, said she would like to increase the number of scholarships next year to 20. She said, “Our fundraising efforts have been successful, but I hope to step up the pace next year.”

The Overcoming Obstacles Award went to Brendan R. Wolfert, who is studying applied mathematics at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Due to a virus that his mother contracted during her pregnancy, Wolfert was born deaf. He was the youngest person to be treated with a cochlear implant, which helps deaf people hear.

“I had to work very hard learning what the new sounds meant and how to speak,” he said. Wolfert has already overcome incredible obstacles. From grade school to high school, he’s been a straight-A student, and he hopes to continue his academic success in college.

Praising the committee, the students and the parents,DC 37 Education Fund Administrator Barbara Kairson offered congratulations to all “for a job well done.”

I love teaching and
being with children.
—Emely Diaz,
with her mother, Cecilia Ventura Diaz,
a member of Local 768

Emely Diaz is one of two recipients of the Evelyn Gaskin Scholarship, named after the late Local 957 activist and Dept. of Education staffer. Jacqueline Taylor, whose parents are members of Local 371, is the other recipient.

Like most of the scholarship recipients Diaz is already working diligently on completing her degree at Hunter College in Manhattan. She is taking 14 credits and majoring in Early Childhood Education. Throughout her four years in high school, Diaz volunteered at day care centers and at the local Catholic church were she worked with children and prepared second graders for their Holy Communion. “I never thought of becoming a teacher before; it was not until after teaching these children and the experience I gained that made me realize how much I love teaching and being with children,” said the aspiring educator.

Her mother, Cecilia Ventura Diaz, is also involved in education and works as an Early Childhood Education Consultant for the Dept. of Health. “I think my daughter is going to make a very good teacher,’’ said the proud mom and member of Health Services Employees Local 768. She has another daughter enrolled at City College who is studying psychology.

“Children are the future and I want to be a part of that,” said Emely.

—Alfredo Alvarado

My grandparents came from China for a better life.

—Justin Chin,
with his mother, Catherine Leung, a member of Local 1407

Justin Chin is one of 11 students who received a DC 37 Memorial Scholarship Award. Now a freshman at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Chin attended the award ceremony on Sept. 14 with his mother, Catherine Leung, a city Tax Auditor and member of Accountants, Statisticians and Actuaries Local 1407.

“It’s very nice that the union acknowledges the hard work of the students with a luncheon; we really appreciate that,” said the proud mother.

At Curtis High School on Staten Island, Chin was active in track and field and cross-country running. He also participated in an anti-smoking campaign called Staten Island Kids against Tobacco at the Richmond Medical Center.

“I walked the rounds with doctors and saw up close the damage smoking can cause,” he said.

Chin has mastered the lion dance that is part of the traditional Chinese New Year celebration. He performs the dance at parades and special events in Chinatown.

“My grandparents came from China to the United States for a better life,” said Chin, who is majoring in finance. “The stories of their sacrifice made me appreciate all that I was given and made me proud of my Chinese heritage.”

— A.A.