Expanded Horizons Scholarships Awarded
By Chelsea Jupin
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Henry Street’s annual Scholarship Awards Ceremony, held on June 4, was extra special this year. In addition to awarding 64 Abrons/Aranow Scholarships – from a fund established in 1995 that has supported the college education of hundreds of students – the Settlement was able to present seven college freshman with the new Bernard Tannenbaum Memorial Scholarship Award.
“Tonight is about the past meeting the present meeting the future,” said Executive Director David Garza. Scholarships named for longtime supporters of the Settlement as well as new scholarship awards were issued to Expanded Horizons students on the brink of their bright futures.
The accomplished students weren’t letting anything stop them from attending their event. Bibi Morium (University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Class of 2018, a Tannenbaum Memorial Scholarship Award recipient) was sick, but rallied. Amy Jiang (Babson College, Class of 2018, a Tannenbaum Memorial Scholarship Award recipient) broke her leg a week before, and hobbled up to receive her certificate on crutches. And one of the evening’s keynote student speakers, Rachade Williams (Ithaca College, Class of 2018, a Tannenbaum Memorial Scholarship Award recipient) delivered a stirring speech in her prom dress, leaving from the event to go straight to the big dance.
These and the other proud Expanded Horizons students, ranging from high school seniors on their way to college to rising college juniors about to finish their college career, celebrated their achievements with their families and Henry Street Settlement staff at the evening’s ceremony and dinner reception, held at 301 Henry Street. Opening the ceremony, David Garza said, “Tonight is where, in this complex city with staggering statistics on poverty and education, we are actually moving the needle in the right direction one student at a time.”
The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Beryl S. Jeffers, Ed.M., Director for Enrollment Services at the State University of New York – Center for Student Recruitment. Jeffers told the students her door was always open to all of them, particularly the new and current SUNY school students, and gave helpful college tips, encouraging the new college students to attend their orientation and remember to call home once in a while. Additional speakers included Raana Kashi, Director of Adolescent Educational Services, and current college sophomore Farzanna Mohamed (New York University, Class of 2016), who participated in Expanded Horizons as a high school student and continues to participate today as a tutor. She is currently in the top 5% of her class at NYU and told the room, “I would not be here without my late afternoons in the offices at 301 Henry Street.”
The Expanded Horizons staff and Scholarship Committee members presented the Abrons/Aranow Scholarships. Ellie Tannenbaum was on hand to present the seven Bernard Tannenbaum Memorial Scholarship Awards named after her husband, saying, “I give my heartiest congratulations to all of you”. She then told the scholars that her husband “would tell you to work hard, have fun, enjoy the whole experience—and this is not a dress rehearsal!”
In her impassioned speech, enthusiastic (and well-dressed!) Rachade thanked the Tannenbaum family and the Henry Street staff who helped her along the way. With her experience in Expanded Horizons, she got a job with local coffee shop Pushcart Coffee, and even wrote the shop’s mission statement. Rachade gushed about going to Ithaca in the fall, which she proclaimed to be her “destiny”, and something she would not be able to do without the Tannenbaum Scholarship.
Rachade thanked the Henry Street staff and Expanded Horizons staff and counselors for teaching her “it’s not what you have but what you do with it.” She closed with a fitting quote from Maya Angelou that spoke to the strength and determination she and her fellow students will bring from Expanded Horizons with them in life: “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
