The occasion was Horizons at Saint David's annual benefit, held Tuesday evening in our Benno Gymnasium. The evening was a tremendous success, raising more than $100,000 for the tuition-free, intensive academic and enrichment program for boys from our partner schools in East Harlem.
Horizons was born as mission-focused, greater good initiative of Saint David's to provide educational opportunities for local elementary school children who wouldn't otherwise have access to programs and resources like these. Over 12 years, the program has evolved from a single class of rising first graders. It now covers the full spectrum of elementary school years (rising-first to rising-ninth grades) and also offers fall and spring sessions.
Tuesday's benefit was dedicated to the nearly 40 young high-school-age alumni from both Saint David's School and Horizons at Saint David's who volunteer together for the program. The volunteers are essential. They arrive in-person each day of the session, collaborate with each other, read to the boys, accompany classes on field trips, assist at lunch and with group projects, and basically do whatever is needed to ensure a successful day of learning and fun. They get to know each other and the younger boys in the program well, sharing life stories, insights, and laughs, and serve as role models for the boys.
Davis has volunteered with Horizons for the last three years; he has loved working with the boys and remarked on how much he's learned from them. Aaron, who at five-years of age was a member of the first Horizons cohort in 2012, shared the three most significant lessons he took from his nine years in the program: the values of brotherhood, preparation, and being good men. Both alumni have enjoyed and valued the opportunity to collaborate with each other and play a role in the program's success.
Horizons at Saint David's has been extraordinarily successful in preventing "summer slide" according to several metrics, including gains in reading and math; and it features a strong social-emotional component. We are grateful to the members of our Saint David's extended community for their continuous, enthusiastic commitment to and support for Horizons: thank you to the program's boys and their families, the advisory board, executive director and administrators, teachers, donors, and our many young Horizons and Saint David's School volunteers.