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John Flickinger, Adolfo Henriques (President and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries),
Roe Stamps, Adria Rasken |
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Lawrence Moceri, Penny Stamps,
Ellen Moceri, Loren Moceri |
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Penny Stamps and Breakthrough students
Kristina and Amanda |
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Breakthrough Miami celebrated 15 years of service to students and families of Miami-Dade County at a special event this past spring at the Coconut Grove estate of Roe and Penny Stamps. This special “birthday bash” also served as the program’s annual Graduation Celebration to recognize graduates. Adolfo Henriques, President and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries, was the featured speaker and, drawing from personal experience, delivered a thoughtful and relevant message to our graduates that anything is possible through hard work and persistence.
More than 275 program supporters, friends, students, and family members attended, and it was a huge success. Most guests participated in a unique Breakthrough “scavenger hunt” where they had an opportunity to interact with student “ambassadors” to learn more about the program. Everyone enjoyed touring the spectacular Stamps’ property strolling through rain forest gardens to the sounds of great jazz provided by the University of Miami’s School of Music.
The Breakthrough Graduation Celebration is an annual fund-raising event to recognize the accomplishments of Breakthrough students and those who support them. Event sponsors this year included EFG Capital Group; Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines; Pfleger Financial Group; Sterns, Weaver, Miller, et al; and Kaufman, Rossin & Company.
Breakthrough Miami received a $266,589 grant from The Children’s Trust to fund the 2007 Summer Institute. The Children’s Trust, a property-tax funded initiative in Miami-Dade County, provides more than $80 million to support many worthwhile programs serving thousands of children in the county. The generous grant provided 80% of the funding for our 2007 Summer Institute serving 180 middle school students and 60 high school and college teaching interns. The Trust also provided seed money to pilot a new College Bound summer program.
The 2007 Breakthrough “students teaching students” model was recognized as an exemplary summer program by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education’s Center for Summer Learning’s “Excellence in Summer Learning” award.
For the third consecutive summer, MDCPS hosted a Breakthrough site. This year’s program was held at F.S. Tucker Elementary School in Coconut Grove. In-kind contributions from MDCPS increased for the third year to more than $50,000 and included summer transportation, mentor teacher salaries and curriculum resources.
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