Class Gift Results for 2011
For the second year in a row, our class won the award for highest class
participation in annual giving. At the end of the donation year, June 30, 2011, 26 members of our Class had donated $16,876 to the
2011 Class Gift, short of our goal of
$25,000 but still sufficient to allow us to allocate $20,000 to defray the
tuition costs of the two Penn Charter students from the Class of 2014 whom
we are supporting. Read this year's
solicitation letter (February 2011) to learn about these students and about our
underlying class-gift philosophy. And see a status
report (September 2011) about their ninth-grade experiences.
Classmates who want to make donations may give
online via the
Penn
Charter website (click on "Alumni > Support PC" and then click on the
red doors). Identify your donation as part of the "Class of 1960
Gift." Alternatively, send checks payable to "William Penn Charter School"
to Jack Rogers, Chief Development Officer, William Penn Charter School, 3000
West School House Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19144. Write "Class of 1960" on the check.
On September 20, 2011, Penn Charter sent us the following status report
on the two students whom we are supporting:
"Jenna Torres had a challenging, but ultimately successful, first year at
Penn Charter. As is true of most students entering PC in ninth grade, Jenna
had to work out some kinks to understand her requirements, time management,
and performance expectations. Teachers were very pleased that Jenna showed
continual growth as a student and a leader throughout the year. By the
spring, she had adjusted to the demands of the PC curriculum and became more
comfortable with the challenging balancing act that comes with being a Penn
Charter student. She is known for being quiet and polite, with a positive,
'can do' attitude. Jenna enjoyed her algebra, Spanish, and biology classes.
She was also a member of the JV softball team.
"Alfred 'Tre' Williams was described by a teacher as 'a fine young man with
a ton of integrity and heart.' Like Jenna, Tre took some time to adjust to
learning the ropes of PC's ninth grade. Tre dealt with issues surrounding
access and time. He didn't have access to a home computer at the beginning
of the year, so completing work was difficult. He was also the second-man on
the cross country team and helped the track team to a successful season, so
he needed to learn the ins and outs of balancing study time with training
time. By the second trimester, Tre's willingness to take risks, his dynamic
personality in and out of class, and his one-on-one study strategies work
with PC's learning specialist, began to really pay off. Tre's teachers are
confident that with his intelligence, creativity, and maturity, he will find
himself in a place of frequent success in his sophomore year."
The Theme
 The
theme for our 50th Reunion gift was "Pay It Forward." Many students at Penn
Charter, now and in the future, could not attend the school if they did not
have financial aid. We dedicate our class gift to them. Our Class President
Al Swenson was the inspiration for this dedication, citing his experience
with his sons who could not have graduated from Penn Charter without PC's
financial support, provided by the Head of School without
fanfare or comment when the need became apparent.
Benjamin Franklin is
credited with the first articulation of the concept. Franklin wrote: "I do not
pretend to give such a sum; I only lend it to
you. When you meet another man in similar distress, you must pay me by
lending this sum to him, enjoining him to discharge the debt by a like
operation. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little
money." Since Franklin's time, the concept of "pay it forward" has
lived on, most recently in the movie of the same name starring Kevin Spacey
and Helen Hunt.
The Goals
Like
Benjamin Franklin,
our class intends to do a great deal of good with a little money, or perhaps
more than that. Inspired by the fact that our Reunion broke the PC record for attendance at a
50th reunion, we set a goal to win next year's annual awards for classes more
than 25 years out who make the largest gift and who have the greatest
percentage of donors. The winning numbers in 2009 were $38,000 and 64%,
respectively.
To this end, three classmates committed to pool their funds to match
the first $500 of any gift. With this incentive, our goal was a class gift of
$45,000 with 100% participation.
We're
Number One! ... Twice!!
Our final total for our 50th Reunion was $44,900, and 38 classmates donated, making our class participation
75%. These results exceeded all other PC classes at least 25 years out, both in the total amount
and in the participation percentage. These twin accomplishments were
recognized by Penn Charter at a ceremony on February 3, 2011, at which Dick Berlinger represented our class and accepted both awards. Administration of the Fund
Penn Charter has agreed that our class will play an active role in
sponsoring the Penn Charter students who benefit from our class gift. A
committee of two classmates (initially, Jim Arrison and Sam Francis) will
meet with Penn Charter at the appropriate time each year to discuss how our
gift can be used most effectively in support of our "Pay It Forward"
objective. All classmates will be
informed annually of the disposition of our funds. Donations in future years
will be pooled with this year's class gift, to extend the life of the "Pay
It Forward" project. We are proud to be the first Penn Charter class to take
the initiative to manage our gift-giving in this way.
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