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Breaking the Cycle
Amanda’s Story

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment


Breaking The Cycle

“buildOn was really something that impacted my life in high school for the greater good. It helped me when I went off to college; it gave me that endurance to just keep fighting. To keep moving on.”

– Amanda Perez, buildOn Alumna

 
The relationship between Amanda Perez and her mother had always been difficult. Amanda often lived with others, her grandmother or friends, while her mother focused on her own needs. Then, when Amanda was 14, she came down with severe pneumonia and was hospitalized. When she recovered she found out that while she had been fighting her illness; her mother had moved halfway across the world to the West Bank with her new husband. She didn’t even tell Amanda goodbye. Without a parent to support her, Amanda spent her high school years transitioning from one place to the next, sometimes living with family and friends, much of the time being on her own.
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Filed Under: Breaking the Cycle, buildOn alumni, Chicago, Features

Breaking the Cycle
Teza Technologies

May 13, 2013 by

“buildOn, in my mind, is the movement that allows other people to achieve their dreams.”

– Misha Malyshev

 
Meeting Misha Malyshev today, CEO and Founder of the global investment firm Teza Technologies, you would never guess he came from humble beginnings. While an expert in international trading now, Misha and his wife arrived to the United States from Russia with no more than $100 between them both, a great education, and a drive to succeed.

Misha is a testament to the American Dream — that anyone, no matter their background, can achieve success through education and hard work. But with U.S. high schools crumbling and the dropout rate climbing, that dream has become more like a fantasy for many students. That’s why Misha has fully committed himself and his company to supporting educational opportunities like buildOn’s program for Chicago students, so that every child has the same opportunity to succeed that he had.
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Filed Under: Breaking the Cycle, Chicago, Donors, Features, Video

buildOn Bay Area Dinner Recap

May 9, 2013 by

We had a great time at this year’s buildOn Bay Area Dinner, where 500 buildOn supporters came out to the Westin St. Francis to raise money $720,000 for our programs in the Bay Area and school construction projects around the world. Guests included members of our Honorary Committee and buildOn Board Members, as well as notable philanthropists such as Manuela Testolini and her husband, musician Eric Benet.
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Filed Under: Bay Area, Donors, Features

Breaking the Cycle
Jorge’s Story

May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
jorge

Jorge Gomez
Breaking The Cycle

“I realized I was not helping build just another school, but I was helping build a school in the name of my dad, my mom, my uncles and everyone else who was not allowed to finish or go to school at all.”
– Jorge Gomez

 
Jorge Gomez knows that education is a privilege, one that should not be taken for granted. Both Jorge’s mother and father were forced to leave school at an early age to earn income for their families in Mexico. Jorge’s father came from a family of 12, and as one of the oldest children, it was his job to make sure his siblings were clothed and fed. Every morning he would wake at 5AM to help with the family farm, only to rush off to school by 7AM. He rarely, if ever, made it on time. One day he just stopped going.
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Filed Under: Bay Area, Breaking the Cycle, Features

Breaking the Cycle
Joahan’s Story

May 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment


Breaking The Cycle

“They are in the middle of their childhood and they’re thinking about what their moms are going through… the violence that they’ve got to deal with on a regular basis and yet every day they choose to come to school…they choose to give back to their community. In my eyes that’s definitely a hero.”
- Joahan Suarez, buildOn Program Coordinator

 
Just like the students he mentors on a daily basis, buildOn program coordinator Joahan Suarez had to overcome obstacle after obstacle to find his path to success.

Joahan grew up in Washington Heights, with no siblings and only his single mother to support him. He was smart, good at school, and aced his classes despite his chronic absenteeism. He was on a path to graduation. But then, his junior year of high school, Joahan suffered from a life changing injury. He broke his knee playing football and had to have extensive reconstructive surgery on his leg, leaving him unable to take public transportation. With no other way to get to and from school, he dropped out.
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Filed Under: New York, Breaking the Cycle, Features, Youth Engagement Zone

Breaking the Cycle
Mo’s Story

May 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
mo-blog


Breaking The Cycle

“The reason why people join gangs is because they are scared. I’m like, what are you scared of? For me, since I’ve been a part of buildOn, the only thing I’m scared of is the world not changing.”
– Mo

 
When people describe the South Bronx you often hear phrases like dangerous and gang-ridden, but it’s still shocking when a student like “Mo,” an eternally positive junior from Mott Hall High School, so casually describes the ongoing violence in his neighborhood.

“I live in the projects and I hear shootouts, but that’s normal – most communities in the South Bronx have them,” said Mo. “People fight over the most illogical things, like someone took their bag or someone looked at them the wrong way. Stupid stuff.”
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Filed Under: New York, Breaking the Cycle, Features

A Yogi Builds Schools in Nicaragua

April 30, 2013 by
The road more or less traveled in Nicaragua.

This blog by Julianne Mesaric was originally published in the PHILAbroads on April 16. Julianne is one of many Philadelphia-based yogis raising money to build two buildOn schools in Nicaragua with the Beyond Asana Yoga Teacher Training.

The road more or less traveled in Nicaragua.

The road more or less traveled in Nicaragua.

“You used to dance,” she said to me from the front of the room. I gazed up at her from my crossed-legged position on the floor and nodded my head. “I used to dance, ballet mostly,” I confirmed.

“I see you dancing,” she continued, doing an awkward waltz to strengthen her point, then laughed, apologized for her lack of coordination. “You’re in the middle of a circle of children patting them on the head,” she continued, “You’re protecting them. Why did you turn this opportunity down?”

Flustered, I racked my brain for what this stranger could possibly be referring to. “I don’t know?” I offered.

“You’re going to build schools. Like Oprah,” she said definitively, snapping closed the book on the prediction for the next chapter in my life before moving on to the next person in the crowd.
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Filed Under: Donors, Features, Guest Blogs, International School Construction, Nicaragua

buildOn Bronx Students Benefit Through Mentorship

April 23, 2013 by
Emmitt and Emerson are a part of buildOn's mentorship program at Mott Hall Bronx High School, and were the first pair to reach 100 hours of service for the school year.
Emmitt and Emerson are a part of buildOn's mentorship program at Mott Hall Bronx High School, and were the first pair to reach 100 hours of service for the school year.

Emmitt and Emerson are a part of buildOn’s mentorship program at Mott Hall Bronx High School, and were the first pair to reach 100 hours of service for the school year.

Compiled by Eli Zaritt

buildOn New York’s Youth Engagement Zone started a mentoring program at Mott Hall Bronx High School this year, partnering freshman boys and girls with upperclassmen. Our plan was for the upperclassmen to help the freshman academically, socially and emotionally. When Emmitt Baez, a junior, started getting involved with buildOn at the beginning of this year, we saw the potential in him to be a great mentor. Emmitt immediately bonded with Emerson Gutierrez, an eager freshman, and has become a hilarious guiding force in his life. They were two of the first students to reach 100 hours of service (are the only pair of mentors to have achieved this), and have both become much more engaged in their school community.
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Filed Under: New York, Afterschool Youth Empowerment, Features, Youth Engagement Zone Tagged With:

Philadelphia Principal at buildOn School Reflects on Cultural Identity

April 22, 2013 by
Mr. Peou Interview

Mr. Peou Interview

By Sulaiha Olatunji, buildOn Youth Engagement Zone Manager

buildOn freshman at Philadelphia’s Youth Engagement Zone at Furness High School have been exploring different styles of writing that incorporate issues of coming of age and cultural identity. After reading Sandra Cisneros’ “House on Mango Street” and Sherman Alexi’s “Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian”, students wrote vignettes about their own experiences in the style of these authors, and interviewed their peers at the high school to learn more about their diverse community. The first interview that students conducted was with their principal.

Principal Daniel Peou, a native of Cambodia, has a unique relationship to Furness and South Philadelphia, as well as a deep appreciation for service and global education. Here is some of what he shared with the students.
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Filed Under: Afterschool Youth Empowerment, Features, Philadelphia, Youth Engagement Zone Tagged With:

Bay Area Students’ Pop Up Soup Kitchen Project

April 18, 2013 by

Empowerment. That’s what we strive for at buildOn, and that was the motivation behind a “Pop-Up Soup Kitchen,” inspired, planned, organized and executed by buildOn Bay Area students at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in March.

The Galileo students fed over 150 hungry people in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Now the students now feel inspired to create future service projects they are passionate about, and the students’ perspectives changed about the people living in the Tenderloin, which has a bad reputation. “Everyone was so nice to us and so grateful,” said buildOn member Kendall Yee. “I don’t think of the Tenderloin as a scary place anymore… and I love doing service here.”
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Filed Under: Afterschool Youth Empowerment, Bay Area, Features Tagged With: , , ,