Sonia Szymanski

Ann Tisch &
Colleen McGeehan

CollegeBound staff

Felice Piggot

Julie Horowitz

Kathleen Ponze & Dominique Bailey

Kathleen Ponze
& Dr. Sheila Buot

Nicole Smith
& Arnette Crocker

YWL Field Staff

Ileanna Renne
& Avionne Gumbs

YWL Foundation has always rewarded our teachers, counselors, staff and school support team members for a job well done. On June 26th, staff from the five Young Women’s Leadership Schools in NYC and Philadelphia, as well as the dedicated team of CollegeBound Counselors, gathered to celebrate another great year of success at a at a reception at the Regency hosted by our founder, Ann Rubenstein Tisch. 

This year several individuals were recognized for their outstanding work and dedication in the 2006-2007 school year. CollegeBound Director Jon Roure kicked off the evening by recognizing a member of his team with the “By any Means Necessary” award.  Sonia Szymanski, the CollegeBound Counselor from TYWLS, Philadelphia received the honor for her amazing work in getting the school’s first class of graduates on track to graduate and on a path to higher education. Sonia has been at the school for three years and has worked tirelessly to give the girls at the school a brighter future. Sonia has had an amazing team of mentors and peers in her colleagues who are CollegeBound Counselors at six additional schools across NYC.

“The Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in the Advancement of All Girls Public Education” was given out to one teacher from each girls school. Principals from each school nominated teachers to receive the inaugural award and although we feel that all of the TYWLS teachers deserve recognition, the 2007 Blue Ribbon recipients are:

Dominique Bailey, TYWLS Rhodes (Philadelphia): A Teach for America corps member, dynamic middle school science teacher who provides high impact opportunities for her students in science every day.

Dr. Sheila Buot, TYWLS Astoria: Dr. Buot has just completed her 40th year of teaching science and her enthusiasm has not diminished one iota. Under her guidance and expertise, students discover the magic, secrets, beauty and excitement of science every day.

Felice Piggott, TYWLS East Harlem: Felice wears many hats very well at the school including Technology teacher, librarian, pioneer videography teacher in partnership with Metropolis Studios, iMentor and Love Heals moderator, and exemplary advisory teacher. She brings excellence and creativity to each endeavor.

Ileana Renne, TYWLS Queens: A Founding teacher of this new and growing school in Jamaica. She is an exemplary Spanish teacher and a model of leadership in and out of the classroom to both her students and her colleagues.

Nicole Smith, TYWLS Bronx: Nicole found her way to the school as a substitute teacher and stayed to transform the lives of every student she teaches.  She is a passionate and innovative Social Studies teacher committed to excellence in every aspect of her job.

In addition, the highly coveted Teacher Travelship Awards were presented. This award is given to a teacher who has worked in one of our schools for more than 3 years and who goes above and beyond the call of duty to engage and enlighten the students inside and outside of the classroom. The winners receive a small stipend to travel anywhere (it does not have to be tied to their academic discipline) in the hopes that that they will bring back new experiences and global perspectives to the students. The 2007 Travelship recipients are:

Susan Vincent, TYWLS East Harlem: A second-career trail blazing science teacher who has led team after team of student science researchers to glory over the past 5 years. Susan hopes to use her award to go to the Galapagos Islands to study the native species.

Colleen McGeehan, TYWLS East Harlem: Master math and science teacher and gifted administrator who has worn an exceptional number of hats over the last four years and worn them all well! Colleen plans to go to Mexico this summer to take cooking lessons!

All of the hardworking teachers, principals, college counselors and staff deserve special recognition and thanks for an outstanding job educating the next generation of leaders!