The AFF has been around for nearly 10 years, and during that time we’ve grown, reevaluated our priorities, welcomed many new Ambassadors, and enjoyed the company of different Board members. It’s always nice to reflect on where we came from, our communities, and our mission, and so we were excited that The Daily Catch reached out to do an article about the Foundation. The article from last summer can be found here. We hope you enjoy learning more about the Foundation!
Welcome, Sue!
In June the AFF welcomed a new Director to the Board, Sue Kaiser! Sue was born and raised in Queens, where she began her career in education. After 13 years of teaching high school English there, and with two Masters degrees (one in Literature and one in Secondary Education) she and her husband Dave relocated to the Hudson Valley to start a family. Sue was lucky enough to land a teaching position at Linden Avenue Middle School, where she taught English for 21 years. Not only an advocate for students, she was also a voice for faculty through her service as a union rep.
Both of Sue’s children graduated from Red Hook School district, and through them Sue became enmeshed in the culture and community of Red Hook. Through years of soccer and swim team, dance and horseback riding, theater and Hardscrabble days, Red Hook became her extended family. Sue is excited to continue and deepen her connection to the people of Red Hook through her work with the AFF. She’s received so much from Red Hook and is ready to pay it forward.
We are so excited to have Sue on board. She’s already joined the AFF at the Red Hook Education Foundation Spiegeltent fundraiser and attended her first AFF board meeting!
Summer Updates
The summer has kicked off to a great start for the AFF team, with many exciting announcements, grants, and visits already happening and more to be expected over the next couple months.
Directors Nick and Fran with CPCA leaders and staff.
Earlier in June, Directors Fran and Nick visited the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse, located in Poughkeepsie and a multi-year AFF grant recipient. CPCA is a nonprofit that offers Personal Safety Programs in many Dutchess County schools, as well as runs a Child Advocacy Center that provides resources and a safe space to children and their families. Fran and Nick had a great time meeting with their incredible staff and learning more about the important work they do for children across the county.
From time to time our Directors have the opportunity to apply for AFF Director grants. Director Jen was able to extend her previous grant to the Backpack program, which was working in collaboration with Red Hook Harvest. Director Sophie applied for a grant on behalf of Fiesta Youth, a nonprofit in San Antonio, Texas, that serves LGBTQIA+ youth, their families, and allies. Their goal is to empower young people to build a future where all people are accepted, affirmed, and loved as they are. The AFF grant will support Fiesta Youth’s new robotics program, which will kick off this summer!
We had the honor of awarding two more Ascienzo Family Foundation Scholarships to graduating Red Hook High School seniors: Lauryn Menz and Michelle Salas. Congratulations to Lauryn and Michelle, as well as last year’s recipients Cassy, Ava, and Lucia, who all received second year extensions of their scholarships.
And huge congratulations is also in order for Sophia Lawder, AFF intern who graduated from Bard College in May. Sophia has been our intern for the last two and a half years and become a part of the AFF family! We wish her all the best in the start of her post-grad career and adventures.
As always, please keep in touch! We’d love to hear what you’re up to, how we can help support you or organizations you admire, or how you’d like to be more involved with the AFF. If you know of anyone who may be a good candidate for joining our next Ambassador cohort, please send that name our way!
Scholarship Spotlight: Cassy Coleman
Meet Cassy, our third 2022 Scholarship recipient! Cassy Coleman is a freshman at Brown University studying political science - Brown has an open curriculum which means there are no core or general requirements, so Cassy is still deciding between environmental science and economics. What Cassy enjoys most about Brown so far Brown: Cultural Organizations! This weekend Cassy went to a Latin dance performance!
Cassy has found that the most challenging part about college is finding time to balance academic studies and being social—especially as she’s taking the maximum amount of classes this semester.
Cassy loves fresh air, taking walks, and sushi. At Brown, she’s involved with the Sexual Health Awareness Group (SHAG), a sexual health organization at Brown, as well as Providence Tree Canopy Organization, which works to build up the tree canopy by planting trees in underserved neighborhoods.
If Cassy had to give the current RHHS class advice for applying to college, it would be: Don’t be afraid to be yourself! And in college, use the resources that your college has—whether it’s tutoring or you just need someone to talk to.
Our last question to Cassy, in order of Women’s History Month, was: if you could sit down with any woman who would you choose? Cassy says Michelle Obama: “She is so knowledgeable and wise, and communicated the importance of compromise and understanding well.
Scholarship Spotlight: Lucia Link
Meet Lucia, another 2022 Scholarship recipient! Lucia Link is a freshman at Barnard studying art history, but also interested in potentially minoring in French and English. Lucy’s favorite food is sushi or matcha, and she loves to dance. She says: “I love being able to just move. it’s blending being artistic and working out. I feel very fulfilled when I dance!”
Right now, Lucia is particularly enjoying an education class focused on pedagogy and how children learn. “It’s opened my eyes and helped me look back at my schooling in Red Hook,” she says. Lucy hasn’t found academics to be the most challenging part of her freshman year. Instead, she says, “it’s actually coping with living on my own even though I’m only two hours away. It was challenging navigating how to interact with people in that setting.”
Like fellow scholarship recipient Ava (featured here), Lucy misses the beauty of Red Hook and the small town feeling. "I went to Taste Budds and saw people I knew, it made me feel comforted being at home. I took for granted how wonderful the area we live in is.” Over the summer, Lucy will be back in the area working at Migliorelli’s farm stand.
Recently, Lucy went through rigorous training for a club called Meet Me at the Museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the “Met”) charges schools a lot for official tours, and Meet Me at the Museum provides a free tour option for kids! “Making sure that there’s equity in those fields is really exciting!,” says Lucy. Lucy is also enjoying another arts-focused club called Artists Reaching Out, where Barnard students make art lesson plans and travel to schools to give those lessons.
Our last question to Lucy, in honor of Women’s History Month, was: if you could sit down with any woman who would you choose? Her choice: Audrey Hepburn. Not only was she an actress, but also a ballet dancer. In World War 2, she was stuck in the Netherlands and gave dance performances to support the resistance!