Historic Gift to the Stern Center

by Stern Center Staff

Stern Center Founder and President, Dr. Blanche Podhajski with Cynthia K. Hoehl

Cynthia K Hoehl, of Ferrisburgh, VT, has given a historic gift of two million dollars to the Cynthia K. Hoehl Institute for Excellence Endowment at the Stern Center. This, the single largest gift ever given to the Stern Center, will ensure the perpetuity of the Cynthia K. Hoehl Institute for Excellence. The Institute implements best practices from neuroscience through its instruction and professional learning programs. Specifically, it reduces instruction fees for students with family incomes below $125,000; and, it grants awards to schools and educators to help underwrite professional learning.

“Cynthia Hoehl’s extraordinary generosity will give future generations access to the Cynthia K. Hoehl Institute for Excellence to extend their knowledge as teachers and learners,” said Dr. Blanche Podhajski, Founder and President of the Stern Center. “It is a gift of hope, power and promise.”

Established in 2008, the Institute makes learning opportunities accessible to more students and educators through earnings generated by its now $3 million endowment. Since its inception, the Institute has awarded just under one half million dollars to students and teachers.  With this new gift, we hope to increase our awards to $750,000 over the next five years.

This gift from Cynthia’s personal estate sustains the legacy of an educator passionately committed to extending teacher knowledge and to assuring that students have access to learning grounded in science.

“This gift is an investment in a program I believe in because the Cynthia K. Hoehl Institute for Excellence changes learners' lives,” said Cynthia K. Hoehl.

Thursday Thoughts: Interesting Literacy and Learning Links from the Past Week

BRAIN TEASER:

How Well Do You Know Classic Literature? From Jane Austen to Alice in Wonderland, how many details can you remember from these beloved books?
 
INTERESTING LINKS:  

Dear Daddy in Seat 16C. One mother’s perspective on how the kindness of a man she and her autistic daughter shared a row with on a plane made their lives better. Kindness Blog, Kindness Changes Everything.

Grant Provides Money for Education Study. The grant marks a joint venture between Dartmouth and the Stern Center for Language and Learning and is a two year project that provides instruction for students who struggle with learning to read but do not qualify for special education. The Dartmouth, August 15, 2014.

Thursday Thoughts: Great Literacy and Learning Links From the Past Week

BRAIN TEASER:

Play along: Quiz yourself and see if you would choose the healthiest snack available to you- Which School Snacks Meet New Federal Rules?

INTERESTING NEWS AND COOL LINKS:

The Right Approach to Reading Instruction. The student-led approach to reading and writing known as balanced literacy is making a comeback in New York City schools. But critics say students need closer instruction from teachers and more work on phonics and facts. What is the right approach to improving student literacy? New York Times Opinion Pages, July 3, 2014

Could Text Messages to Parents Help Close the “Word Gap”? The program gives parents a digital tap on the shoulder via text messages reminding them to interact with their kids to boost literacy—and close that ever-widening word gap. And, it’s working… New America Ed Central, July 3, 2014.

Not a huge fan of the title, but the tips inside it are worthy of a read. How to Trick Your Kids Into Reading All Summer Long. Don't bother taking away the iPad or setting minimum page counts. Instead, find sneaky ways to leave your children alone with books—and then see what happens. The Atlantic, July 2, 2014.

Why I Read: Founder and President, Blanche Podhajski

by Blanche Podhajski
 
I love literacy because of precious memories. My mother and big sister worked in beautiful stone buildings that housed the libraries in my home town. I remember them bringing home treasures of books they would read to me as a preschooler. 

That’s probably where my love of language began. Curious George, Madeline and Babar became as close friends to me as Ruthie who lived down the street.
 
Learning to read when I entered Kindergarten couldn’t happen fast enough. But I was disappointed just reading sight words like run, jump and Spot which characterized instruction in my educational era. I was so much more excited when Miss Avery taught us about “magic e” in first grade and then showed us how to rhyme by changing initial letter sounds. I was off and really reading!

I remember curling up into a chair a few years later with the entire Freddy the Pig series. I felt especially proud that I could decode the title of Freddy and the Ignormus. I enjoyed talking at the dinner table about what an “ignormus” might be.