Fall 2015 - StreetSquash

ISSUE NO. 3
FALL 2015
STREETSQUASHERS SET
THEIR SIGHTS ON COLLEGE!
10TH GRADERS BEGIN TO FOCUS ON SAT PREP AND VISITING SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE EAST COAST
little over three years ago,
Cristian Moreno, a 7th grader
from University High School, got
ahold of a squash racket for the first
time in his life. Back then, the focus
at StreetSquash was learning the
basics of the game and getting some
help with homework, and Cristian fit
right in. But, as Cristian has gotten
older and moved into 10th grade, the
goals and expectations for him at
StreetSquash have increased as well.
College is on the horizon, and it’s time
to get ready!
This fall, Cristian, joined by 10 other
StreetSquash 10th graders, is getting
a full dose of college prep. From
college visits to Boston and Baltimore,
Continues on next page…
Our 10th grade class - and many Howard University hopefuls - had a blast (and learned a lot!)
on their first overnight College Prep visit
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Geoffrey Mitchell
Chairman,
StreetSquash Newark
Head Squash Professional
Chatham Club
Julia Bishop
Senior Vice PresidentInvestments
Wealth Management Advisor
Merrill Lynch
Harry Curtis
CFA/Managing Director
Nomura Securities
International, Inc.
Michael Marone
Partner
Pennant Capital
George Polsky
Founder & Executive Director
StreetSquash
Helen Vera
Attorney
Robert Wessel
Treasurer
Retired
Adam Edwards
Lead Financial Analyst
L.L.Bean
Bruce Hartman
Board of Directors
Rue 21
James Laird
Chef/Owner
Restaurant Serenade
NEWARK STAFF
Program Director:
Ana Farinha
Academic Coordinator:
Cedric Cofer
Academic Director:
Taralyn Hardwell-Gonzalez
Squash Coordinators:
Joshua Gary, Chloe Mitchell
CREDITS
Written by:
StreetSquash Newark staff
Design:
desantis creative
STREETSQUASH NEWARK
50 Park Place, Suite 1041, Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: 973.848.9600
Web: streetsquashnj.org
Member of:
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Leah Johnson joined Quinlan Jeudy (left) and Syfee Campbell (right) on
their third visit to Williams College for NUSEA’s 13th annual Urban Individual
Nationals tournament.
cont. from page 1
to financial aid sessions with parents, StreetSquash staff
are working with students and their families to make sure
that every boy and girl is prepared to go to college and be
successful once there. And don’t forget the SAT prep – that
will happen each Friday.
While it is so exciting to see our oldest class start preparing
for higher education, we are equally thrilled to see the many
other StreetSquashers following closely behind. With full
rosters of 7th, 8th and 9th graders, StreetSquash Newark
has 50 students in the program, and is operating every day
at the Newark and Montclair YMCAs. With the addition of
2 new program staff, and the hiring of Ana Farinha as our
Program Director, StreetSquash Newark is looking forward
to another great year.
As our students, staff and program continue to grow we
would like to thank our supporters and volunteers for
making each day at StreetSquash Newark possible. We
are always looking for more friends and fans to help our
students succeed - either in the classrooms or on the
courts, and we hope that you will continue your involvement.
In just 3 years our students, and the program, have
accomplished great things. We are deeply grateful for all
you have done to make this possible.
Northeast Regionals: (from left to right) Christopher Cuyun, ‘19, Sincere Ervin-Cunningham ‘19, Zakee Campbell ‘19, Cristian Moreno ‘18, Syfee Campbell ‘19,
Na’Dree Stewart ‘18, Quinlan Jeudy ‘19, Akeish Sanders ‘19, Amani Wilson ‘19 show off their hardware earned at Yale University - Newark’s very first “first”!
STREETSQUASH NEWARK BOYS
CAPTURE NORTHEAST
REGIONALS
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BRING HOME
GOLD AT YALE UNIVERSITY
n October 10th, 12 StreetSquash
middle and high schoolers, along
with program staff, traveled from
Newark to New Haven for the NUSEA
Northeast Regional team tournament.
With one entry in the middle school
girls B division, and one entry in the
high school B division, these students
were determined to be the first in
the program’s history to bring some
trophies back home.
The high school boys 7-person team
was ready for all challengers, and
sure enough, they had to fend off a lot
of other strong squads; a path to the
finals, and the ultimate glory, would
not be easy. A hard-fought match
against Squash Haven catapulted
the StreetSquashers into a finals
showdown against their rivals from
Massachusetts – SquashBusters
Lawrence. In a true nail-biter, with
Na’Dree’s clutch performance in
a 5-gamer, the boys from Newark
pulled out a 4-3 win and took home the
gold: their first, first place in a team
tournament. Well done!!
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AQ STAR IS BORN
uinlan Jeudy joined StreetSquash
when he was in 6th grade in
2012. Three years later he is not only
one of the program’s top scholars,
but also the current # 1 for the high
school boys team. As a 9th grader at
Eagle Academy in Newark, Quinlan
takes both his academics and his
squash very seriously - he was the
salutatorian for his 8th grade class at
Eagle Academy, and his goal for high
school is to maintain his high grade
point average. Although his favorite
subject at school is mathematics, he
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is also a very talented writer. Quinlan
won the boys under 15 essay writing
contest at the NUSEA Individual
Nationals this past June, where he
wrote about Jean Wiener. Quinlan
was moved by Wiener’s struggle and
ultimate success to open up the first
national park in Haiti, and he spoke
about how Weiner inspires him to
overcome his own struggles in life.
Quinlan fosters a deep love for the
game of squash. He is always the first
and last player on court. He says that
Quinlan accepting his academic
award from Tim Wyant, Executive
Director of NUSEA
his favorite part of StreetSquash is
the opportunity he was given to go to
squash camp this summer when he
attended both Deerfield and Princeton
squash camps. There he enjoyed the
rigorous squash practices as well
as the friendships he made with the
other players. Quinlan’s goal for this
season is to win a tournament.
WHO SAID SUMMER’S
FOR SIPPING LEMONADE
AND RELAXING?
s any parent can attest, and any
study can back up, the summer
months are a critical time for children
to expand their horizons and continue
to learn. At StreetSquash, we have
long recognized that July and August
represent a wonderful opportunity
for our students to travel, meet new
people, and keep their brains working.
This past summer, StreetSquashers
from Newark traveled far and wide,
traveling throughout the northeast for
squash, camping and so much more.
Camps included: Dudley, Kiniya,
Herrlich, YMCA of Woodstock and
Princeton Squash Camp.
In addition, StreetSquash staff ran
their own summer camp during
Zhae Braswell and Ebonie Reaves having a
blast at Camp Herrlich in upstate New York.
David Ewetuga
July for over 30 students. Everyone
participated in an intensive, fiveday-a-week academic enrichment
and squash program. There were
multiple trips in the Tri-State area,
including campus tours of Princeton,
Seton Hall and Columbia University,
and the team finished off their day
in Manhattan with an impromptu
match against their mates from
Harlem. Students also kept up their
commitment to giving back, and
devoted a full day of volunteering at
Elijah’s Promise at Rutgers Garden,
where they planted seeds and served.
Ajani Carter returned to Camp Dudley in the Adirondack Mountains
where he spent four weeks developing his moral, personal, physical and
leadership skills.
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VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR!
Bruce Czachor, a senior at Madison High school and veteran volunteer at
StreetSquash Newark, sits down with us to chat about his history with
the program and why he continues to give back.
Q: When did you start volunteering at
StreetSquash Newark?
A: I started volunteering four years
ago when I was just a freshman
in high school. Initially I
volunteered sporadically, but now I
am on court with the
StreetSquashers every week at the
Montclair Y.
Q: What made you want to volunteer
with the program?
A: I started volunteering after my
coach, Geoff Mitchell, referred
me to the program. I thought
it would be a fun and rewarding
experience to work with the kids at
StreetSquash.
Q: What have been some of your
highlights with StreetSquash?
A: The Brick City Cup, StreetSquash
Newark’s annual fundraiser, - has
been one of my favorite
experiences at StreetSquash
Newark. It is really special to
see the StreetSquash students on
court with community members
and supporters of the program.
Q: What has been the most
rewarding experience volunteering
at StreetSquash?
A: Since I started volunteering, I
have watched numerous kids
grow and develop into fantastic
students and great squash players.
Having the privilege to watch this
process has definitely been one of
the most rewarding experiences I
have had while volunteering.
No shortage of
smiles on court with
Ebonie and Bruce.
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Q: Do you have funny, special
or interesting stories about
volunteering at StreetSquash ?
A: There are so many great stories
and situations that I have been
able to be a part of over the years.
While I can’t narrow down my
time at StreetSquash to a few
specific events, I will never forget
the laughter I shared with the
kids on court every week.
Every practice brings new and
funny stories.
Q: Are there any particular students
you have connected well with
during your time volunteering
in Newark?
A: I have definitely connected with
Ebonie, ‘18, a lot over the years
(even though she calls me Grandpa
because of the noises I make when
I exert effort to get to the ball)
Taralyn Hardwell-Gonzalez and Leah Johnson present the Brick City Cup to Team Chatham United led by Sascha Proudlove and Naim Bulbulia.
BRICK CITY CUP CELEBRATES 3RD YEAR
EVENT RAISES $45,000 TO SUPPORT
EXPANSION OF PROGRAMMING.
O
n Saturday, June 13th,
StreetSquash supporters,
students, parents and top level college
and junior players gathered for the 3rd
annual Brick City Cup at the Chatham
Club. With 6 teams representing a
variety of New Jersey squash clubs
and regions, the Brick City Cup raised
over $45,000 to support the continued
expansion of the after school program.
Team MitchellSquash, captained
by StreetSquash Newark Board
Chairman Geoff Mitchell, took home
the gold in the fundraising challenge
with an incredible $17,000. Perhaps
even more impressive was the 62
donors that helped support the team.
On the squash competition side, team
Chatham United, led by captains Naim
Bulbulia and Sascha Proudlove, took
Five of our high achieving StreetSquashers were chosen to participate in the annual Brick City Cup
home the Cup with an impressive
lineup, including RJ Keating in their
pro spot. Everyone is looking forward
to the 2016 Brick City Cup with the
goal of raising over $100,000. See you
in June!
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MEET OUR STAFF!
ANA FARINHA
Program Director
Ana joined StreetSquash Newark
in 2015. She graduated from Pace
University in 2006 with a BBA in
Business Economics and earned
a Master’s Degree in Public
Administration from New York
University in 2011. Ana has volunteer
experience working with students in
India. Prior to StreetSquash Newark,
Ana was the Director of Operations
with Roseville Community
Charter School.
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TARALYN HARDWELLGONZALEZ
CHLOE MITCHELL
Academic Director Team 2
Chloe joined StreetSquash Newark
in 2015. She graduated from Bates
College in 2015 with a B.A in
English. At Bates, Chloe played on
the varsity squash team for four
years and was co-captain her senior
year. Chloe won the Northern New
Jersey Squash Racquets Association
Junior Achievement Award for
accomplishment and sportsmanship
and coached squash for three years
prior to joining StreetSquash Newark.
Taralyn joined StreetSquash Newark
in 2014. She graduated from Morgan
State University with a Bachelors of
Science in Business Administration.
While attending college, she worked
with Baltimore SquashWise as the
Squash Coordinator. Taralyn worked as
a Case Planner in New York City before
joining StreetSquash Newark. Taralyn
is a proud StreetSquash Alum (‘05).
Squash Coordinator Team 1
CEDRIC COFER
JOSHUA GARY
Academic Coordinator Team 1
Squash Coordinator Team 2
Cedric joined StreetSquash Newark
in 2015. He graduated from Cairn
University with a Bachelors of
Science in Leadership. Before joining
StreetSquash Newark, Cedric taught
a health based curriculum designed to
help students from grades 6 through
12 make better lifestyle decisions.
Josh joined StreetSquash Newark in
2015. Josh graduated from Thurgood
Marshall Academy and is a proud
StreetSquash Alum (‘09).
2014-2015 STREETSQUASH NEWARK
PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS
StreetSquash Newark would like to thank our
incredible partners throughout Newark and New Jersey
PARTNER SCHOOLS:
FACILITIES:
VOLUNTEERS:
Eagle Academy for Young Men
The Chatham Club
Montclair State University
University High School
Montclair YMCA
Rutgers University
Newark YMCA
Wayne YMCA
STREETSQUASH SERVES
IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE
Throughout the year our StreetSquash Newark students participate in a host of
community service projects in and around Newark. Here are just a few of the places
our students have worked hard to give back to others.
American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Walk NYC
Northern New Jersey Kidney Walk
Community Food Bank of New Jersey
Rutgers Community Garden
Elijah’s Promise in New Jersey
Step Out, Walk to End Diabetes
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STREETSQUASH WOULD
LIKE TO THANK THE HUNDREDS
OF SUPPORTERS WHO HAVE
HELPED MAKE THE PROGRAM
SUCH A SUCCESS.
$50,000 AND ABOVE
$1,000 TO $2,499
BRAD FELD
ANONYMOUS
TED BEAL
BRIAN FULLER
ANONYMOUS
HENRY BRISTOL
JOHN GARRETT
ROXANNE BROWN-SMALLS
CHERIAN GEORGE
$25,000 TO $49,999
TAE HA KANG
DOUGLAS GILL
ANONYMOUS
SRINIVASA POTLURI
RICHARD GRABER
JEFF AND JILL STANLEY
DORIS GREENBERG
O’TOOLE FAMILY FOUNDATION
PRESCOTT HAFNER
ANONYMOUS
$10,000 TO $24,999
PETER HAGERMAN
ANONYMOUS
$100 TO $999
ANONYMOUS
MICHAEL ADELMAN
JULIA BISHOP
FRANCES BASSETT
HARRY CURTIS
JOSH BRICKMAN
BRUCE HARTMAN
JOSEPH BUAPIM
FRANK BUCCIERO
$5,000 TO $9,999
THE MCJ AMELIOR FOUNDATION
PRIYAN FERNANDO
$2,500 TO $4,999
ANONYMOUS
ELMEZZI PRIVATE FOUNDATION
HORIZON FOUNDATION
THE HYDE AND WATSON FOUNDATION
CATHCAFIRE INC
BRETT CHALANICK
GAETANO CIPRIANO
DAVID COMITO
JOHN CONNOR
ARMAND COSQUER
JAMES CRANDELL
BRUCE CZACHOR
DEUTSCHE BANK
PATRICK DALY
RICHARD DINAR
VIRGINIA DORIS
STEPHANIE EDELSON
ENTERPRISE INVESTMENTS
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RICHARD HANKINSON
DOUGLAS HOLTZ
JOHN HOM
TIMOTHY HSU
KIMBERLY HURLEY
MARVIN JACKSON
FRANTZ JEUDY
LAWRENCE JORDAN
RICHARD JUDD
G. MICHAEL KABOT
JAMES KEMPNER
DAVID KESSLER
ANKIT KHOSLA
SEAN KILPATRICK
JOHN KRAYACICH
MAHESH KRISHNA
PINNY AND GEORGE KUCKEL
NIHESH KUMAR
LINDA LANE
ANGELA LANGE
LISA LAVECCHIA
SUMMIT AREA PUBLIC FOUNDATION
ANDRE JOHN
VINCENT LEALE
TARA SPINELLI
KAPSTEIN PHOTO
MATT LITWIN
JILL STECK
JONATHAN KOHN
ANNETTE MACK
ROBERT STERNTHAL
STEVEN LAUER
AHALYA MAJMUDAR
MARCIA TABATCHNICK
HENRY LEE
MOHIT MANCHANDA
PATRICIA TOMLINSON
MICHAEL LUCCIOLA
ROMOLO MARCUCCI
CHRIS UCKO
GEORGE LYONS
MARKETING ZEN GROUP
APURVA VARMA
GREGORY MARCOTTE
PAUL MARVIN
ANDREW VECCHIONE
DEIDRA MARSHALL
KEVIN MAZUR
TIM VECCHIONE
WILL MCIVER
SAM MCCAULLEY
EDWARD VINCENT
H. MINKOFF
RODERICK MCRAE
ELIZABETH VINCI
THOMAS MONAGHAN
MICHAEL MELNYK
ANN VINCI
LOUIS MONARI
JOHN MERCER
PATRICIA WASSON
JESSE NOVALIS
COREY METZ
SCOTT WELLE
FRANCIS NUZZOLO
LAURA SAN MIGUEL
EDDIE WEN
GRAHAM OAKES
ORM MITCHELL
ROBERT WESSEL
ENRICO PALAZIO
ERIC MULLER
JUNE WESSEL
YOGESH POPAT
JOHN MUSTO
NAHNDI WILLIAMS
MASON POWER
MARK NAISHTEIN
JAMES WILSON
JOSEPH RICHARDSON
CYNTHIA O’DONNELL
CYNTHIA WYATT & KEN MARIN
MARIE RICKMAN
WING ONG
JEAN YODER
LISA RUBINICH
MARIE PALMER
MARCO ZARBIN
JEFFREY RUSSEL
DENNIS SAUER
CRAIG PARIS
SUZANNE PARK
UNDER $100
MARGARET SCHLEISSNER
CHARLES PARKHURST
MADOLENE ALIPAROCAUSING
ANTHONY SCHUMAN
SCOTT PAVLAK
MAURA BEHENSKY
LORI SCHWARTZ
KERRI-ANN PELLEGRINO
DAREN BENZI
JAMIE SILVERMAN
PETER PIZZI & ELIZABETH JOYCE
JUDITH BLINICK
JOYCE SILVERMAN
DIANA PERRON
RACHEL BRISTOL
JOHN SODEN
CYNTHIA POLHEMUS
JI CHANG
LAURA STERN
JOSEPH PRINCIPE
DABROW FAMILY
HAL TENDLER
PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND
TIMOTHY DEARNLEY
THOMAS TODARO
EDWARD REEVES
THOMAS DENZLER
CARA VECCHIONE
STELLA RHO
BROOKS DOLL
NITA WALSH
MARK ROSE
THOMAS FEITEL
LORENA WEBER
DAVID ROSENTHAL
SEAN FLANAGAN
D.S. WEBSTER
CHRISTINE RUTGERS
ROBERT FOWLER
SUE WELLE
RACHEL SCHERL
ROB GAWLEY
MELISSA WERRING
ROBERT AND LINDA SEDEGWICK
STEPHEN GENGARO
PHILIP WILKINS
CARY SILVERMAN
JESSE HERMANN
ZAILI XU
TIFFANY AND PAVEL SMENSKY
ANDREW HIBOLDT
RICHARD SPIKERMAN
NANCY INGRAM
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AN URBAN YOUTH
ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
StreetSquash Newark
50 Park Place, Suite 1041
Newark, NJ 07102
P: 973.848.9600
F: 973.848.9601
www.streetsquash.org/newark
MISSION
STREETSQUASH NEWARK’S MISSION IS TO PROVIDE CONSISTENT, LONGTERM
AND RELIABLE SUPPORT TO THE CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND SCHOOLS IN
NEWARK. BY EXPOSING STUDENTS TO A WIDE RANGE OF OPPORTUNITIES AND BY
MAINTAINING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS, STREETSQUASH NEWARK AIMS TO HELP
EACH CHILD REALIZE HIS OR HER ACADEMIC AND PERSONAL POTENTIAL.