Student/Partner Alliance Helps Inner-City Teens with Scholarships and Mentors

Student/Partner Alliance (S/PA) will host an informal cocktail reception and lecture at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, in Summit, on Friday, May 1st at 6:30 PM. Father Robert Sandoz, Educator and President of Christ The King Prep School in Newark will make the presentation entitled, “The Challenge of Inner-City Education and the Impact of Mentoring in the Future of Our Children”.

Student/Partner Alliance (S/PA) has helped over 1,750 low-income Newark area teens receive a college preparatory high school education through a combination of scholarships and mentoring, since 1993. Christ the King, a Christo Rey school, which incorporates a work-study program for all students, is one of the eight schools that S/PA is affiliated with. All of the schools for which S/PA awards scholarships, are strong, academic, college preparatory private schools in the greater Newark and Jersey City areas. 

“Every day in the newspapers, you read about the problems of income inequality. We can all make a difference by supporting low-income students as a mentor; and with scholarship aid as well. With mentors to encourage students toward success in their academic goals, their chance of graduating from high school and attending college rises dramatically, “ says Margaret Momber, Executive Director of the local non-profit, Student Partner Alliance. “We match mentors with a motivated student, and then provide mentor training and fun events to bring the mentor and his/her student together on a regular basis. Both students and mentors tell us how much they enjoy and appreciate the experience. “

Many S/PA Board Members and mentors are residents of Summit and the surrounding towns. “We hope to encourage more concerned residents to become involved with helping our neighbors in Newark, Irvington, Jersey City, Elizabeth and Bayonne, so that they might have the opportunities for a better life that a good education offers,” remarked Mr. Emmett Daly, President of S/PA Board of Trustees and longtime mentor to S/PA students. “Thanks to grants from the Summit Area Public Foundation and PSEG Foundation, we are able to host this free informational lecture and reception on May 1st.”

Interested individuals from the public are encouraged to attend to hear this inspirational educator share his insight and experiences with the group. There is no charge for admission, but kindly RSVP to: mmbusby@studentpartneralliance.org or call 908-522-0405 by April 27th.
The wine and hors d’oeuvre reception starts at 6:30pm. The event will take place at the Visual Arts Center of NJ, 68 Elm Street, Summit.