Above and Beyond

Star Learning Volunteers Recognized by Mayor’s Office

Gail Janowitz, above, recruited her daughter Rose as a Star tutor

Congratulations to three Star Learning Center tutors and the program’s volunteer librarian, who’ve been honored by the Mayor’s Office and the NYC Service Mayoral Service Recognition Program for their exceptional commitment! These certificates are awarded to individuals who volunteer 100 or more hours with an organization in a single calendar year.

Like so many aspects of the last year, the awards were affected by COVID; while they’re usually given in April, in conjunction with National Volunteer Month, the 2019 volunteers were acknowledged months later. According to NYC Service’s recently released 2019 Volunteers Count Report, Goddard’s Star Learning Center joined many other nonprofits and community-based organizations participating in the data collection effort, recording 268 volunteers for 2019.

This year’s recipients include current tutors Daniel Kabat and Gail Janowitz, former tutor Lydia Palmer, and Star’s librarian, Jane Kunstler, who came on board as a volunteer in 2014 and has kept the library in top shape for over 6 years.

Janowitz, who joined Star in the fall of 2018, is currently working with three different high school students each week. She also recruited her college-age daughter, Rose, to tutor at Star during her winter break in January 2020. She has stayed with us since, tutoring remotely from upstate New York. “The hours I tutor are some of my favorite of the week: I’m happy to know I’m making a real impact on these students’ lives, while I get to stretch my mind with often challenging subject matter and interact with some amazing teenagers,” she says.

Kabat also began tutoring in fall 2018, while on sabbatical from Lehman College/CUNY, where he is a Physics professor. He recruited his wife, Katie O’Dwyer, and daughter Emily to sign on when COVID forced the program to shift to remote tutoring in April 2020.

Palmer, a college freshman, tutored multiple students during her four consecutive years at Star, and reached the 100 hour milestone during her senior year of high school.

We thank them all for their incredible commitment!