Grand Re-Opening: www.cfy.org

Today CFY unveils its brand new website which features the logo and tagline you see above. You can get the latest on our success, not only from a national perspective, but also check out the local links for an update on our work in New York City, Philadelphia and Atlanta. We’d love to hear what you think of the website—please email ksilbajoris@cfy.org with your feedback.

A Moving Experience

Our national headquarters has moved to a space that is beautiful and large enough to accommodate a growing staff determined to “Bring Learning Home.” Our new Manhattan “home” is located at 322 Eighth Avenue, Floor 12A, New York, NY 10001—phone numbers and email addresses remain the same. Visitors are welcome!

4,550 in 2007/2008!

CFY has an ambitious goal this year: to serve 4,550 students and their families in four cities across the nation. In New York we will serve 2,400 families (remarkable when you remember in our first year we served 230!). In Philadelphia, our goal is to serve 1,300 families this year—followed by Atlanta where we will serve 600 families. Finally, in our fourth city, which we have not officially announced, we will serve 250 families late this spring.

CFY is on target for reaching our ambitious goal: our CFY-New York City program kicked off on October 6th and this week we’ll serve our fourth and fifth schools in NYC; this past Saturday also marked our kick-off in Philadelphia; and Atlanta gets started on December 1st.

CFY needs more than 4,500 computers! Is your company or organization interested in donating computers to CFY? CFY accepts donations of 30 or more complete computer systems (CPU and monitor) at a time. Donations to CFY, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. Contact Louis Edwards at ledwards@cfy.org for more information.

Donor Appreciation

Hats off to Time Warner Cable who has run CFY’s public service announcement, entitled “Kareem,” over 250 times since June. This is a demonstration of meaningful corporate generosity, as it represents over $140,400 worth of donated air time. Beginning in August TWC also began running CFY’s second PSA entitled “Families.” Thank you TWC for all the visibility your have provided for our important work.

CFY People

Addition to our National board: CFY is very proud to introduce its newest Board member: Brad Palmer, who is managing partner of Palm Ventures, an entrepreneurial investment company located in Greenwich, CT and founded in 1991. Brad is very well equipped to provide the insight and guidance to help CFY fulfill its goals—we welcome him to the family.

A Wonderful spokesperson for CFY: Football fans take notice! New York Jets linebacker, Bryan Thomas, has become a spokesperson for CFY. He has already been featured on the CNBC show, Fast Money, and in print in the New York Resident (visit our website to read this piece!) Says Thomas, “I have two kids of my own and watching them grow up has made me realize that, as a parent, I am responsible for giving them the tools they need to ensure life-long successes.” Stay tuned for more on Jets #99…

Additions to staff: To address our ambitious goals, CFY has recruited a talented and experienced staff that includes many new people, all listed below.

CFY National
• Bill Janes, Finance Manager
• Sue Yacka, Grants & Communications Manager
• Nelson Perez, Assistant Help Desk Manager
• Jesse Lehrer, Executive Assistant

CFY-New York
• Cindy Menz-Erb, Program Director
• Leyvan Jones, Program Manager

CFY-Philadelphia
• Deavon Church, Technology Manager
• Ryan Davies, Program Coordinator

CFY-Atlanta
• Jeanne Artime, Program Manager
• Richard Hicks, Technology Manager

Finally, kudos to longtime and valued CFY staff members who have recently been promoted to exciting new positions: Nicole Wierzbicki and Bill Rappel, respectively CFY’s National Program Director and CFY’s National Director of the Affiliate Program& Legislative Affairs.

Save the Date!

CFY's third annual Tech Leadership Awards will take place on June 17, 2008.

Information on nominating candidates for the Family Learning Software Award can be found on our website.

Spotlight: Hector

“Last year, when I was at P.S. 8, I had a “2” on the math test. Every day I used to go home from my teacher, Ms. Guerrero, and use the program on the computer that helps you. It asks you “what do you need help on?” And then you choose if you need help on fractions, decimals. And it tells you how you can understand it better. And now, I have a ‘3’ on the math test.”
-Hector Rodriguez, Spring 2007

Hector’s story, which has been validated by his teachers, is a perfect example of how bringing learning home can help students do better in school. Hector shares his CFY computer with his aunt and teenage cousin. He reports using the CFY computer to help him with his English, math, science and social science homework five or more days a week. The software that helps him most in school are Math Help and Galactic Math. He enjoys using the Internet to do research for school and feels that the CFY program has helped him “a lot” in terms of his school-related motivation, effort, and confidence.