Communities In Schools Spotlights 2012 Unsung Heroes Award Recipients

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Communities In Schools, the leading organization dedicated to empowering students to stay in school and achieve in life, is proud to announce the five winners of the 2012 Unsung Heroes award. The award, first presented in 2007, recognizes members of the Communities In Schools national network who embody the core values of the organization and exemplify the commitment of Communities In Schools to surround students with a community of support.

“Site coordinators are at the heart of the Communities In Schools network, and these Unsung Heroes award recipients go above and beyond to ensure the students we serve have the resources and support to be successful in school and in life”

The five 2012 Unsung Heroes are:

• Stephanie Armendariz, Communities In Schools of South Central Texas, who took over a parent engagement program targeted at fathers and recruited 300 fathers to attend.
• Paul Fagen, Communities In Schools of Chicago, who saw that school violence was an issue at his school, so enlisted students to create a conflict resolution club that is now three years old and has helped resolve more than 150 conflicts in the last year.
• Linda Shelley, Communities In Schools of Peninsula, Wash., who coordinated free dental care for a family of six children without health insurance and a family income of only $34,000.
• Bobby Valcin, Communities In Schools of Palm Beach, Fla., who coordinated services for more than 625 Haitian students and their families who sought refuge in Palm Beach County after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
• Steven Weeks, Communities In Schools of Greenville, S.C., who not only takes care of the middle school students on his current caseload, but often visits the high school to eat lunch with and check in on the students he used to serve.

The award recipients were honored on September 20th at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“Site coordinators are at the heart of the Communities In Schools network, and these Unsung Heroes award recipients go above and beyond to ensure the students we serve have the resources and support to be successful in school and in life,” said Communities In Schools President Daniel Cardinali.

To learn more about the 2012 Unsung Heroes, go to: http://www.communitiesinschools.org/our-impact/unsung-heroes/2012/

Communities In Schools surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Through a school-based site coordinator, Communities In Schools connects students and their families to critical community resources, tailored to local needs. Working in nearly 2,700 schools, in the most challenged communities in 24 states and the District of Columbia, Communities In Schools serves nearly 1.26 million young people and their families every year. It has become the nation’s leading dropout prevention organization, and the only one proven to both increase on-time graduation rates and reduce dropout rates. Visit our website at www.communitiesinschools.org.