School volunteers honored with Mack Davis Award for 50,000 hours of service

At a special reception on May 14, Cambridge School Volunteers (CSV) honored nearly 900 volunteers who served in grades K-12 of the Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) during the 2007-08 academic year. Together, the volunteers provided more than 50,000 hours of individualized academic services to Cambridge youth. The reception was held at the Gutman Library of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

After a welcome by Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn, Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons, and CSV Board President Louise Adler, longevity certificates were awarded by CSV Executive Director Harriet Finck to those who have volunteered for four, 10, 15, and 20 years.

Awards honoring the late Mack I. Davis II, who was a Harvard administrator with an extraordinary record of public service, including membership on the CSV board, were presented to the following outstanding CSV volunteers:

Phil Aurigemma (elementary volunteer, Graham and Parks School); Arnie Miller (classroom assistant and tutor, Cambridge Rindge & Latin [CRLS]); Mary Nelson (elementary tutor, Tobin School); Lisa Smith (ESL tutor, CRLS); Branner Stewart (NetPal and elementary tutor, Peabody School); and Charlotte Swartz (intergenerational math program tutor, Haggerty School).

In addition, the Kenneth S. Neal Award, given to a teacher or administrator with exceptional commitment to CSV and its volunteers, was presented to Maria Athanassiou, teacher in charge of the CRLS bilingual program.

Awards were also presented to the following corporations and other universities whose employees participate in CSV team-based projects in the Cambridge Public Schools: Cambridge Systematics, Draper Laboratory, Genzyme, Grace Performance Chemicals, Harvard Graduate School of Education, IBM, MIT, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Stride Rite, and the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center.