AROUND PACE
2013–14 Parent Organization Officers Parents Club President: Anne LaMastra Vice President: Lori Movsovitz-Edlin Secretary: Donna Pottorff Treasurer: Stephanie Luetters Fall Fair Chairs: Allyson Maske and Cathy Funston Auction Chairs: Michele Boushka, Jessica Levenson and Leigh Walsh
Arts Alliance Co-Presidents: Joanna Hurley and Kim Thomson Secretary: Alison Sample Treasurer: Lynn Lund
Booster Club Presidents: Angela and Bill Selmon Vice Presidents: Kathy and David Rubenstein Treasurer: Keith Payne Secretary: Joanne Brown Booster Bash Chair: Cindy Jacoby Fall Sports Festival Chair: Tom Bethel Pace Race Chairs: Heather Litvak and Hilary Silverboard
12
KnightTimes | Fall 2013
Keeping Pace Returns In 2006, Pace began offering Keeping Pace, an academic summer program for the youth of Atlanta’s Peoplestown neighborhood and its surrounding communities. “Our mission is to provide an enriching, fun and stimulating program for middle-school students to meet their needs because they’re too old for camp and too young to work,” says Keeping Pace Director Martha Downer-Assaf. To facilitate the program, Pace partnered with Youth on the Move, an organization that provides academic support, leadership training, career and life planning and cultural opportunities to youth in Peoplestown, and with Raising Expectations, a similar program in the Vine City community. Rising sixth, seventh and eighth graders participated in an interview process to become Pace Scholars at the four-week camp, and 20 were selected. To create stimulating and interesting programing, the Keeping Pace team utilized many of the resources available on the Pace campus and introduced two new areas of study: sports psychology and the history of Atlanta. The new courses were multi-faceted, focused on writing, and were supported by field trips to the Atlanta History Center and the Tellus Science Museum. Keeping Pace students also participated in science and nutrition classes, math tutorials, swimming, pottery, book club and art. The program concluded with a celebration for the Scholars and their families, Keeping Pace staff and volunteers, and community members affiliated with the program’s partner organizations. “It was a wonderful time to look back on the success of the program this year and over the past seven years,” Downer-Assaf says. “We also remembered in a special way two original Keeping Pace students who passed away tragically years later.” Downer-Assaf credits the participating Pace faculty and students for this summer’s success. Faculty members involved included Mark Knott, Regina Tate, Matt Hall, Donice Bloodworth and Greg Lefever. Returning counselors were Jack Assaf ’13, and seniors Denzel Franklin and Shabrea Duffy. Duffy and Glendrevious Harris ’12 matriculated to Pace after their experiences at Keeping Pace. “Ultimately, Keeping Pace is successful because of the work and effort put forth by countless volunteers,” says Downer-Assaf. “Pace students volunteered more than 600 hours. Without them, Keeping Pace would not have been the tremendous success that it was. Next summer, follow Keeping Pace on Facebook!”