Spotlight: eileen Van Houten award Recipients

Spotlight

2020 Eileen Van Houten AWARD REcIPIENTS

The Eileen Van Houten Award is given each year to members of the Oakwood community who have gone above and beyond in volunteering and demonstrate that “service to others is one of the deepest satisfactions the human spirit can know.”

Amira Ali and husband eslam joined the Oakwood community, as parents of Muhammad ‘21, Noor ‘23, Eman ‘27, and Ahmad ‘30. There has never been an event at Oakwood or an opportunity to volunteer without amira ready to serve with a smile on her face. amira is one of Oakwood’s biggest cheerleaders. She is always engaging, commenting, and sharing the school’s social media posts to her own network of friends which is so powerful in growing our community. She is in a sense Oakwood and Greenville’s “Good Will ambassador.” Some of her contributions include: chairing PSa’s International festival for the last several years, Sports Rep Coordinator for the eagle Booster Club, team mom for many different sports teams, volunteer for fine arts events, PSa Room Parent and so much more. amira single-handedly prepares a delicious, authentic, homemade Middle eastern lunch from scratch for all of the faculty and staff. No matter the holiday or occasion, amira always takes the time to share thoughtful notes and poems.

Jennifer and Kevin Youngs joined the Oakwood community as parents of Davis ‘26, Jacks ‘28, and Cy ‘30 . They have served as the annual fund chairs for the past two years, helping the school to achieve the highest parent participation rate in the history of giving at Oakwood. They also achieved an astounding faculty/staff participation rate of over 90 percent, almost four times higher than before. Kevin and Jennifer wanted to make giving to Oakwood fun and are true teacher supporters. Jennifer has served on Oakwood’s Board of Trustees and development Committee for the past two years. In addition to their volunteer service, through their family business, Youngs Physical Therapy & Sports Performance, Jennifer and Kevin have supported the school at the highest level as a Presenting Corporate Partner, providing numerous valuable services for the school’s athletic program that we could not afford on our own, such as athletic training services for varsity home games, CPR/aed and first aid training for all coaches, Horizons volunteers and staff members, providing care for all student athletes, and so much more. Most recently, Youngs Physical Therapy hosted weekly free online Pe classes exclusively for Oakwood students during online learning.