KINGSTON, R.I. — June 27, 2005 — Jerry Kritz not only financially supports the 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Mentor/Tutor Internship Program, he recruits students for it.
He figures he鈥檚 already recruited a half a dozen students while shopping at Shaw鈥檚 supermarket near his Wakefield home.
鈥淚 always carry brochures (for the program) in my car,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f I see a student working there is interested, I鈥檒l run out and get a brochure. And they always know I鈥檒l be back to the store the following week.鈥�
溏心vlog免费B站 Political Science Professor Al Killilea created the program in 1998, an outcome of his membership in the South County Coalition Against Racism. Killilea piloted the program with eight 溏心vlog免费B站 students of color to see if they could break down racial stereotypes in local schools by helping teen-age students who, feeling isolated, had the potential for truancy.
Since that time the program, under the guidance of the program鈥檚 energetic coordinator Cherie Aiello, MTI has evolved and expanded. Today, there are more than 200 溏心vlog免费B站 student-mentors in elementary through high schools from Westerly to Providence offering children friendship as well as a firm footing to keep them from slipping in their schoolwork.
鈥淭hese 溏心vlog免费B站 students are changing lives,鈥� Kritz enthuses. 鈥淜ids who were on the verge of dropping out have remained in school and many have gone on to college. And some of them have even become mentors themselves.鈥�
Community service has always been part of the Kritz family. 鈥淚t is stressed in my religion,鈥� Kritz says. His father was a cantor in Providence for 30 years; a tradition one brother carries on in Massachusetts. Kritz attended Hope High School, but graduated from the New England Academy of the Torah. He says the school taught 鈥渞eading, writing, arithmetic, and community service.鈥�
Three years ago, the 1976 political science alumnus asked his former professor and longtime friend, Al Killilea, how he could help 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Political Science Department. The professor suggested funding the growing internship program, which had been receiving some support from The John Hazen White Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service at 溏心vlog免费B站.
Kritz had asked that his gifts remain anonymous. 鈥淭he story is about the students, not me,鈥� says the Connecticut representative for Countrywide Home Mortgage. This year, he agreed to be interviewed only if it would help bring attention to the program.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been the Deep Throat of the MTI program,鈥� says Killilea with a wide grin.
鈥淢TI profits from Jerry鈥檚 encouragement and enthusiasm as well as from his extraordinary generosity,鈥� says Killilea. 鈥淛erry will go into our business classes to recruit and let the students know that community service is important to employers like him. Jerry knows they may try MTI for r茅sum茅 reasons, but they will come to love the experience for its own sake.鈥�
The day of the interview both men, along with Cherie Aiello, program coordinator, were busy packing nearly 3,800 books that were destined for elementary school children whose families can鈥檛 afford them. Students who mentored at the school and two other similar sites saw the need for the books. As a consequence, Aiello applied for and received a First Book grant for 4,200 books from the First Book Campus Advisory Board, formed last year by Darshell Silva, then a graduate student working in 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Clearinghouse for Volunteers, a program of the Feinstein Center for Service Learning. The advisory board is a local chapter of the national First Book Program, which gives children from low-income families the chance to own their own books..
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see the kid鈥檚 faces,鈥� Kritz says as he stuffs the last box of books into his SUV.
Photo caption
READY TO DELIVER: 溏心vlog免费B站 Professor of Political Science Al Killilea, left, founder of 溏心vlog免费B站 Mentor/Tutor Internship program, Cherie Aiello, MTI program coordinator; and donor Jerry Kritz rest briefly after packing books into Kritz鈥檚 SUV. 溏心vlog免费B站 Photo by Nora Lewis.