{"id":608,"date":"2008-02-06T13:59:54","date_gmt":"2008-02-06T17:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=608"},"modified":"2014-11-14T16:01:50","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T21:01:50","slug":"chapman-school-spreads-holiday-cheer-to-teens-in-foster-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2008\/02\/chapman-school-spreads-holiday-cheer-to-teens-in-foster-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapman School spreads holiday cheer to teens in foster care."},"content":{"rendered":"

When Educate Tomorrow, a mentoring program for teens aging out of foster care, approached the Chapman Graduate School of Business in the College of Business Administration about hosting its holiday party, the staff leapt into action. In just a few weeks, they pulled together an evening of games, raffle prizes, goody bags, and a step performance by the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority sisters that catapulted participants out of their seats. Burger King and local party planner Signature Gardens lent their support to the evening\u2019s festivities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
\nJos\u00e9 de la Torre<\/em><\/strong>, former dean of the Chapman School, addresses the attendees at the Educate Tomorrow holiday party. (Ralph Ventura Photography)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The party, said Senior Manager of Graduate Recruiting <\/span>Priscilla Ferreira<\/strong> <\/span>(MSHRM \u201906, MBA \u201900), was the first public event held in the Special Events Center of the new College of Business Administration Complex. The location seemed apt, she said, given that the event coincided with the departure of Chapman School Dean Jos\u00e9 de la Torre<\/strong>, who had championed development of the complex and was gratified to have his tenure end with such a meaningful gathering in the space.<\/p>\n

De la Torre provided attendees with a moving account of his early struggles in life, how he came to the United States in 1960 with very little money, and how he worked as a dishwasher to put himself through college. He urged audience members to set their sights high, suggesting that the \u201conly limitations we have in this world are those we place on ourselves.\u201d He spoke of education and hard work as \u201cenabling you to do anything you desire to do,\u201d and added that \u201cwhile material things come and go, an education stays with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff\u2019s enthusiasm for event reflects sense of connection, belief in mission.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ferreira recalled that the period leading up to de la Torre\u2019s leave-taking was \u201ca very emotional time for our staff,\u201d but that they \u201cchanneled those feelings into creating a memorable event for Educate Tomorrow.\u201d They pitched in to purchase raffle items and prizes and worked to have specially designed backpacks\u2014brandishing the Chapman School and Educate Tomorrow logos\u2014made for all attendees.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe event really highlighted our closeness and the level of enthusiasm we feel about our mission,\u201d Ferreira said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
\nGames and activities kept everyone amused.<\/em> <\/span>(Ralph Ventura Photography)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The school will explore the potential for future partnerships that capitalize on the natural connection between its and Educate Tomorrow\u2019s shared goals of expanding educational access to students from all backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d love to have these young people consider Florida International University as their first choice for college,\u201d Ferreira said. \u201cI think we made a lasting impression.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Educate Tomorrow, a mentoring program for teens aging out of foster care, approached the Chapman Graduate School of Business in the College of Business Administration about hosting its holiday party, the staff leapt into action. In just a few weeks, they pulled together an evening of games, raffle prizes, goody bags, and a step […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[991,2154,2155],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24179,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions\/24179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}