Seventeen young men from Summit Academy celebrated the achievement of earning their GED recently. The official ceremony was celebrated at Butler County Community College’s Succop Theater. Several students called the night an important moment in their lives and said the sense of accomplishment by completing their high school equivalency was awesome. Summit Academy student Vernon J. from Delaware said “Everyone back home was thinking that I wasn’t going to graduate. This is like proving them wrong and trying to do something with my life”. The Summit Academy offers a comprehensive GED preparation program and is also a licensed testing facility for the GED exam. The program, operates by Summit Academy Teacher Beth Fitzgerald, provides exceptional opportunities and extremely high completion rates for young men whose academic objectives are best met through the pursuit of a GED. These students also receive post-secondary planning services to ensure that college or career training continues after completion of the GED. Congratulations to all of our students who earned their GED
Summit Academy wishes each of these young men continued success and happiness in the future.
Mr. C. Named Honorary Chair of the Sr. Thea Bowman Black Catholic Educational Foundation Scholarship Event.
Mr. Sam Costanzo of The Academy Schools lent his name, his presence and his personal resources to assist with a benefit whose mission and ministry has the focus of service to young African Americans in poverty. On April 6, 2016 the event was held at Heinz Field in celebration of twenty-six years of The Sister Thea Bowman Black Catholic Educational Foundation. The Foundation began with the passion and spirit of an African American Franciscan Sister from Mississippi. Sister Thea Bowman was in the terminal stages of cancer when she was presented with a vision and a plan to raise up and sustain youngsters in need of opportunities for higher education. Mr. Sam Costanzo, Founder of The Academy Schools, was chosen to be Honorary Chair of this event based on his initiative and vision in juvenile rehabilitation over his 40 year career. The hope is that this will be the beginning of a partnership between these two endeavors which promote support and mentoring for young people in our society who are too often forgotten.
A heartfelt thanks from a resident and a counselor at the Summit Academy for a beautiful experience provided by the Tickets for Kids Charities of Pittsburgh.
Dear Tickets for Kids,
Hello. My name is Ryan and I’m a student at Summit Academy. I was one of the lucky six that was able to go to the Cirque Dreams Holidaze show, and after that I felt like I was one of the luckiest kids in the world. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for those tickets and for giving me the chance to experience that.
Usually, people would not always pick me for something like this, they would not want to put so much trust in me. It made me feel so special, and so important, and so good inside because I have never been to anything like that in my life, never a place so fancy, never even anywhere comparable to that. It was the nicest place that I have ever been. I am so grateful for this experience that it’s hard to put thank yous into words, because it was so much greater than words could describe.
Thank you so much, Ryan ————————————-
"None of the students I took with me had ever been to the theater before. One asked me awkwardly what the building was really for, and whether the gems in the chandelier had been lent specifically for the performance we were watching. One of them asked if it would be alright if he touched the parquet marble floor to see if it was real. This is to say nothing of how they responded to the show itself. Witnessing their wonder was one of the highlights of my career thus far. Simply put, my students are not accustomed to joy, to innocence, to beauty, to compliments. Every student I took with me said that seeing the show was one of the greatest experiences of their lives. Watching them experience that was one of the greatest experiences of mine."
The Summit Academy students, along with area probation officers, enjoyed a day with The Pittsburgh Steelers.
In addition to a lunch and tour of Heinz Field, the students had the pleasure of hearing words of inspiration and motivation from both Allegheny County Juvenile Court Judge, Jack McVay and former Steeler, Charlie Batch.
