Putting One’s Faith in Education

An instructor with a vision for his students In 1948, a Carmelite nun, Teresita Castillo, in a convent in Batanga Province, fifty miles from Manila in the Philippines, reported seeing a vision, an apparition of the Virgin Mary, a reporting that came to be known throughout the world as the Miracle of Roses. The archbishop insisted that Sister Teresita deny the vision, one of a total of nineteen visions that she would ultimately report. She refused and was expelled from the convent. Teresita made her way to the big city and devoted her life to a large parish taking care of the poverty-stricken and destitute, where she found the most meaningful work of her entire life. Sister Teresita is the aunt of Virgilio Castillo Tiongson, affectionately called Mr. T., who has taught Business English, Career Development and Computer Applications at the Jamaica campus for eight years. Not unlike his aunt, Sister Teresita, Mr. T.’s path to career fulfillment took a different path than the one he originally intended. Armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila in the Philippines, considered one of the best private universities in Asia, the alma mater for many presidents, generals, artists and celebrities of the Philippines, Mr. T. began a career in the corporate world and then made a career shift to the world of Education. “Although there is not big money in Education, money is not everything. The thing that kept me in the field is the fact that the students would come back and tell me about their own success. It [has always] kept me going to know that when you contribute something to students and they improve their own lives…that’s what counts for me.”

A virtuoso performance by staff and students Many high level representatives of the area’s leading medical facilities including Beth Israel Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, Roosevelt Hospital, Long Island College Hospital and NY Eye & Ear Infirmary were there for the “serenade of graduation” on June 15, 2007. The Deans of Philips Beth Israel School of Nursing, Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing and the Helene Fuld College of Nursing were honored guests, as well. Physicians also attended who are in private practices that regularly hire Allen School graduates and/or provide internships for them. Opening remarks, a work of thoughtful composition, by Jill Luke, Director of Queens, were followed by a duet of fond affection and respect, with Lillian Mitchell, Director of Brooklyn, to honor the original CEO, President and visionary of the Allen School, Loretta Teich. Following the interlude of honor and reverence for Mrs. Teich, was the keynote address, presented by Travis Williams, Senior Manager of Corporate Human Resources for HLTH Corporation (formerly Emdeon Corporation and WebMD).

With union hospital membership from Day One! The Speed Staffing System™, Allen School’s free-to-all-users, online staffing solution, launched an early start to the holiday season providing a great reason for Certified Nursing Assistant/Nurse Technician candidates Tracey Spencer (Brooklyn), Alscott Brown (Queens) and Monica Lopez (Queens) to give additional thanks on Thanksgiving. Better than a stack of presents under a Christmas tree, were the words, “You’re hired!” spoken by the interviewer at Long Island College Hospital, on November 21, 2007, the day before Thanksgiving to the three graduates. Even more thrilling was that the special words were spoken at the initial interview!

Allen School celebrity charity walkers join Whoopie Goldberg to fight AIDS There were television cameras and reporters everywhere at the start of the annual NY Aids Walk, a 10K (6.21 miles) event on Sunday, May 20, 2007. Under a giant arch of orange, blue and yellow balloons at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City, despite the chilly, grey and rainy day, Allen School students, administrators and faculty were out in full force along with 45,000 other participants, including Whoopie Goldberg with her four bodyguards. It is not certain that celebrity Whoopie made it onto the evening news, but some of the superstar Allen School students reported seeing themselves on the news that evening.

Two “good men” from the Sixth Communications Battalion Barracks in Brooklyn came to the Brooklyn campus of the Allen School on December 11, 2007, to pick up a “tank full” of toys donated by staff and students to the Marines’ Toys For Tots program. Sergeant Richard Lahey and Corporal Jesse Guilbe were in full dress blues and were greeted by Carmen Mitchell-Bey, Assistant to the Director of the Brooklyn campus, who organized the project in the same fashion that a Marine general would implement to rally the troops. The mission of the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots Program is to collect toys, during October through December each year, and to distribute them to needy children at Christmas, in communities in which the individual campaigns are conducted. Ms Carmen and the students filled seven giant sacks stuffed with dolls, stuffed animals, trucks, puzzles and a battery of lead-free toys, each selected to put a smile on a child’s face at Christmas.