Jumpstart’s Scribbles to Novels Event
|
|
|
 |
|
Scribbles
guests from
City Hall:
Diahann
Billings-Burford
(Chief
Service
Officer for
NYC
Service),
Myung Lee
(Executive
Director
Jumpstart),
Patricia
Harris
(First
Deputy Mayor
of New York
City), Laura
Ensler
(Early
Education
consultant
and member
of
Jumpstart’s
Eastern
Advisory
Board), Nazli
Parvizi,
Commissioner,
Community
Affairs..
Photo
courtesy of
Jumpstart |
|
|
|
|
On Thursday, April 29th, Jumpstart’s Scribbles to Novels event convened acclaimed
authors William D. Cohan (House of Cards), Christina Baker Kline (Bird in Hand),
Amy Sedaris (I Like You; Hospitality Under the Influence), and Jonathan Tropper (This
Is Where I Leave You) to celebrate and support the literary journey that takes a child
from scribbles to novels.
The event raised over $718,000 and brought almost 400 concerned New Yorkers together
to show their support for the organization. Said Executive Director, Myung J. Lee:
“Jumpstart pairs caring adults with low-income children who work together for an entire
school year on the language, literacy and social skills they need to achieve not only in
kindergarten, but in life.” She added, “Our authors’ personal stories reinforced the
importance of Jumpstart’s work everyday to help at- risk preschool children establish a
life-long love of learning and writing.”
Scribbles to Novels was chaired by Jennifer and Andrew Marrus, Lorie Almon
and Mitch Bompey, and David and Kirsten Axelson Carmel, all of New York City.
The Honorary Chair was Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand.
The event opened with a group of preschoolers from the lower east side singing their
favorite numbers from the Jumpstart songbook. Author Christina Baker Kline also served
as the evening’s humorous and inspiring emcee.
Among its many individual supporters, Scribbles to Novels was sponsored by major
underwriting from Bank of America, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, The Pearson Foundation,
Barclay’s, Ernst & Young, Gibson Dunn, KPMG, Moelis, Royal Bank of Canada, Select
Equity Group, Sullivan & Cromwell, White & Case, and Peeq Media Blue Ocean.
About Jumpstart
Jumpstart knows that every child is born with the potential to succeed in school and in
life. We also know that the foundation for that success is established in the early years,
before a child enters kindergarten. To cultivate a child’s literacy, language and social
skills, Jumpstart brings college students and community volunteers together with
SCRIBBLES TO NOVELS
Preschool children in low-income communities for year-long, individualized tutoring and
mentoring. Since its beginning in 1993, Jumpstart has empowered adult mentors to
impact over 75,000 children across America. During this school year, nearly 300 trained
Jumpstart college student Corps members are spending over 75,000 hours at 27
preschools with 1,100 NYC preschool children, preparing them for school and life-long
success.
About the Authors
William D. Cohan was a Wall Street banker for 17 years at Lazard Frères, Merrill Lynch
and JPMorgan Chase. He left JPMorgan to write The Last Tycoons, which edged out Alan
Greenspan's Age of Turbulence to win the FT/Goldman Sachs award. Bloomberg.com, and
The Evening Standard named it Book of the Year. His most recent book House of Cards,
about the collapse of Bear Stearns, was a New York Times bestseller. His work has
appeared in the Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Daily Beast, Vanity Fair,
Fortune and elsewhere. Since January, Bill has been writing a regular opinion column on
business in The New York Times.
Christina Baker Kline is the author of four novels, including, most recently, Bird in
Hand and The Way Life Should Be. She is co-editor, with Anne Burt, of About Face:
Women Write about What They See When They Look in the Mirror and co-author, with
Christina L. Baker, of The Conversation Begins: Mothers and Daughters Talk about Living
Feminism. She has edited two other anthologies: Child of Mine and Room to Grow. She
is an editor on staff at the social networking site SheWrites and lives outside of New York
City. Her blog is A Writing Life: Notes on Craft and the Creative Process.
Amy Sedaris has appeared often on screen, both large and small. She’s co-creator,
with Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello, of Comedy Central’s hit show Strangers with
Candy and half of the Obie-winning “Talent Family” playwright team (with her brother,
David). Amy lives in Manhattan with the ghost of her imaginary boyfriend, Ricky, and
her rabbit, Dusty.
Jonathan Tropper is the author of the national bestseller This Is Where I Leave You.
He is also the author of How to Talk to a Widower, Everything Changes, The Book of Joe,
and Plan B. He lives with his family in Westchester, New York, where he teaches writing
at Manhattanville College. He is currently adapting This Is Where I Leave You as a feature film for Warner Brothers Studios.
|
|