Hundreds of Education Supporters Celebrate Success
Ridge, Piccola, McCall, Cavoli, Aschenbrenner Honored for Commitment to PA's Youth
HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The REACH (Road to Educational Achievement through Choice) Foundation's 3rd Annual Champions of Choice Awards Dinner Tuesday was a successful celebration of the efforts of school choice pioneers, as well as the parents and students who have educational futures thanks to these champions.
"We are honored by the constant support for parental choice in education and specifically the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program," says Andrew T. LeFevre, executive director of the REACH Alliance and REACH Foundation. "Taking time to honor and celebrate these individuals is only one way to show our deep appreciation for all of their efforts on behalf of Pennsylvania's children."
The 2009 Champions of Choice honorees were: Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola, (R- Dist 15), Chairman, Senate Education Committee; Representative Keith R. McCall (D- Dist 122), Speaker of the House; Gregory J. Cavoli, General Manager/Vice President of Enterprise Rent-a-Car. REACH also presented its Founders' Award to Henry Aschenbrenner, past Deputy Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and founding board member of the REACH Alliance and REACH Foundation.
In addition, former Pennsylvania Governor and former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge received the first-ever Paul M. Henkels Champions of Choice award, named for the late chairman of REACH. Henkels thought that every child in Pennsylvania should be able to attend the school that meets their educational needs, regardless of financial status and zip-code. He was working towards this goal upon his death in January 2009. Many achievements have been gained because of his continuous efforts to make school choice a standard instead of just an option.
"My goal while Governor was to make Pennsylvania a leader among states and a competitor among nations," said Ridge. "The centerpiece of that initiative is to improve the quality of education, to empower parents and give them a choice."
"Without the people we honored tonight and countless more, we would not have persevered over the years," added LeFevre. "The children of Pennsylvania now have a choice in their education and have a greater opportunity of a successful future."
2009 Champions of Choice Event Sponsors: Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association, Henkels & McCoy, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Bravo Foundation, Donahue Family Foundation, Langan Public Affairs, The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, Beneficial Bank and Ream Printing Company.
About the REACH Foundation: Founded in 1993, the REACH (Road to Educational Achievement through Choice) Foundation is dedicated to ensuring parental choice in education in Pennsylvania. REACH continually promotes policies that enable statewide parental choice in education, including the well-established and highly successful EITC Program. For more information on the REACH Foundation, visit www.paschoolchoice.org.
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