Just a brief posting to let everyone know that we had an incredibly successful Inaugural Event on February 7th in San Francisco, with 200+ attendees and over $50,000 raised for Teach with Africa!  We also made some wonderful new contacts and met deeply committed supporters who clearly believe in our mission and are willing to offer significant resources to insure our longevity.  We are enormously grateful to all who made this possible.   

Hi Everyone: My name is Jack O’Neill and I live in Massachusetts. I have been working for the past seven years as a Clinical Social Worker in a large (700 students) Adult Learning Center in the City of Brockton, Massachusetts. The Adult Learning Center works with a primarily immigrant population, teaching English as a second language and preparing students for a high school equivalency diploma. Prior to the ALC, I worked for the US Government in the Veterans Administration where I was the Service Chief for a large Social Work Department (70+ Social Workers) and later as an administrator of a very large health clinic(Mental and Physical) for war veterans in Downtown Boston. I am married (almost 40 years) and I have two grown children and two grandchildren. I was a classmate of Margie Schlenoff (Founder of Teach With Africa) at Columbia University in New York, many years ago. I am very much looking forward to traveling to South Africa and working with students in the LEAP program this summer. It was very nice to read the entries of the students in this Forum, and it gave me a better understanding of the program. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone else who would like to reply.