They are teachers who have helped students nurture their talents.
They are community members who have done more than just heal the sick.
They are volunteers who saw a problem and figured out a way to fix it.
The 2011 Post-Standard Achievement Award winners come from all walks of life. And yet they all share a passion for excellence that inspires their communities and a desire to work to make Central New York a better place.
The eight winners will be honored at a noon luncheon April 27 at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool. Here are this year’s winners:
Diane Kuppermann, of Syracuse, has made thousands of wishes come true. As president and chief executive officer of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central New York, Kuppermann has fulfilled the wishes of more than 1,200 children across 15 counties.
This year the organization expects to grant about 80 wishes — at an average cost of $9,000 each — to children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Kuppermann also serves on the board of directors of Temple Adath Yeshurun and is a life member of the Greater Syracuse Section of the National Council of Jewish Women.
In 2008, she received the National Council of Jewish Women’s Hannah G. Solomon Award, which is given to an individual who has changed the lives of others through his or her leadership efforts and service.
Thomas Slater, of Syracuse, stepped into the role of executive director of the Food Bank of Central New York in 1995, when the organization was virtually bankrupt. ater has helped create a central warehouse and food distribution system that serves 288 different organizations across 11 counties.
Between July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, the food bank provided more than 8,640,094 meals to people in need. Slater has worked to keep administrative costs down while ensuring that for every dollar raised, 95 cents is used for food and direct services.
Before coming to Central New York in 1995, Slater was the founder and president of the Food Bank Association of New York State. Under his tenure, he was able to secure a $5 million increase in funding from the state.
Also awarded...
Bill Aris, of Manlius, is a Fayetteville-Manlius High School track and field coach who has found a winning stride. For more than 10 years, he has coached his students to five Nike national cross-country championships. This includes the five consecutive national championships the girls team won from 2006-2010.
Aris created the “stotan” philosophy of running that emphasizes a healthy lifestyle with rigorous training. The word “stotan” is a combination of the words stoic and spartan, first coined in the 1940s by legendary cross-country coach Percy Wells Cerutty.
“Bill teaches his athletes much more than just how to win,” said Bill Fisher, who had three of his children coached by Aris between 1993 and 2000. “My three children learned many life skills from him that they carried through their college academics and athletics and into their professional careers.”
Deborah Boughton, of Syracuse, is a tireless dance instructor who has taught thousands of students during her 40-year career. At the age of 15, Boughton accepted a Ford Scholarship Award with the National Ballet in Washington, D.C. After graduation from the program and a year with the company, Boughton left to be a soloist at the Syracuse Ballet Theatre from 1970 to 1978.
fter leaving the theater in 1978, Boughton opened the Center of Ballet and Dance Arts in Syracuse. Some of her students have gone on to perform with the Washington Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet and the New York City Ballet.
In 1979, Boughton and her husband, Vincent Tumbiolo, were asked by the Cultural Resources Council to create a holiday dance production. The result was “The Adventures of Rudolph,” which has become a children’s holiday tradition, having been performed for more than 180,000 students. This past December, the show celebrated it 31st anniversary.
Avery Brooks, of Syracuse, is a steadfast supporter of athletics who has helped provide Syracuse youth with a way to play. In the 1990s, Brooks saw a need for a summer youth baseball program that extended past the Little League season that ended in June. To fill that gap, he created the Youth Enrichment Outreach Program, which is based on a belief that baseball can help in shaping childhood direction, at least when it is coached by adults who share that faith.
In 2006, Brooks helped Jimmy Oliver, of the Boys and Girls Club, create an inner-city baseball league for 13- to 15-year-olds who were now being served by the Little League. Last summer, Brooks helped his friend Steve Barnum bring the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program to Syracuse for children ages 5 to 12. The program, which is run through Major League Baseball, attracted about 100 children.
“He’s phenomenal,” said Barnum, who has been friends with Brooks for more than 33 years.
Peter Plumley, of LaFayette, has a passion for making science interesting to thousands of Central New York children. Plumley, a professor at Syracuse University, is the director of the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair and the exhibits project manager at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse. While at the MOST, Plumley has helped develop the CNY Rocket Team Challenge and the Bridge Build ’em and Bust ’em challenge, which attracted more than 600 students this past fall.
Between 2001-2005, Plumley was the coordinator for the Explore Engineering program. The program took middle school students on a visit of SU’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, where they explored the labs and interacted with college students.
Plumley is also the director of the Honeywell Summer Science Week at the MOST. Last year, the summer program had 65 students who learned geologic and environmental methods while performing scientific field work.
Martha Ryan, of Syracuse, is a co-founder of the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Site, an organization that provides support for families affected by physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse.
Since opening its doors in 2002, the group has helped more than 3,000 children and families. Over the past several years, Ryan has helped raise more than $300,000 for the group.
Ryan, who is a cancer survivor, is also the director of the health system initiatives program at the American Cancer Society. She has worked to increase early detection for breast and colon cancer. Further, she has helped develop the patient navigation program, which helps newly diagnosed cancer patients and caregivers find information and resources.
Ryan also helped turn Upstate University Hospital into a tobacco-free site.
Dr. Lynn Beth Satterly, of Manlius, helped create Amaus Health Services, in Syracuse, in July 2007 with only $50 and a small pile of supplies. he free health clinic serves people in the community who are without available or adequate health care.
Today, Amaus has a staff of more than 15 doctors, nurses, social workers and psychologists who volunteer their time at the clinic. The staff sees about 1,000 patients a year at the clinic’s home in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Syracuse.
Satterly was inspired to create the clinic by all the volunteer work done by her college English professor, — Kathleen Hunter.
“I’ve always, always, seen education as a way to make the world a better place, through my own ability,” Satterly said. “I really got that from her and from my parents.”
Original article at the PostStandard.com
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