Tutor Corps Foundation

Project Title: Musicians Fixing the Cove
Grantee: Ben Werdeger
Associated School: Menlo School, Atherton

Fourteen year-old environmentalactivist Ben Werdeger started his project, called Musicians Fixing the Cove, to help stop the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan aka “The Cove.” Werdeger hopes that, with the help of grants and other community efforts, he can garner support from more musicians to play live music in Taiji and bring attention to the killings.

“Thank you so much for the honor and trust you're giving me to end the dolphin slaughter. It's time to take a stand, and I'm more ready than ever to do so. Many people have spent their entire lives trying to stop this, but it still remains. This will not be an easy mission, but I will never give up hope. And that is a promise to the Tutor Corps Foundation,” Werdeger wrote in an email.

Project Title: After School Arts Program
Grantee: Stephanie Flamen
Associated School: Castilleja School and St. Elizabeth Seton School, Palo Alto

For the students at St. Elizabeth Seton School in Palo Alto, art classes were not an option until 15-year-old Castilleja student Stephanie Flamen initiated a project she calls the After School Arts Program. This program offers both an opportunity for her fellow Castilleja students to gain important teaching and mentoring experience and an opportunity for students at the nearby St. Elizabeth Seton School to participate in art classes otherwise unavailable to the school’s students. Flamen says the grant money from the Tutor Corps Foundation will go toward necessary supplies and materials for teaching the classes.

Stephanie updated us on the Art Program recently, “I also wanted to let you know that we are now trying to expand the art class to other grades.  We have recruited about 8 more volunteers to teach more classes. The grant money has been of great use to us.”

Project Title: Healthy Cooking; Healthy Kids
Grantee: Amanda Kandasamy and Isabel Owen
Associated School: The Girls' Middle School, Palo Alto

Amanda Kandasamy and Isabel Owen, both 13-years-old, started their project, called Healthy Cooking; Healthy Kids, as a way to educate 3^rd through 5^th graders about the source of their food and to learn hands-on recipes for healthy meals and snacks. The program includes two-hour long workshops taught by the girls to the kids in the Greenmeadow Neighborhood Community in Palo Alto. The goal of the program is to spread awareness of nutrition, healthy cooking and healthy eating.