Magyar News, 1999. szeptember-2000. augusztus (10. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2000-02-01 / 6. szám
A LETTER FROM LAST YEAR’S SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT Sent by Kara-Lynn Pekar Dear Bette, November 15, 1999 1 just thought I'd take some time out of a busy schedule to keep you updated on the educational progress I've made in the last year. I'd also like to send along more gratitude for having received, the Mary Katona Scholarship this past January, which I still consider such a great honor. I finished up my Masters degree at Columbia University graduating this past May from their program. As of this past September I have been student teaching and taking classes full time at Bank Street School of Education. I just spent the past ten weeks at The Dalton School (in Manhattan) in a third grade classroom and now will spend my next ten weeks at the Manhattan School for Children in a first grade classroom. I have been learning so much and although weary of having to pull through one more year of graduate school I honestly love what I'm doing. One of the classes I am taking at Bank Street is "Storytelling for Children". Through this class I learned how to become a storyteller and use this as an art in my professional life. For the class I ended up memorizing a Hungarian folk tale which I had to retell as a final exam. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the tale and I thought it was a wonderful way to help bring the Hungarian culture alive. This past spring I had written a proposal for a children's book to Perspective Press. I had suggested a book for children, adopted from Hungary here in the United States, to learn about the Hungarian culture. Unfortunately Perspective Press felt there were ’nt enough children being adopted in to this country from Hungary to bring the proposal to fruition. After I graduate in May from Bank Street I hope to try a different approach and, try writing a children's book to teach them a little bit about the Hungarian culture. So while this crazy idea of mine is still a possibility I've put this project on hold for awhile. I still continue to work with children and families who have adopted children internationally, particularly from Russia. As I began to work on my resume for this spring I reflected back to the people and institutions which have helped me get this far in my education, Again, I want to thank you and the American Hungarian Heritage Association for helping me along this wondrous journey! Hope all is well and everyone is in good health! Happy Holidays! Sincerely yours, Kara-Lynn Pekar Page 4 mm w m& m m OTI©MIMMPIMXBIMM The Committee and officers with the recipients at the Mary Katona Scholarship Tea-Party year 2000. From left to right: Joseph Stiber. Claudia Margitay-Balogh, Bette Johnson, Jessica Lévai, Alexandra Matolcsy, Linda Chehy, and Joseph Racz HOW IS THE A.H.H.A. SCHOLARSHIP DOING IN 2000? Congratulations are in order to all members and friends of the American Hungarian Heritage Association for supporting the Mary Katona Scholarship for 14 years! Yes, the birth of the Katona Scholarship came in 1987 as an outgrowth of the Hungarian Graduate Scholarship Committee connected to the University of Bridgeport's International Scholarship Program that was founded by the late Dr. and Mrs.James H. Halsey, he, the former President of the University. Since then, the new "baby" scholarship has carried on, named after Maiy Katona, a long-time Town Clerk of Fairfield, Ct. whose love of everything in the Hungarian community was legendary. Since 1987, this scholarship committee which lias been faithfully overseeing all applications and awards, lias been composed of Connecticut residents: Linda Chehy. Spanish Teacher at Stratford Wooster Junior High School; Claudia Margitay-Balogh, English Teacher at Fairfield High School; Joseph Racz, an independant business man in Norwalk; Joseph Stiber, President of A.H.H.A., Fairfield; Bela Szabó, retired teacher and business man in Rowayton; and Bette Standish Johnson, Chairman, retired Principal at Fairteld Woods School. We are pleased that over the years A.H.H.A. has been able to award scholarships, varying from $500 to $2,000 to 38 students in the greater Bridgeport area. Our two recipients for the 1999-2000 scholarships are Jessica Lévai, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Attila Lévai, of Shelton, a senior at the William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Va. who plans to continue in graduate studies; Alexandra Matolcsy, a freshman at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, daughter of Mrs. Sarah Matolcsy of Trumbull and Dr. Alexander Matolcsy of Massachussets, studying International Relation We urge you to continue your support of the A.H.H.A. Mary Katona Scholarship of which all Hungarians can be proud. Presenting the scholarship award programtook place, as it does each year, in tire Club Room of the Calvin United Church on Kings Highway in Fairfield, CT. We appreciate everyone’s participation whether it is doing something in the program or baking goodies for the Scholarship Tea Party that is the setting for this event. We wish further success to the recipients of Hungarian background in their futher studies.
