PEF INTRODUCES NEW STUDENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

To act as liaisons between the Peninsula Education Foundation (PEF) and the families of high school students, PEF established the PEF Ambassadors program for high school juniors and seniors at the end of the previous school year.  In its inaugural year, the PEF Ambassadors program is expected to help raise awareness about what the organization does for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) through fundraising,  campaigning and giving speeches at various campuses across the district. This year, there are five PEF ambassadors: seniors Alison Kim, Nina Li and Aishani Ramireddy, as well as two other students from Palos Verdes High School.

According to PEF President Christina Byrne, the role high school students play in motivating parents, teachers and other students served as an impetus for starting the program.

“For many years, parents of [Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District] students have helped to spread the [message of the importance of PEF] on campuses [throughout the district],” Byrne said.”These parents express what the Peninsula Education Foundation is financially supporting at our schools and why their support [is pivotal].  At the high schools, the students play a very active role in engaging parents, teachers and other students, [so] starting a High School Student Ambassador Program seemed to be a perfect fit.”

Much of PEF’s funds are allocated to preserving teachers’ jobs, with the rest being used to subsidize major programs throughout the district, including Peninsula’s College and Career staff, the Science, Math, Engineering, Robotics and Technology (SMERT) program and academic counselors. According to PEF’s Marketing and Communications Director Diane Miller, the vast majority of PEF donations are from alumni families that recognize the benefits of a good education.

“[Alumni families] feel very strongly about the importance of public education even though their kids are no longer receiving the benefits,” Miller said. “They are proud of the Palos Verdes education system and [know that good education] keeps the property value high which benefits everyone in the community.”

Miller also asserted that the dearth of donations can be attributed largely to false preconceived notions about the allocation of funds and the belief in the value of only large donation sums.

“People think that PEF wants a [large sum of money],” Miller said. “People think [they] do not have [a large] amount of money to give, and [thus they] let people with disposable income pay, when in reality everything counts. They think that all the funds PEF raises go to the elementary and middle schools, which is not true because [PEF] does pay for crucial things [like science programs and counseling] at the high school level.”

Ramireddy, who applied for the program at the beginning of summer, emphasized the role of PEF in the community and discussed what urged her to apply.

“Most people in the PEF offices are volunteers and are there because they truly care about our district,” Ramireddy said. “Every penny from the donations goes into programs that fund the entire district. I became an ambassador because I thought that it would be a great way to finish off my time in the district, to meet new people and gain exposure from volunteering with a nonprofit organization. I hope [that everyone will be completely aware] that PEF is a totally nonprofit organization.”

Next year, the program will become more refined with changes being made to ambassador’s duties and the selection process of applicants.

“[This year], there were not a whole bunch of applicants,” Miller said.  “It [was the first year] and we needed to implement it right away before school ended. We talked to the principals and asked for recommendations of students [who] they think would have been interested. The application process will be different in the future. Any interested junior or senior [could] apply online and would be evaluated by a committee, [followed by] in-person interviews.”

With the addition of their Ambassador program, PEF hopes to come closer to attaining their goal of having more families donate districtwide.

“If you look at [Palos Verdes’] donation history, we have more families that have kids at the younger level,” Miller said. “We are trying to get [the number of donors] up to 50%. Only 30 percent of current school families donate [but] 100 percent of Palos Verdes schools benefit.”