HEAF was thrilled to bring together alumni, staff, volunteers, board members and current students for our Homecoming event.
The event was kicked-off by HEAF Founder and Chair Emeritus Daniel Rose, who regaled attendees with the story of HEAF’s founding, and the great successes of HEAF’s students and leadership over more than thirty years.
“HEAF is devoted to finding people of abilities, of stimulating and encouraging them to grow to their full perspective heights,” Mr. Rose said. “Every human being is born a unique individual. We are all individuals combined of talents, abilities, failures, strengths, and weaknesses. HEAF’s goal is to help each individual grow to their full potential, to realize their strengths and capabilities.”
In closing, Mr. Rose noted: “I am proud, as I hope you are, of being a part of this wonderful team and organization. And I hope we all in our own respective ways keep working to be sure that HEAF’s future achievements will be even greater than its past and present.”
We were so happy welcome our alumni, volunteers, current students, staff and supporters’ “home” for our Homecoming event for an afternoon of catching-up, networking and fun! Our alumni community regaled our current students and staff with their stories of success, and our current students’ academic and personal growth was equally impressive to our guests.
HEAF alum Eli Boahen shared how their HEAF experience shaped them:
“There are many experiences I was able to have through HEAF, where I learned not only my love of physics, math, science and engineering, but also stop-motion animation. At HEAF, I first learned how to work with charcoal and clay, and also first learned about Cuba, learned Spanish, and learned about the complexities faced in other nations. At HEAF, I had the opportunity to go to Sweden, and I learned what the American Dream truly is.”
Current HEAF students also took the opportunity to share their experiences with the attendees.
High School senior Ayinde Hooks described how he was struggling academically before joining HEAF. He said that through the tutoring and extracurricular activities HEAF offered he was able to significantly improve his grades and set education and career goals. “I learned a lot about computer science. Through HEAF, I’ve landed multiple internships and been placed in several programs that will help me with my career goals. Now, I have a lot of experience coding and technology, all because of HEAF. That’s something I am extremely thankful for.”
Overall, Homecoming 2022 was a great success, and we look forward to next year’s event.
Click here to view our Homecoming photo gallery.