11/23/10
Seven Hamilton Scholars Selected as QuestBridge National College Match Finalists
This October Seven 2010 Hamilton Scholars were selected as QuestBridge National College Match Finalists. Sophie Holtzman, David Browne, Caleb Bradford, Lindsay DiMarchi, Diana Ciuca, Pablo Storch and Octavio Viramontes are among those who will compete for a four-year, full-ride scholarship to one of many of the country’s top universities.
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1/1/10
The Hamilton Scholars: New York City 2010 Internship
Written by Heather Granados, Park Ranger, National Park Service
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9/22/10
Third Annual Guatemala Leader Week: Exploration, Encounter & Exchange
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8/20/10
Ten Hammies Complete Third Annual Experience New York Internship Progam
August marked the end of the Third Annual Experience New York Internship Program. Ten lucky Hamilton Scholars spent their summer living and working in New York City.
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6/20/10
2008 Hamilton Scholars Will Travel to Guatemala this August
This August, the 2008 Hamilton Scholars will travel to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for the 2010 Guatemala Leader Week. Read student reflections from past Guatemala experiences.
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6/20/10
2010 Seattle Leader Week Preview
The 2009 Hamilton Scholars will attend the Seattle Leader Week this June. The group can anticipate an action packed week filled with leadership training, heritage seminars, financial literacy programming and a chance to explore the city of Seattle.
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6/20/10
Hamilton Friends Receives Jack and Jill of America Foundation Grant
This May Hamilton Friends was selected to receive a $4000 grant from Jack and Jill of America Foundation.
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5/27/10
Hamilton Friends Welcomes a New Executive Director
The Alexander Hamilton Friends Association is pleased to announce the appointment of Melanie Lyons as the new Executive Director.
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4/12/10
Ten Hamilton Scholars Selected for Experience New York Internship Program
The Experience New York Internship Program is designed to give Hamilton students a unique opportunity to live and work in New York City. This year scholars will have a chance to work for the New-York Historical Society and the National Parks Service.
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4/12/10
This April Marks the Kick-off of the Hamilton Parents Council
The Hamilton Friends Association is excited to announce the launch of the Hamilton Parent Council. The Hamilton Parent Council has been formed to provide help and support as we continue to develop Hamilton leaders.
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3/1/10
Hamilton Friends Heads to Phoenix Arizona
Hamilton Friends will head to Phoenix Arizona for the 2010 National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Convention to promote the Hamilton Friends program. The event will take place March 12th – 14th and will allow Hamilton Friends Representatives an opportunity to speak to leading principals from across the country.
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3/1/10
Hamilton Friends Makes Connections in New York City and Philadelphia
This February, Hamilton Friends traveled to New York City and Philadelphia to promote new programs and internship opportunities.
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3/5/10
Meet 2009 Hamilton Award Winner Sizana Ezana
Sizana is more than just a fun-loving character. He is an extremely driven and sincere young man. Sizana is the founding member of the non-profit group Students4Students, an organization dedicated to helping special-needs schools, charities, and programs throughout Maryland.
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1/5/10
2009: A Capacity Building Year for Hamilton Friends
Since it began serving students in 2005 Hamilton Friends has focused chiefly on developing its programs and increasing the number of students served. In 2009, however, Hamilton Friends focused on improving its current programs and building enough operational capacity to sustain more program growth in the coming years.
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1/5/10
Elena De Jesus Hernandez: A New Member of the Hamilton Family
A new member of the Hamilton Friend’s family, Elena De Jesus Hernandez, a 2009 Hamilton Scholar, embodies all the qualities of a Hamilton Scholar, high academic achievement, excellent leadership abilities, and a commitment to community service. Despite some difficult obstacles in her childhood, Elena is now preparing to attend college.
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1/5/10
’07 Hamilton Scholars: Leader Week Experience in Guatemala
This summer, the 2007 Hamilton Award Winners traveled to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, known by local people as the city of “Xela,” for the Second Annual Guatemala Leader Week. The 19 students who attended experienced the incredible poverty and strength of the Guatemalan people.
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1/5/10
Third Annual Seattle Leader Week a Success
In June of 2009, twenty-six Hamilton Award Winners, traveling from nineteen states across the country, convened on the University of Washington campus for the Third Annual Hamilton Leader Week in Seattle. The week included focused seminars and presentations designed to create a life-changing experience that will reveal and nurture the unique leadership potential of each Hamilton Scholar.
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1/5/10
Hamilton Friends Internship Program: Hamilton Scholars Intern in New York and Seattle
In the summer of 2009 Hamilton Friends offered internships in both New York and Seattle to eight lucky Hamilton Scholars.
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11/12/09
Six Hammies Selected as QuestBridge Finalists
This October, six 2009 Hamilton Scholars were selected as 2009 QuestBridge Finalists. Hannah Smythe, Mackenzie Welch, Arthur Burkart, Meredith Roberts, Connie Lim, and Erika So are among those who will compete for a four-year, full-ride scholarship to one of the country’s top universities.
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11/12/09
Erika So: A 2009 Hammie Winner with a Passion for Service
Erika believes that each day is an opportunity to learn something new and help her community. “I’ve learned that I can make a difference and I try to help out wherever there is need so that I can brighten someone else’s day,” says Erika.
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11/12/09
Lynell Engelmyer: Helping Hamilton Scholars Navigate Financial Aid
Lynell Engelmyer is a long-time college admissions professional and the author of Moving Forward, a newsletter that provides information about financing higher-level education.
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11/12/09
George Cox Joins the Coca-Cola Scholars Selection Committee
The Alexander Hamilton Friends Association is pleased to announce that one of the biggest names in soft drinks, Coca-Cola, has chosen George Cox President of Hamilton Friends to be a member of the 2010 National Selection Committee of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.
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9/17/09
Leader Week Impact Evaluation Reveals Positive Outcomes
Hamilton Friends introduced a new Program Impact Survey meant to provide data that will show what is working and what can be improved in their programs.
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9/17/09
Restoring the Grange: Hamilton Friends Intern Works to Preserve Hamilton's Original Home
Hamilton Friends is honored to report that this summer one of their Hamilton Scholars, Kyle Baldwin was able to intern at the Grange restoration site.
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9/17/09
2010 Hammie Winners to Receive New Book On Alexander Hamilton
Hamilton Friends has selected William G. Chrystal's book, Hamilton by the Slice: Falling in Love with Our Most Influential Founding Father, to be distributed to their 2010 Hamilton Award winners.
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8/26/09
Reflections from Summer 2009
Read testimonials about Seattle Leader Week, Guatemala Leader Week and the Internship Program from students who experienced them.
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8/26/09
Washington State Students Become '09 Hammie Winners
Five students from the State of Washington received the Hamilton Award this year, making them the largest group of Washington winners Hamilton Friends has ever seen.
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8/26/09
Hamilton Friends Internship Program: '07 Hamilton Scholars Intern in New York
Hamilton Friends completed its 2009 “Experience New York” Internship Project, a new program that sends a select group of Hamilton Scholars to New York City to participate in paid internships.
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8/26/09
Guatemala Leader Week 2009: A Week of Learning, Reflecting and Dreaming
Hamilton Award Winners traveled to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for the Second Annual Guatemala Leader Week. Read a day-by-day review.
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7/6/09
Thank You Seattle Leader Week Volunteers!
Hamilton Friends would like to thank everyone who donated their time and energy to help make the 2009 Seattle Leader Week possible.
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7/6/09
'08 Hammie Winners Choose Future Colleges
The 2008 Hammie Winners who attended this year’s Seattle Leader Week will be headed off to college this fall!
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7/6/09
Danika Young: Intern and Friend to '08 Hammie Winners
Danika Young came to Seattle to act as Hamilton Friends first intern, spending two weeks helping prepare for Seattle Leader Week.
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7/6/09
2009 Seattle Leader Week: A Life-changing Experience
This June 21st, 2009, the '08 Hamilton Award Winners traveled to Seattle in order to attend the Third Annual Seattle Leader Week.
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4/23/09
2009 Hamilton Award Applications Are In!
On April 17th Hamilton Friends accepted their final 2009 Hamilton Citizenship Achievement Award applications.
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4/23/09
Lisa Biermann Brings Technology Expertise to Hamilton Friends
Lisa Biermann brings with her 15 years of customer service and operations management experience and a passion for helping young people succeed.
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4/16/09
New Vision Portfolio Added to Student Curriculum
Hamilton Friends has added a new and improved Vision Portfolio© to their first year student curriculum.
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4/16/09
Hamilton Friends Adopts New Database System
Joslin Boroughs, Director of Operations, and the new Technology Committee have recently implemented SalesForce, a CRM database.
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3/16/09
Sarah Novotny: Motivated to Serve Students
Sarah’s time at Hamilton Friends has been spent advising the board and staff on using technology to improve organizational performance and programming, but Sarah has also volunteered for many activities, including fundraising events and student application processing.
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3/16/09
Hamilton Friends T-shirt Contest!
For this year’s 2009 Seattle Leader Week, Hamilton Friends will let the attending Hammie Winners design the Leader Week T-shirt themselves.
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3/16/09
Hamilton Friends Introduces New College and Financial Aid Committee
The College and Financial Aid Committee will work to organize student data so Hamilton Friends can provide students with guidance on college environments and scholarships that will best fit their needs.
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3/16/09
Students Chosen for 2009 Seattle Leader Week and Guatemala
Hamilton Friends Announces 2009 Students heading to Seattle and Guatemala for leader weeks.
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2/19/09
Hamilton Friends 1st Annual Telephone Fundraiser a Success
On January 31st 2009, Hamilton Friends concluded its first annual telephone fundraiser with enormous success.
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2/19/09
Hamilton Hires New Communication Associate
The Hamilton Friends Association is excited to announce a new addition to the Hamilton Friends team. Starting February 10th, Anna Renzetti, a recent graduate from Western Washington University, began as the Hamilton Friends Communication Associate.
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2/19/09
Hamilton Friends Begins 2009 With New Technology Committee
As the Alexander Hamilton Friends Association begins a new year in a new office in downtown Seattle, they are also starting a new technology committee.
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2/19/09
Three Hamilton Scholars Awarded By Coca-Cola
Hamilton Friends is proud to announce that three of its 2008 Hamilton Award Winners, Alex Hsu, Cesar Alvarez, and Rachel Brill, were selected this year from over 80,000 applicants to be Regional Finalists, each receiving a scholarship of $10,000 to go toward their future college aspirations.
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2/2/09
Hamilton Friends Volunteers Launch 2009 Application On Super Saturday
The 2009 Alexander Hamilton Citizenship Achievement Award or, “The Hamilton Award” program, is officially underway thanks to a group of dedicated Hamilton Friends volunteers.
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1/14/09
Two Hamilton Scholars Receive Questbridge College Match Offer
This fall, two Hamilton Scholars, Joyce Zhang and Drew Simon, ’08 Hammie Winners received a college match offer through the Questbridge Scholars Program. Joyce was offered a full scholarship to Yale and Drew was offered a full tuition scholarship to Princeton.
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1/14/09
Hamilton Friends Moves Downtown!
On January 1st 2009 Hamilton Friends moved from its home office in Woodway, Washington, to a new office in downtown Seattle. The new office is located in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square in the newly renovated Grand Central Building.
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1/14/09
Hamilton Friends Kicks Off 2009 Fundraising Effort
On Sunday January 11th 2009, Hamilton Friends board members gathered at the new office in pioneer square and began dialing for dollars in an effort to raise money for the Seattle Leader Week in June.
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1/14/09
Cesar Alvarez: Hamilton Scholar Makes a Habit of “Being the First”
When Hamilton Friends chose Cesar Alvarez to be a 2008 Hammie Winner he became the first Hammie winner to come from North Dakota and the first Native American Hammie Winner. As it turns out, being the first to do things is not unusual for Cesar.
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11/13/08
A “Hip” Alexander Hamilton Joins Facebook
This month Hamilton Friends launched its first Facebook page as part of an effort to build community between Hamilton Award Winners. On November 2nd--with the help of Danika Young, ’06 Hamilton Award Winner and Hamilton Friends Volunteer, Alexis Cox—Alex Hamilton, a young, hip, cartoon version of Alexander Hamilton, sent out ‘friend requests’ to all Hammie Winners.
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11/13/08
Educator Leo Santiago Begins Work with Students on Their Vision
Leo Santiago, a veteran educator, will be working this fall to help the 2008 Hamilton Award winners develop their own personal vision statement. On November 18th, 2008, Leo will facilitate a conversation with the ’08 Winners on how to start thinking about their vision, how to write their vision and how to test the statement once it is written. In addition, Leo will be available to help students individually as they work to create their statements.
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11/13/08
Tiffany Taylor Speaks at the State of Our Nations
This September, Hamilton Scholar Tiffany Taylor spoke at the State of our Nations Youth in Toronto, Ontario on behalf of the Horatio Alger Association. She was one of the four students chosen out of a pool of 107 Horatio Alger Scholarship Winners to participate in a student panel discussion where she gave her opinions about the 2008 State of Our Nation's Youth Survey.
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11/13/08
Taylor Matalone Wins Scholarship Essay Contest
We are proud to announce that this October, Taylor Matalone, a 2007 Hamilton Award Winner, received a $1,000 scholarship from The National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) and Fastweb.
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11/13/08
Trina Hidalgo Gives Hamilton Friends $10,000 to help fund Guatemala Trip
On October, 15th Ms. Trina Hidalgo agreed to donate $10,000 to Hamilton Friends in order to help fund the 2009 Hamilton Leader Week in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Ms. Hidalgo is passionate about Guatemala and its culture and is very interested in helping young people achieve their dreams. Donating to the Hamilton Friends Guatemala Leader Week allows Ms. Hidalgo to give money to both of those causes.
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11/13/08
Professional Advisors to Begin Helping Hamilton Award Winners Develop Vision Statements
This November a group of successful professionals will begin working individually with a group of first year Hamilton Scholars to develop a personal vision statement. All first year Hamilton Scholars are given the opportunity to request a professional advisor to help them create their vision statement. These professionals will serve as a mentor figure and sounding board for students as they work through the process of creating a vision statement.
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10/6/08
Building a Hammie Community: Danika Young Works to Increase Communication between Hammie Winners
Danika Young, a student at West Holt High School in Atkinson, Nebraska, won a Hamilton award in 2006. Since then she has been very active in the Hamilton Scholars program, completing all required course work and attending both the 2007 Seattle Leader Week and the recent 2008 Guatemala Leader Week. Recently Danika began to work with Hamilton Friends with the charge of building community between Hammie Winners. “It is difficult to keep Hammie Winners connected during the year because they live all over the country,” said Joslin Boroughs, Director of Operations. “Danika is going to help us use online tools to keep Hammie Winners in touch with one another.”
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10/6/08
Dr. Louise Mirrer Joins the Hamilton Friends Board!
Hamilton Friends is proud to announce that last month Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society, joined the Hamilton Friends Board of Directors. Dr. Mirrer was integral in the launch of our Experience New York Internship Project by helping Hamilton Friends secure three paid internships for Hamilton Scholars at The New-York Historical. As a board member Dr. Mirrer will be central in the planning of our internship program and will also advise Hamilton Friends as they expand awareness in the New York area.
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10/6/08
Alexis Cox: Helping Hammies Navigate the Working World
Alexis Cox, Financial Assistant to the CIO of the William Penn Foundation in Philadelphia PA, has been volunteering with Hamilton Friends since 2007. In addition to consulting with us on how Hamilton Friends can use web based technologies to increase communication among Hammie Winners, Alexis worked intensively with the three interns that participated in our new Experience New York Internship project this summer. Three times during the interns eight week stay in New York City, Alexis traveled from her home in Philadelphia to New York City to run a “Workshop on Workplace Fundamentals: Skills Not Included in your Job Description” for the Hamilton Interns.
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10/6/08
Advances in Second Year Program Announced
George Cox, AHFA President, announced completion of the first module in the Hamilton Leaders Academy program of financial literacy. It will be distributed to second year Hamilton Scholars students on October 15th. “We are extremely excited about the program,” said Cox. “Most programs in financial literacy concentrate on stock market games and the like,” he said. “We don't think that's the right approach. Young people have to learn how to control debt and spending before they can begin wealth creation.”
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8/29/08
Review of the Guatemala Experience: Leader Week in Guatemala City a Great Success!
This August, twenty Hamilton Scholars and AHFA staff participated in the first annual international Hamilton Leaders Academy Leader Week in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The eight-day program was in partnership with Cross-Cultural Solutions of New Rochelle, New York and the main purpose of the trip was to participate in a service project at the Don Bosco Centre de Formation Professionelle in Guatemala City.
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8/5/08
Volunteer Profile: Karla Franco
Karla is a volunteer with Hamilton Friends who lives in Boston where she is the Associate Director of New Generation Energy (www.newgenerationenergy.org), an alternative energy non-profit organization. Karla was a chaperone on the recently completed Leaders Week in Guatemala. “Volunteering in Guatemala was a great!”, she said. “I wish I had had that sort of experience when I was an undergraduate. I think Guatemala was very eye-opening and everyone gained a lot from the experience.”
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8/5/08
Hamilton Scholars Learn From Students at Don Bosco
The students at Don Bosco were able to show their skills to our Hamilton Scholars. Many chose to make memorabilia for the Scholars, such as metal earrings, turned wooden drinking cups, bracelets and pieces of turned metal. A lot of friendships were made. Both groups were encouraged to share things from home about themselves, such as family pictures, home town pictures, favorite movies, music and etc. Don Bosco students and Hamilton Students forged friendships playing soccer, ping pong, foosball and other games.
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8/5/08
HA '07 Officers Announced!
Attendees at this year’s Seattle Leader Week have selected their class’ slate of officers. Following the Seattle Leader Week in June of this year, the Hamilton Award Class of 2007 was asked to nominate individuals to fill the positions of president, secretary, treasurer, historian and officers at large.
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9/5/08
2008-2008 Academic Year Has Been Launched!
The 2008-2009 academic year begins this month with a series of conference calls for students in their first year of the program and a module on college financial issues for students in the second year of the program.
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8/5/08
Hamilton Scholars Experience the Vibrant Culture of Guatemala
Second year Hamilton Scholars students will travel to Guatemala to participate in an international service project. “We will be working closely with Cross-Cultural Solutions of New Rochelle, New York”, said Joslin Boroughs, Director of Operations of the AHFA. “Leadership in the 21st century really requires an international view of things, and this experience will help our students see the importance of understanding other cultures,” she added.
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8/5/08
Second Year Hamilton Scholars Kickoff the Experience New York Internships
Shruti Bala of Phoenix, Jemalyn Chavez of San Diego and Nadvia Davis of Minneapolis are currently participating in the first annual Experience New York Internship Project. The Project is a joint venture with the New-York Historical Society.
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8/5/08
Six Days in Seattle at the Hamilton Leaders Academy
“Wow! Amazing! Unbelievable!” were some of the collective responses of the 25 Hamilton Award winners, who attended the Second Annual Hamilton Leaders Academy in Seattle from June 22-27th. The attendees represented 17 states and the District of Columbia.
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8/5/08
Volunteer Profile: Kelly Herrington
Kelly Herrington, the Director of College Counseling at University Prep, a private high school in Seattle, has been volunteering at Hamilton Friends for three years. He has come to play a critical role in helping Hamilton Award winners refine their college essays and find scholarships.
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8/5/08
Hammie Winners and Board Members Tour the Grange
On July 16th, 2008, four Hamilton Award winners, Shruti Bala (HA ’05), Nadvia Davis (HA ’06), Jemalyn Chavez (HA ’06), Tiffany Taylor (HA ’07) and three AHFA board members, Doug Hamilton, David Hamilton Rhinelander and George Cox, AHFA president toured the Grange, Hamilton’s “country home” in upper Manhattan.
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8/5/08
AHFA President Briefs N-YHS CEO
AHFA president George Cox briefed Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the N-YHS during his recent trip to the East Coast.
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8/5/08
A Few Words Leads to Full Ride at U. of Chicago for ’07 Hammie Winner
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6/8/08
Alexander Hamilton's country home moves to park in Harlem
NEW YORK — With surpassing dignity and surprising agility — for a 206-year-old — Alexander Hamilton's country home, the Grange, lumbered down the West 141st Street hillside Saturday to its new setting in St. Nicholas Park in Harlem.
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Seattle Times , David W. Dunlap