ACE Winners Rewarded with Season Pass to Playland
With the 2012-2013 school year just completed, Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino honored students who met an academic challenge he issued last September to county students in grades 6 through 12. The Astorino Challenge in Education, or “ACE,” offered a free season pass to Playland to students who signed up in September and achieved one of the two following benchmarks during the 2012-2013 school year: Final G.P.A of at least 3.8, 95% or A average, or better (depending on the school’s grading system), or perfect attendance for the entire school year.
“The ACE challenge was just a little incentive for our kids to let them know we were thinking about them throughout the school year and encouraging them to do their very best in the classroom,” said Astorino at a media event celebrating the winners. “My message to students is that you can be whatever you want to be in life, but your success starts with a well-rounded education. That is why every day in school, it’s important to work hard and learn everything you can.”
Astorino said the ACE challenge rewards both excellence and effort. “We set the bar high to win this challenge,” said Astorino. “We wanted the students to strive to do their very best.”
There were 138 students who accepted the challenge and more than half so far have provided the documentation required to prove that they met either the G.P.A. requirement, or the perfect classroom attendance requirement.
The free season pass to Playland, made available trough the Westchester County Youth Bureau, is good from the date of issue until the end of the season and includes free admission to the park and unlimited rides.
“We are happy to support the county executive’s efforts to encourage young people to excel in their education,” said Iris Pagan, Executive Director of the Westchester County Youth Bureau. “We extend our congratulations to their parents and to all those that love and care about them, as well. It takes at least one caring adult to make a difference in a young person’s life.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
