STEP Gala Celebrates 50 Years of Success

Scarsdale STEP will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the Scarsdale Women's Club from 6-8 pm. The cocktail party will honor Rashid Silvera, the esteemed Psychology and Race and Ethnicity teacher, who has been an educator at Scarsdale High School since 1981. Eric Rothschild, the founder of STEP, village historian and retired SHS teacher of longstanding was honored at the 45th anniversary gala.

The Scarsdale Student Transfer Education Plan (STEP) is an independent community program that identifies promising students of color and enables them to attend Scarsdale High School for their junior and senior years. The program offers qualified students access to Scarsdale High School's strong college preparatory program and extensive extracurricular activities, as well as the cultural and recreational resources of the New York metropolitan area. While in Scarsdale, each visiting student lives with a host family and is encouraged to become an integral part of the Scarsdale community. By offering students exposure to a different and challenging environment, STEP prepares them to take positions of leadership and responsibility in a multi-cultural society.

Scarsdale's STEP program was founded in 1966. Its original goal was to share the educational opportunities at Scarsdale High School with students from segregated Southern schools of limited resources. Since that time, STEP has expanded its recruitment base to include students of color from areas throughout the United States. Many former STEP students have continued their education at the graduate level, pursuing law, medical, and business and Ph.D. degrees.

The community is invited to meet the current STEP student, honor Rashid and join this celebration. Tickets may be acquired or donations made by visiting scarsdalestep.org/step50.