BPS educator receives Crystal Apple award

BOSTON - Quincy Upper School Headmaster Bak Fun Wong was honored by the Boston Minuteman Council of the Boy Scouts of America at their annual Champion for Character Awards Reception, held Tuesday evening at the Federal Reserve Bank. Dr. Wong received the 2006 Crystal Apple award in recognition of his commitment to the Learning for Life program and to the education of youth in Boston.

Learning for Life is an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America. The program, which involves a classroom curriculum, career speakers, and field trips, is designed to help youth develop social and life skills, assist in character and career development, and help youth formulate positive personal values. Quincy Upper School is one of 13 Boston Public Schools to offer Learning for Life to its students.

A selection committee made up of Boston Minuteman Council board members chose Dr. Wong for the honor, which is given each year to an educator who demonstrates a commitment to the program and to the betterment of Boston's children. Federal Reserve Bank President and CEO Cathy Minehan hosted the ceremony, and National Learning for Life President Toto West, Jr. (former U.S Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former U.S. Secretary of the Army) was the guest speaker. The Minuteman Council also honored Joshua Kraft, Executive Director of Jordan Boys & Girls Club in Chelsea, with the Whitney Young Jr. Award and Helen Chin Schlichte, Corporate Relations Consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts with the 2006 Champion for Character Award.

Three other BPS educators have been Crystal Apple recipients since the award was first given out in 2002. Joan Dill, teacher at Ohrenberger Elementary School (2002), John Poto, former headmaster, East Boston High School (2003), and Jane Holleman, teacher at Holland Elementary School (2005), have all been honored.

Quincy Upper School, located in the Bay Village/South End and Chinatown neighborhoods of Boston, serves approximately 425 students in grades 6 through 12. Established in 1999, this pilot school emerged from the desire of parents at the nearby Quincy Elementary School for a secondary school that would continue the educational and cultural atmosphere their children had experienced in Kindergarten through Grade 5.

The Boston Public Schools serves approximately 57,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students in 14