NEW YORK-SEPTEMBER 17: Student Sponsor Partner's 2009 Back-to-School Benefit on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at the Central Park Boathouse, East 72nd Street & Park Drive North, Central Park, New York City, NY. This fundraising event was held to support the charitable activities of Student Sponsor Partners. Student Sponsor Partner's Board of Directors, critical supporters and guests kicked off the new school year with this celebration in a beautiful and intimate setting with an evening of cocktails, canapes and live jazz. The mission of Student Sponsor Partners is to provide at-risk New York City youths with the opportunity to receive a quality, non-public high school education, through the financial support and one-to-one guidance of a four-year Sponsor. SSP Board Board of Directors are: Robert H. Niehaus (Chair), Kevin J. Conway (Vice Chair), James T. Chandler, Betsy Cohen, Isobel Coleman, Maggie F. Cooley, Edward F. Cox, Jeffrey Edwards, Peter M. Flanigan, Colleen Foster, Sidney E. Goodfriend, Mitchell Gordon, Jim Healy, Peter Herbert, Brian Hoffmann, Andrew Horrocks, Alfred F. Hurley, Jr., Patrick J. Landers, Steven Lipin, Peter J. Lyon, Patrick McBrien, Thomas R. Mercein, Christopher J. Niehaus, Claudia Overstrom, Michael Petrick, Lora Robertson, Valerie Rowe, Stephen M. Schiller, Kimberly Ayers Shariff, John Stossel and Timothy White. Members of the SSP Advisory Council are: Mayree Clark, David J. Dunn, William H. Heyman, Alfred C. Sikes, Margaret Yates Thorne and Joseph R. Zimmel. Back-to-School benefit co-chairs were: Cathleen Chawla, Richa Kumar and Anne-Marie Peterson. Benefit host committee members are: Shalimar Adorno, Matthew Bonanno, Amanda Cahill, Leslie Carranza, Aimee Carroll, Frances Cashin, Shannon & Jonah Cave, Rakesh Chawla,Alison Davis, Emily Davis, Sara Fay, Matthew Feeney, Erica Fenlon, Henry Flores, Kristy & J. Esteban Garcia, Laura Hunt, Kevin Jackson, James Jesse, Scott Larson, Allison Lowenstein, Elizabeth Madigan & Bertrand Jost, Myron Michalski, Patrick Minson, Amir Mohammed, Julia Pershan, Allison Pistone, Stephanie Ramos, Debra Regan & Paul Wasinger, Lora Robertson, Leah Rumely, Kimberly Ayers Shariff, Nathan Thorne, Deborah Weinswig, Jennifer Suh & Benjamin Whitfield, Stephanie Whittier, John Witherspoon, Julie Wood and Kelly Zaremba. Special thanks to our Corporate Sponsors were BTIG, DKR Capital & Intralinks. Prior Coverage: 2008 SSP Back to School Benefit. MISSION & HISTORY: Student Sponsor Partners’ mission is to provide as many of New York City’s at-risk high school youth as possible with an opportunity to receive a quality non-public high school education, through the financial support and one-to-one guidance of a 4-year Sponsor. In doing so, Student Sponsor Partners. strives to help disadvantaged youths earn their high school diplomas, and thus makes a direct and meaningful impact on their lives. Since 1986, Student Sponsor Partners. (SSP) has been providing at-risk students in New York City with the opportunity of a quality, non-public high school education, through the financial support and one-to-one guidance of a Sponsor. Without the program, SSP students would have no option but to attend their local public high schools, where graduation rates range from just 20% to 30%. In contrast, nearly 80% of SSP students graduate, and over 90% of those graduates go on to pursue higher education. SSP serves youths who are academically at-risk, financially disadvantaged, and socially needy (with roughly three-quarters of our population coming from single-parent homes). Each SSP student is paired with a Sponsor, who provides tuition assistance for the student to attend a private high school and serves as a role model and "academic coach" until graduation day. The combination of a committed Sponsor and a challenging scholastic environment dramatically improves SSP students' prospects, not only for earning their diplomas but also for achieving real and lasting life-success after high school. PHOTO CREDIT:Copyright ©Manhattan Society.com 2009 by Christopher London | tel: Private |e-mail: ChrisLondon@manhattansociety.com***PLEASE NOTE: More photos, notes and id's to come.