2011 Local Heroes that Rock!

In these troubled economic times, as the Country struggles to stabilize and return a healthier financial future, families have had to reinvent ways to survive the higher cost of living with lower income. What, with news of global financial crisis, natural disasters, and local proliferation of human assaults; from abuses to homicide, it's only blind faith and inner strength that safeguards our sanity.

That said, there are indeed fewer and fewer reasons to smile, and increasingly difficult to keep a body’s self-esteem intact. But alas, there are needles in haystacks to be found if we look hard enough, and rays of sunshine that threaten to warm the hearts and souls of communities around the city. One such ray of sunshine comes to us in the form of Evan and Glenn Turtel, who I’d like to call heroes.The dynamic Duo saw the disparity in the math scores of students in the inner city public schools, and sought to answer the cry for help. The disparity in resources and education for inner city students is no less than a crime, so in the spirit of Batman, Superman, perhaps even Spiderman, Glenn and Evan Turtel, graduates of Wharton and Cornell respectively, founded Top Honors.

This organization is a non-profit math tutoring program that serves the New York community by shoring up the basic math skills and confidence of thousands of boys and girls. Their mission is simply this; "To provide all students with fundamental math and critical thinking abilities for success as students and productive members of society". Top Honors is a no frills, grassroots tutoring program that serves the underserved demographic of students throughout the city with impressive results. They’ve developed a unique curriculum, designed to pinpoint and strengthen each of the student’s problem areas. This remarkable organization is almost completely operated on volunteers.

For those of you with young children needing tutoring from time-to-time, you already know the cost of tutoring can run from $40 - $75 per hour, and as much as $400 for Saturday programs working out of various University sites. The cost of tutoring is even more expensive at programs like Sylvan and Score. As a parent, and grad student who has watched my work hours dwindle down to a frightening level, I am eternally grateful for this program. Top Honors has provided over 3,100 hours of tutoring this past year alone! So, for thousands of students who have already benefited from this awesome organization, and those yet to discover them, I emphatically elect Glenn Turtel and Evan Turtel NYC Local Heroes of the Year for their unyielding, uncompromising leadership and service to our community.

Source: Photos Used for the above Collage, were taken from Top Honors WebSite at WWW.TopHonors.org

K. Reilly
The Cohn-Reilly Report