11th anniversary book 114 FINAL online - Flipbook - Page 12
Message from the Founder and
Vice President of the Board of Trustees
Sarah E. R. Brewster, Ph.D, L.C.S.W., J.D.
March 2020
Reflecting on history helps us to understand from where we have come and to where we are going. Evergreen
Charter School is the result of a dream, a collective process that without the support of many would not have
happened.
Education has always been central to my family and I am fortunate to have had a strong foundation that
shaped my values, habits and beliefs. I am also grateful for the education I received at Northfield Mount
Herman School, a special place that instilled important values and helped to shape some of the ideas that
are fundamental to Evergreen’s mission and vision. At Northfield, all students, regardless of their financial
background, had to work several hours a week in different jobs. I learned many different tasks that helped
me appreciate the community and how working together we can all contribute to a goal. We were part of a
community. Service was also important to this experience.
I am grateful to the leadership and vision of my parents, Martha and Gurdon, and grandfather, Moe, who
instilled a profound understanding of how different cultures can enrich one’s life. Thanks to them, at a
young age I had the experience to live and work in Haiti one summer when I was thirteen. This changed my
life. I knew I wanted to work for justice and to face challenges of inequity. My family continued to support
my education and I was able to travel and study in different cultures in high school and college including
the Lakota Sioux in Mission, South Dakota, Burgos, Spain, Calcutta, India, Guadalajara, México and the
Caribbean, enriching my understanding of people and of this planet’s great inequities between the wealthy
and the poor.
These experiences shaped me and helped me find my place at Círculo de la Hispanidad. When I first came to
Círculo back in 1999, I quickly became enamored of the organization where I could share my ideas and work
collaboratively with others to make a difference. My work at Círculo began as a job and then quickly became
a vocation. Early on, my schedule at Círculo enabled me to attend classes at Columbia University Teachers
College to finish my Doctorate in Education, and later my Juris Doctorate in Law at Hofstra. Gil had a passion
for education, which we shared. We spent many days and nights talking about my doctoral thesis, about how
schools fail to engage, and how families and community organizations can support student achievement and
success. I witnessed first-hand how Círculo played a vital role in supporting the education of students who
were otherwise disengaged with their school for various reasons including racism.
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