By Kate D and Brooke C.
For the past 10 years, the Hancock Education Foundation has been a force behind the academic success of students in Hancock from cradle to college.
The Foundation is the brain- child of Ron DeLuca, a loving husband, parent, and grandfather. DeLuca grew up in Reading Pa. during the Depression. His parents were immigrants who had trouble learning English, so he knew from early on the difficulty of trying to get a good education.
When DeLuca reached the appropriate age, he signed up for the army and fought in WWII. “Then, Uncle Sam paid for five years of education,” he said. After living in New York City for some time he retired from his prestigious job as president of Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt Advertising Inc. and came to Hancock to find some peace in the serene mountains and the quiet village.
Living in Hancock for a while, DeLuca became aware of the low rate of graduation from Hancock schools. Upon further investigation, he realized that Hancock had several problems hindering the success of its children. At least 50% of them are from homes with incomes below the poverty line, and 40.3% come from single parent households.
Despite being considered a “flat-lander” (one who moves into the area) by the local residents, DeLuca was determined to make a difference.
Fifty years ago, Hancock was a busy town, but in recent years, the village has seen most of its major industries leave and the population has decreased significantly. One of Hancock’s remaining large employers, a medical implements manufacturing company, left the area about four years ago. Now the Hancock Central School is the largest employer. This state of affairs is not limited to Hancock; Delaware County is one of the poorest, if not the poorest, of the 62 counties in New York.
The average age in Hancock is now rising, as young adults move to other areas to raise their families, leaving Hancock’s education system in trouble. DeLuca joined forces with George Elwood, a semi-retired lawyer and principal of Elwood & Elwood. Together, 10 years ago, they began The Hancock Education Foundation. Their goal was to provide services for Hancock children from birth through college graduation, and to increase the number of graduates from high school.
The first thing DeLuca and Elwood had to do was get the Hancock Education system stable before they could make improvements. At the end of 2002, the foundation got a 21st Century grant as part of the “No Child Left Behind” legislation, receiving $156,000 a year for four years.
In 2006, Hancock middle and high schools were taken out of SINI (Schools In Need of Improvement). Then in 2007, the foundation received the award for The New York District “Dollars for Scholars.” Last year alone, the foundation gave out $51,400 to a combination of high school graduates and students already in college.
The foundation runs mostly through volunteers, and has only one permanent employee, Linda O’Brien.
O’Brien has been working at the foundation since 2003. She started as the director of the afterschool program, after responding to DeLuca’s advertisements. Prior to her employment at the foundation, O’Brien has children who were enrolled in the pre-school. O’Brien said, “I had a high opinion of the foundation because of all the things they provided for the community.”
The foundation runs with stringent qualifications, students must go through a rigorous procedure to apply for a scholarship. First, the student must have a 75 GPA, then they must apply to FAFSA (a government program that qualifies students for financial aid).
Then they must apply to the college of their choice and go through the process of getting a grant. In addition, they must apply to at least three other local or national scholarship sources.
DeLuca says that the foundation does this because they’re “trying to force the students to think through the whole process so that they apply where they are most likely to get one.”
These scholarships have made a huge impact on the lives of many people in Hancock. De and Douglass Caucci’s daughter, Christina, daughter graduated from Hancock High School in 2008 with the Robert Hall Scholarship. She has been receiving this scholarship for the past two years, and will receive it again this year. De Caucci said, “As a parent it certainly relieves anxiety as far as financial obligations go. It makes it easier to know she will have her needs met, and it’s nice to know the Hancock Education Foundation is here to help her.”
All programs run by the foundation are free of charge and available to all students and families living in Hancock. The foundation offers 10 educational and social programs. First, there is the Children’s Center, for children from birth to the age of three, which not only offers child care but teaches new parents how to better care for their young ones. This also creates a social network that acts as a support system for many parents. DeLuca commented on it saying, “The Children’s Center isn’t a drop-off, it’s what we call a drop-in.
The parents or caretaker have to stay with the baby at all times.” Then, there is a preschool next to the center for children three to five years old, equipped with computers and a listening center.
After students pass through the preschool, they attend an after school program for students in kindergarten through ninth grade. This is one of the most beneficial programs, according to Carol Daddezio, principal of both the Hancock Middle School and the Hancock High School. Daddezio said about her students, “Their work completion has increased with the support of the after school program and because of the collaboration with teaching staff and employees; the collaboration is what makes a strong program.”
So far the Hancock Education Foundation has seen a great improvement in test scores of their students and in the rate of high school graduation, “When we started, the kids in the third grade were passing state mandated tests in the English Language Parts and Math at about the 40% level. Now in the third through eighth grades they’re passing at the 96% level due to the after school programs and the other attention that they’ve got,” said DeLuca.
The Hancock Education Foundation also awards a “Scholar of the Month” prize for children in the elementary and middle school. The prize is $100 and is rewarded to the student upon high school graduation. The award is sponsored by Camp Hill Top; 14 students received these awards at the most recent graduation. The foundation also has a Family Learning Center for adults education.
Another one of the helpful services offered by the foundation is their mentoring program. Students are matched up with adults in the community who will foster them throughout their whole high school career.
Another mentoring service is provided after school where older students get the opportunity to help the younger children. DeLuca said, “Not only are the younger kids helped, but he older kids benefit themselves. They becomes better students, they becomes more thoughtful, they’re not only figuring out what the child needs but they’re figuring out what they need. We’ve gotten a benefit that way and the high school student has as well.”
O’Brien also commented on the benefits, saying, “In the past we’ve had some students in our after school program go on to be teachers. It really changes their outlook on school as well. The younger kids really look up to them and it makes them want to do better.” Nikki Hartz is one of those people. Hartz is a scholarship recipient of the Hancock Education Foundation, but she also worked for them throughout high school. As a tutor for 5th-8th graders she decided to pursue teaching into college.
The foundation has made a huge impact on education in Hancock, but they need help from volunteers to continue. The foundation needs volunteers for all of their programs. If parents have children in the after school programs, they should know that they can volunteer for anything at any point in time. O’Brien said, “We are always in need of volunteers, whether it be for our afterschool programs, fundraisers, of the mentoring program.” Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Linda O’Brien at (607) 637-5262.
For those who want to know more or would like to make a donation, the foundation publishes a quarterly newsletter, go to: www.hancockeducationfoundation.com
