Flushing educator earns ‘Changemaker Challenge’ award
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JUNE 11-JUNE 17, 2021 33
shine a light on everyday
heroes creating change
in the midst of unprecedented
challenges.
“In this uniquely
challenging school year,
students and educators
have come together to
honor the everyday heroes
working to spark
change in the midst of so
many global challenges,”
said Leonetta Elaiho, senior
program manager of
Students Rebuild. “We’re
so pleased to honor a few
exemplary students and
educators with a special
award.”
This year’s Changemaker
Challenge celebrates
the people working
to make their local
communities better, like
caring for others by ensuring
access to vaccine
appointments for the
most vulnerable.
Students Rebuild is
partnering with six organizations
that are empowering
and supporting
students and educators
all over the world to take
action for the challenge,
including Creative Reaction
Lab, Peace First and
DonorsChoose.
Throughout the past
school year, more than
975 teams from around
the globe created more
than 49,000 artistic
awards for changemakers
right in their own
backyard.
For each award created
and shared with Students
Rebuild, the Bezos
Family Foundation made
a $5 donation — $1 million
in total — to organizations
serving young
changemakers working
across the globe, and educators
leading change
in communities throughout
the United States.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail
at cmohamed@schneps
media.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4526.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
A Flushing educator
received the “Changemaker
Challenge” award
from Students Rebuild,
a Bezos Family Foundation
program that mobilizes
young people to
take action on the world’s
most critical issues.
Andy Yung, a pre-K
teacher at The Active
Learning Elementary
School in Flushing, was
recognized ahead of a
special virtual award
show at the culmination
of Students Rebuild’s latest
initiative, the Changemaker
Challenge.
The challenge closed
on June 4 — the culmination
of a nine-month
process that brought
together students from
55 countries and all 50
states — with Students
Rebuild selecting six
“changemakers” to honor
for their community
change efforts, including
Yung. Each award recipient
will receive $1,000 to
further their efforts.
For Yung, receiving
the Changemaker Challenge
award was unexpected
and amazing, he
said.
“As someone who
teaches in the same community
I grew up in,
I’m donating half of the
award to a local nonprofit
and am contributing
the other half to a college
scholarship fund in my
school,” Yung said in a
statement to QNS.
Yung is honored to
work with students,
parents and community
members with whom
he has a shared identity
and shared experiences,
connecting with his students
and their families
in a way that is not easily
learned.
Through DonorsChoose,
a U.S. nonprofit
organization that
allows individuals to
donate directly to public
school classroom projects,
Yung has been able
to turn his classroom
into the ideal play-based
learning environment
for his pre-K students.
He has brought in resources
that allow them
to see themselves in the
classroom through the
books they read and
learning experiences
they share.
“This year with my
pre-K students working
remotely, it’s been
more important than
ever for me to work
with DonorsChoose.
Inequity arises in virtual
learning without
access to the same materials,
and it’s not an
equal playing field,”
Yung said. “Through DonorsChoose,
I was able
to provide my pre-K students
with basic supplies
to play with at home and
during virtual learning.”
Yung’s experience
as a parent has allowed
him to experience the
sacrifices his parents
had to make, and to appreciate
and reflect on
the difficult ones he
does not. He also loves
“Star Wars” to the point
where he brought the
first Jedi Academy to his
school — also through
DonorsChoose.
The Students Rebuild
Changemaker Challenge
provides students and
educators around the
world the opportunity to
Andy Yung, a pre-K teacher at The Active Learning
Elementary School in Flushing. Photo courtesy of Yung
SAMPLE
/QNS.COM
/media.com
link
