Having spent most of my adult life in public schools (in that time, 19 years as a principal), I’ve always appreciated the line from Marian Wright Edelman’s book The Measure of Our Success where she writes in part, “…Remember….that many fruits of your labor won’t become manifest for many, many years.” This past year I’ve seen yet another example of that important perspective. I first met Teddy Kusiak when he was a junior in high school having spent the previous year investing many hours of hard work and discipline to get himself back on track academically, emotionally, and athletically. Ted was one of those student/athletes who’d succeeded initially by his charm and achievements only to hit the academic wall as a high school freshman. Those struggles hamstrung him first in the classroom and then in terms of sports eligibility. That year all but dashed his and his parents’ dreams of athletic scholarship supporting a college career. Upon advice of his school counselor, they sought the Stern Center, and Ted reclaimed his dreams over the next year. I have continued to connect with Ted and his father since that year, and was not surprised therefore to read the lead article in a recent Sunday issue of the Burlington Free Press highlighting Ted’s impressive achievements as an NCAA Division 1 track star at the University of Rhode Island. As startling as his track performances continued to be (with the National NCAA’s in the near future), his academic accomplishments are more so. Since drawing himself up out of the ashes of failure and discouragement, Ted gained honor roll status for the balance of high school and went on to his current status as a Dean’s List Senior at URI. For Ted, the “many fruits of his labor” continue to manifest, and we are proud to call him a Stern Center alum.