Staten Island, N.Y., High School Graduate Wins Robert G. Porter Scholarship

Washington, D.C – Sara Mazes, a 2005 graduate of Staten Island Technical High School in Staten Island, N.Y., is one of four highly accomplished high school seniors to receive the Robert G. Porter Scholarship awarded by the American Federation of Teachers.

Each year, the AFT presents an $8,000 scholarship to each of four outstanding high school seniors who are the children of AFT members.  Recipients must show outstanding service to their communities and plan to pursue a career in labor, education, health or government service.  The AFT will recognize the recipients during the union’s biennial educational issues conference, QuEST, held July 7-10 in Washington, D.C.

Always active in her community, Mazes has volunteered for years at a local soup kitchen. In her application she wrote, “One day I would like to be a teacher and I know that the values I have learned from volunteering regularly will, undoubtedly, help me to be the best educator I can be.”

The Robert G. Porter Scholars Program is named in honor of the late secretary-treasurer of the AFT, who served for more than 30 years.  Porter was known for his commitment to improving the quality of public education and public service.

Mazes’ parents, Peter and Elizabeth Mazes, are members of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City.

Sara Mazes lives in Staten Island, N.Y., and will be attending Muhlenberg College in the fall, where she plans to study mathematics and theater.

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