BC News

Humanitarian Peter Blaustein to enter BC Hall of Fame
Release Date: June 25, 2009

 

Peter Blaustein’s efforts to improve the lives of others have taken him to the Dominican Republic and now to the Bethlehem Central Alumni Hall of Fame.

Blaustein, a 1986 graduate of Bethlehem Central High School, is the co-director of The Sister Island Project, an international non-profit organization dedicated to developing and promoting friendship between the United States and the Dominican Republic and cultural, educational, and technical partnership and exchange between the people of the two nations.

Blaustein will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the commencement ceremony for the Class of 2009 on Friday, June 26, at the SEFCU Arena on the University at Albany campus.

The district created the Alumni Hall of Fame in the fall of 2004, after months of discussion between the district and community organization about the importance of recognizing graduates for their achievements after they leave BC. Induction is based on nominee’s professional accomplishments and their contributions made in their fields and to the lives of others since graduation. Nominations can be made by any member of the Bethlehem Central community.

“Since we began the Hall of Fame five years ago, I think the Committee has done a nice job of recognizing great achievement in a variety of areas - entertainment, military service, community, and activism,” BCHS Assistant Principal Scott Landry, who chairs the Hall of Fame Committee. “Peter’s wonderful work to improve the lives of others across cultural barriers shows the breadth of opportunities that Bethlehem Central creates for its students and their future. I congratulate him on this honor.”

“As BC continues its work to become a truly global school district that helps mold students into young people of great character, Peter’s induction into the Hall of Fame is quite fitting,” Superintendent Michael Tebbano said. “We want our students to be global citizens who see possibility and promise at every turn. In his work, Peter has done that and more, and he is a fine role model for our students.”
Beyond the educational excellence that BC is known for, we try to teach our students about the importance of having strong character, helping others, and, beyond respecting different cultures, working across cultures,” Superintendent Michael Tebbano said. “Peter Blaustein exemplifies these district goals in his work every day. He is a fine role model for our students and I commend him for this honor.”

Blaustein, who holds a Masters Degree in social work from the University at Albany, has a decade and a half of experience in various human service settings. Based in Langley, Wash., he currently works developing programs for several non-profit organizations. He has served as project coordinator for a school-based alcohol abuse reduction program for young people and has provided therapy and service coordination for mentally ill/addicted adults in an urban mental health center.

Through the Sister Island Project, he is focused on developing the Luz Maria Learning Center in Cruz Verde, Dominican Republic. The Learning Center, which the nonprofit opened in 2006, is used for community classes, microenterprise projects, tutoring, arts groups and youth leadership development. It is also home to Cruz Verde’s first library.

Blaustein is also focused on using The Sister Island Project to facilitate meaningful cultural exchange through volunteer service for Americans and others. He sees this as mutually beneficial, as volunteers will step beyond the familiar and become more capable leaders and citizens of the world and Dominicans also gain inter-cultural skills and valuable educational opportunities.

Through the cultural exchange aspect of the Sister Island Project, Americans and Dominicans are working hand-in-hand to create a school in an impoverished Dominican community.

The Sister Island Project also oversees a women’s sewing microenterprise project in Cruz Verde; a scholarship fund for Dominican university students; a summer arts camp for local children; and a program that provides for home repairs and other community needs such as medical supplies.

“I’m very honored by this recognition from BCHS, and I appreciate the school district’s commitment to supporting students as global citizens, “Blaustein said. “What so many of our young adult volunteers discover in the Dominican Republic is that service is a two-way street: they travel in order to make a contribution, and find that their own lives become so much richer for the experience.”
More information about The Sister Island Project is available on the organization’s Web site, http://www.sisterislandproject.org/.

Blaustein is the 7th BC graduate to enter the Alumni Hall of Fame.

Last year, Bethlehem Police Detective and longtime School Resource Officer Bruce Oliver was inducted. The Hall of Fame Class of 2006 featured former New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph R. Cannizzaro, '72, Richard Jadick, '83, an osteopathic physician who, as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, is credited with saving the lives of more than 30 Marines on a tour of duty in Iraq; and Eva Marie Saint, '42, an Academy Award-winning actress who played graceful leading ladies in many films starting in the 1950s.

The inaugural inductees who entered the Hall of Fame in 2005 were community activist Jo-Carol Block Davidson, '74; former president of NBC News Neal Shapiro, '76; and Captain Dennis E. Fitzpatrick, '76, commanding officer of the USS John F. Kennedy.

Two years ago, the Hall of Fame Committee successfully launched an online nomination form to make the process of nominating a deserving alumnus for consideration as convenient as possible. This nomination form will be available in the fall of 2009 as the committee looks toward another induction next June.

The committee is also moving forward with plans for a permanent exhibit at the High School where Hall of Fame members will be honored. 

 

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