I admit to being anxious today, this is a big day for E K Pru Shee Wah, a gifted, poised and charming refugee student attending the Albany Public Schools. I am no mystic, but if you are so inclined, please think of her today, maybe pray for her, or send her some good thoughts and energy.

I think we are on the verge of changing her life. What a miracle that would be, especially in this tense times.

Her remarkable and amazingly dedicated teacher, Kathy Saso drove her to the Albany Academy this morning where Eh K Pru will be taking part in “Shadow Day,” where prospective new students spent a day following another student around the school, talking to teachers, and taking some  tests.

This is a critical step in advancing the effort to get Eh K Pru a full scholarship to the Albany Academy for the next four years. We’re not there yet, but we’re inching closer.

Kathy grasped that I was nervous and e-mailed me shortly after she dropped Eh K Pru off.

“She there,” she wrote. “I left her in good hands. She was nervous and excited. The day ends at 2:15 and she is going to stay and take the scholarship exam. I plan to get there at 3:45. I will keep you posted.”

I can only imagine how excited Eh K Pru is, she told me she is eager to be successful in order to honor her family.

I did a little rain dance when I got this message. Thanks Kathy, you are the best example I know of what a teacher can and should be. Kathy guided Eh K Pru through every part of this process, including the complex application forms.

Eh K Pru is the first student taking part in a program I am hoping to create to get one or two gifted refugee students into one of the best private schools in the region.

I spent several frustrating months trying to connect with Albany School teachers and guidance conselors to identify refugee students who might be able to get full scholarships.

I also talked to several of the best area private schools about joining with me in this program. Albany Academy was the first. Christopher Lauricella, the Headmaster, responded enthusiastically.

I’m also working with Alex Boggess, a partner in the school, whose senior project is seeking donations and funds for refugee scholarships a the school. If Eh K Pru is accepted and decides to go to the Albany Academy, the school will offer her a (nearly) full and generous scholarship.

Otherwise, it won’t be possible for her to go. Her family works hard, but don’t have that kind of money.

Alex and I will seek to raise money for her if there is a shortfall. She will probably need roughly $6,000 a year for four years, there are several donors in the school who might help and we are exploring ways to set up a donations page, either a crowdsourcing project or a page on the school’s website.

But first things first. She must want to go, and the school must want he to come.

Eh K Pru has to like it, her parents have to agree to send her to the Academy, the school has to accept her and we have to work out the exact financial terms in a way that will keep her there for the full four years.

There is more negotiating to do.

I believe we can do it, there are now a lot of people behind this project, which I hope to expand to other years and other schools. I feel this is the most effective – and practical – way to help the refugees. We raised a lot of money and spent a lot of money in the past few years, but the financial needs are greater than we can possibly meet.

Eh K Pru is, as Kathy suggested, a remarkable person. She spent 10 years in a U. N. refugee camp and has been in the United States for several years.

She is an honor student at the Hackett Middle School, and is motivated, articulate and hard-working, Kathy says she is one of the best students she has ever known. Some of the refugee children are damaged, even traumatized, by being in those camps. Eh K Pru said it strengthened her.

I never heard that before.

Last year, we helped raise money so that another Hackett student, Sakler Moo, could also go to the Albany Academy. I have not been able to speak with Sakler, but I understand he is doing well. We sent the school nearly $5,000 for his 2019 tuition shortfall, and for his meal plan. The school will take it from here. Many thanks to you for your support of this outstanding young man.

I hope we can do this every year, with the Albany Academy and with other schools.

I believe Headmaster Lauricella is sincere about wanting the school to be more diverse, and he and I share the belief that this must be done in a thoughtful and practical way. I like the way it works…I come up with candidates, he comes up with scholarship money.

I was discouraged that the refugee organizations I contacted wanted no part of this program, and wouldn’t even meet with me to talk about it. But this has helped me move much more quickly, without the politics of a non-profit bureaucracy to deal with, I can be much more effective, and I found these groups almost impossible to work with.

Finding a teacher like Kathy Saso inside a school made all the difference. When I met Eh K Pru, I felt I had the perfect student to kick off this program.

So I am on pins and needles and today, I have no official standing here, and will be on my radio show this afternoon, but I  hope someone will let me know what happens. I was up much of the night worrying about it.

Eh K Pru deserves this opportunity if anyone does, and I will do everything within my power to make it happen. I am grateful to the Army Of Good for following this story.

If I need help, I will yell. I am fortunate to be involved in something like this, it feels quite wonderful.