What an afternoon we had celebrating our graduates! Thank you to everyone who came to show their support. We're grateful to Tania Gray and Michael Duffy for these amazing photos of the party. Special shoutout to our soon-to-be graduate Sandra for the custom Emma's Torch cookies!
Read MoreCongrats to Pema and Addwa on completing their Emma’s Torch Classroom Cafe training!
Over the past eight weeks, they have worked under the tutelage of Chef Mandy Maxwell to master cooking techniques that will make them successful in a restaurant kitchen.
Read MoreIf you’re exhausted by Manhattan’s crowds and honking cars, visit Red Hook, Brooklyn, for a relaxed and fun-filled day trip. Red Hook offers beautiful views of New York, great food, distinctive stores and kind people. So here you go: the top 10 things to do in our neighborhood!
Read MoreOn June 2, 2017, Emma’s Torch won the Princeton Entrepreneurs’ Network Startup Competition, rising above 23 other startups to claim the $10,000 prize.
Read MoreAdwa and her older sister came to the U.S. as refugees in January 2016. They fled Saudi Arabia because of its oppressive environment for women. At just 18 years of age, Adwa left her parents and younger sister behind.
Read MoreWe’re opening a cafe in Brooklyn!
Read MoreLadies and gentlemen, I am so thrilled to be with you all today.
There is an old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Looking daily at the newspaper and my facebook feed is a reminder of just how interesting these times are. For many of us in this room, these are times that have drawn into focus what we think, what we believe, and what we will fight for.
But while I have the luxury of standing in front of you, trying not to trip in my high heels, the communities that I work with face far more daunting challenges. Being a refugee in the 21st century is knowing that while we have made so many advances in technology, medicine, and culture, we still have so far to go when it comes to the rights of others.
Read MoreParents, grandparents, educators, the great class of 2017. I am so honored to be here.
Some professors ominously tell their students “look to the right, look to the left. By the end of the semester one of you will have dropped out.” What I can say today is “look to your left, look to your right, you are sitting next to the people who will walk you down the aisle at your weddings, hold your hands when you need it, and be your lifelong friends.”
One of my favorite JDS memories was in 2004 when the seniors took over the loudspeaker, and proceeded to give away the ending to every book on the English curriculum. Spoiler alert: Romeo and Juliet--dead. Gatsby--dead. Oh, and don’t even get me started on “Of Mice and Men.”
Read MoreGive me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!-Emma Lazarus
Dear friends,
Today is a dark day for America. A nation which has long been a haven for the persecuted and the disenfranchised is turning its back on its principles of diversity and inclusion.
