On Monday, attorneys from Hartman Simons joined other members of Atlanta’s legal community to help juniors and seniors at Westlake High School prepare college and scholarship applications. The event was organized by the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators (AALA) and gave volunteers a chance to work one-on-one with the students. The evening also included an informational session for parents on the transition from high school to college.
At Hartman Simons, we always find it rewarding to give back to our community, but this event has a special place in our hearts, as Westlake’s principal is Grant Rivera, brother of our attorney Ryan Rivera. Furthermore, Rachelle Jones, our office administrator, is the chair of community relations for AALA and was one of the main organizers of the evening.
To document this special evening, we present four numbers related to the event.
53 – The total number of volunteers who participated in the evening. The volunteers came from 17 law firms as well as business partners of AALA.
15 – The number of volunteers from Hartman Simons, including family members of employees, who were present. Attendees from the firm included Mark Florak, Diane Haeger, Jones, Will Lovell, Eitan Ovadia, DeLoris Person, Sharon Poland, Rivera and Benno Rothschild.
The firm and Subway donated food for the event.
75 – The number of Westlake students who received valuable help with their applications.
250 – The dollar amount of several scholarships awarded during the evening. Hartman Simons awarded a $250 scholarship to offset the cost of books, and Westlake gave away a couple of $250 scholarships for the same purpose, as well as six ACT and SAT preparation books. Also, Syracuse University pledged to provide two $250 scholarships to the first two Westlake seniors that are accepted to the school.
All in all, it was a very special evening. “I’m not sure who was more excited about this event – the students, the parents or the volunteers!” Jones said.