TEAK unlocks access to outstanding education and transformative experiences for exceptional NYC students, who use these opportunities to change their lives and the world around them. TEAK is a free program that helps talented students from low-income families achieve their potential. Through intensive after school and summer classes, TEAK prepares middle school students to get into the nation’s most selective high schools and colleges. TEAK’s strong support system ensures that students thrive in their independent (day and boarding) high schools and graduate from college, ready to pursue their professional goals and positively impact the world. In 1998, Justine Stamen Arrillaga founded The TEAK Fellowship in memory of DeWitt White (1981 – 1997) and Teak Dyer (1970 – 1988), two people close to her whose lives were tragically cut short. Wanting to provide other young people with the opportunity for a brighter future, she created a program to help aspiring students use education to overcome economic hardships and achieve their potential. Starting with a pioneer class of 22 seventh grade students, Justine directed TEAK and managed its growth for eight years. Sorensen succeeded Justine as TEAK’s Executive Director, and in 2015, John F. Green became TEAK’s third Executive Director. Starting with the first cohort, 100 percent of TEAK Fellows have been accepted into top independent, public, and parochial high schools. Every single Fellow has matriculated to 4-year colleges; of these, 89 percent have entered top tier schools, including an average 26 percent into the Ivy League each year. Of the students who have completed the Fellowship, 88 percent are college graduates and leaders in multiple professions. While continuing its core work of preparing students to apply to and succeed at top high schools and colleges, TEAK has expanded its programming over the course of its history to better achieve and build upon these goals. In 2008, TEAK celebrated its first class of college graduates and established an Alumni Program to equip alumni with the tools and resources necessary for college success and professional advancement. In 2012, TEAK shifted the program’s entry point from 7th grade to 6th grade to increase student preparation prior to entering their rigorous high schools. Today, TEAK remains an enduring yet innovative program, opening doors to excellent educational opportunities and preparing students to succeed and lead in their schools, professions, and communities.
