Summit Speech School Hosts 24th Annual Spring Benefit

Summit Speech School’s 24th Annual Spring Benefit will be
held Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster,
NJ.  The event is chaired by Michelle
Porraro of Branchburg, NJ, whose son Marcus graduated from the Preschool in
2009.  Milford, NJ high-school senior
Carly Skibinski from the Preschool class of 2001 will be the alumni speaker.

The Benefit will offer two separate events in one day – a
luncheon session starting at 10:30 am and dinner at 6:00 pm.  The luncheon only will include a presentation
of three bestselling authors with a light-hearted but thoughtful look at
parenting in the 21st Century, and the evening session will feature cocktails,
dinner, and music.

The featured presenters at the luncheon are:

Faye de Muyshondt is the founder of New York City-based
socialsklz:-), a nationally acclaimed program featuring modern-day social and
emotional workshops for kids and young adults. 
De Muyshondt is the author of socialsklz:-)
for success: how to give children the tools to thrive in the modern world,
which Parents Magazine calls “the cutting-edge, must-have manual for raising
polite and safe kids in the digital world.” 
She is a regular contributor to the TODAY Show and recently received a
Mom’s Choice Award Gold Medal. 

Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Ann Zoellner are Emmy
Award-winning TV producers, New York Times bestselling authors and social media
moms.  They have each spent more than a
decade working at NBC’s TODAY Show and are accomplished authors.  Their most recent book, Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us, immediately hit
the New York Times bestseller list and also spent 3 months on the Los Angeles
Times bestseller list.

The Spring Benefit will also recognize three special
friends who have made an indelible mark on generations of children at Summit
Speech School.  Bill Houpt has
volunteered as a music teacher at the School for the past 22 years, bringing
the gift of song to deaf and hard of hearing children who are eagerly finding
their own voices.  If you do the math,
that’s more than a thousand renditions of “Wheels on the Bus.”

Pam Kuhn has served as the School’s volunteer librarian
for 12 years and was actively involved in the creation of a new Children’s
Library in conjunction with the Junior League of Summit in 2005.  She enjoys working with the teachers to
choose books to support the curriculum, and has catalogued more than 800
donated books.

Like countless people at Summit Speech School and
throughout the community, Bill and Pam were deeply inspired by the example of
Capitola Dickerson, a long-time resident of Summit and graduate of the Julliard
School who taught piano to thousands of students over a period of 78
years.  For 30 years she shared her
talents and devotion as a volunteer music teacher for the children at Summit
Speech School.  When she passed away in
2012 at the age of 98, “Miss Cappie” was one of the most honored, respected,
and deeply beloved figures in the community. 

Generous sponsorship support for the event has been
received from C.R. Bard, Bayview Foundation, Judith E. Campbell, Celgene
Corporation, Cochlear Americas, Dearhaven Fund, Hendricks & Hendricks –
Attorneys at Law, Investors Bank, JT’s Confections, Gloria LaGrassa/Pluckemin
Inn, the MCJ Amelior Foundation,  Richard
and Caroline McMahon, the Rand Family, Sandy Hill Foundation, Matt & Dana
Oliver, Greg Porraro, and Susan & David Thatch.

A grand raffle at the event will offer American Express
Gift Cards of $1,000, $500, and $250 as prizes. 
Raffle tickets are $10, and you need not be present to win.  The popular silent and ticket auctions
include one-of-a-kind experiences, trips, concerts, events, gourmet dining,
gift certificates and so much more.  More
information is available at www.summitspeech.org
or by calling 908-50-0495.

About Summit Speech School

Founded in 1967, Summit Speech School teaches deaf and
hard of hearing children to listen and speak for themselves, so they can
succeed as part of the hearing world. 
The School works with children and their families, from infancy through
high school, to develop skills in listening, learning, and communicating,
building on the student’s own hearing ability supplemented with modern
technology such as hearing aids and cochlear implants.

Summit Speech School offers three educational programs –
a Parent/Infant Program that works
individually with children and their primary caregivers from birth to 3 years
of age, a Preschool for children 3-5
years old that prepares them to enter mainstream schools in kindergarten or
first grade, and a Mainstream Support
Program serving children in grades K-12 in local schools throughout
northern and central New Jersey.  The
Summit Speech School Audiology Center
specializes in the assessment and management of pediatric hearing loss.