(Long Island, N.Y.) Live at Club Starlight celebrated its seventh year benefiting the Ross School as this year marks its largest annual benefit. Star of Stage and Screen world renowned Actress and Singer Ms. Julie Andrews was this year’s Honoree.
The evening kicked off with a “meet and greet” cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m. with a live auction following. Guests enjoyed entertainment with a spectacular Motown Review featuring The Miracles, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, and Junior Walker’s All Star Band. The evening included dinner and a night of dancing to contributors.
Located in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, New York, Ross School was founded in 1991 by Courtney and Steven J. Ross. They recognized that preparing students to meet the challenges of the 21st century requires innovative models to transform education. Aided by the research of many educational pioneers and leading thinkers, the couple decided to expand upon some of the best practices in K-12 education, collaborating them with the notion that leadership in an increasingly connected and rapidly changing world demands cultivating a global perspective and embracing technology. The resulting model offers a complete and uniquely individual educational experience to students from Pre-Nursery through Grade Twelve.
Realty TV Star Sonja Morgan from Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York
The school’s mission is to alter the way education meets the future; to foster interdisciplinary, integrated thinking and innovative leadership; to engage fully in the global community; and to facilitate lifelong learning.
The Ross educational experience aims to impart to young people a 21st century skill set and the inspiration that will motivate them to keep their minds actively engaged in learning. Ross School offers a dynamic environment where students become involved and take an active role in their learning. The school stresses direct personal experiences, inquiry through primary sources, and hands-on interpretation and analysis of information. Within a curricular framework based in world cultural history, classroom activities are designed and presented to integrate the arts, writing, literature, health and well-being, and computer technology. Children learn that each domain (i.e., discipline) is a valid tool for exploring topics, addressing real-life situations, solving problems, making informed decisions, and expressing findings. The connections across disciplines are highlighted both as reinforcement of the ideas presented and as a reflection of the nature of the world.
Ross students are encouraged to dream and imagine, to remember the past in order to understand the present and to embrace the future with whatever it may hold.
Super model Christie Brinkley
Ross School inhabits a composite of facilities on two campuses. The Lower School campus serves children from Pre-Nursery through Fourth Grade in pleasant surroundings in a agricultural region in Bridgehampton. Situated in oak woodlands just a short distance of only seven miles away, the East Hampton campus teaches Fifth Grade through Twelfth Grade.
This years honoree, Ms. Julie Andrews, is best known for her portrayal as Maria Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” Ms. Andrews has had a long career in the entertainment industry. The British Actress was born Julia Elizabeth Wells on 1 October 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, England.
Julie Andrews started her show business career as a child actress and later debuted on Broadway On September 30, 1954 on the eve of her 19th birthday, portraying “Polly Browne” in the already highly successful London musical The Boy Friend. She was an overnight sensation with her clear distinct range and her voice spanning four octaves, the critics simply adored her. Julie could do no wrong.
Her career peaked when Andrews played the title role in Disney’s Mary Poppins. Walt Disney had seen a performance of Camelot and thought Andrews would be perfect for the role of the British nanny who is “practically perfect in every way!” Andrews initially declined because she was pregnant, but Disney politely insisted, saying, “We’ll wait for you”. With that kind of flattered persuasion how could she resist. Ms. Andrews and her husband decided to return to the United Kingdom in September 1962 to give birth to her daughter Emma Katherine Walton, who was born in London two months later. Ms. Walton is now a resident of Sag Harbor, New York. The family traveled to the United States in 1963 and Julie began filming Mary Poppins.
As a result of her acclaimed performance in Mary Poppins, Andrews won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Actress and the 1965 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. She and her Mary Poppins co-stars also won the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Album for Children. As a measure of “sweet revenge,” as Poppins songwriter Richard M. Sherman put it, Andrews closed her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes by saying, “And, finally, my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and who made all this possible in the first place, Mr. Jack Warner.
Ms. Andrews is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People’s Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honours. Ms. Andrews is no stranger to the Hamptons. In 2003 Andrews revisited her first Broadway success, this time as a stage director, with a revival of The Boy Friend at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York.
Ms. Andrews is sincerely dedicated in assisting and helping those less fortunate and has been enthusiastically involved in international charities since the 1990s. Ms. Andrews became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, which assists women and communities in impoverished countries in 1992. Recently Ms. Andrews became involved with Operation USA, a California-based international relief agency.
Celebrities that came to give their support included Super model Christie Brinkley and Realty TV Star Sonja Morgan from Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New York.”
The event was planned by Lizzie Grubman Public Relations.
Lizzie Grubman Public Relations has quickly become one of the most famous PR firms in the New York competitive market. This company is proud to serve a clientele that sets trends, reflects popular culture and influences the course of public consciousness. Their ever-growing client roster is based on their knowledge of their clients’ businesses and the impact that they themselves have achieved.
Lizzie Grubman
The firm’s specialty encompasses high-profile personalities, restaurants, special events, film, fashion, the Internet, and the clientele to which these appeal, its range and impact span the globe. Through its strong, carefully cultivated contacts within the national and international arenas, Lizzie Grubman Public Relations communicates the message of its clientele through media, imaging, word-of-mouth, consultation, and event coordination.
During my interview with Ms. Grubman on the red carpet she revealed, “Julie Andrews is being honored and Motown is performing, and its an annual event and we have been working for the Ross School for actually four years, wow it’s a long time and Courtney Ross is an amazing woman what she has done, she raises money every year with special events and she provides scholarships for underpriviledged children.”
Later I spoke to Super Model Christie Brinkley and asked “Why should we support and contribute to the Ross School.” “Really education is one of the most important things in the world. Educated children are our future and for a while we were lacking for really good schools out here until the Ross’s came along and they have done an extraordinary job,” Christie explained.
Gifts to Ross School can be made in a variety of ways that offer personal advantages including income tax charitable deductions, reduction in capital gains taxes, and estate tax benefits. To discuss further about many options to give please contact the Development Office at 631-907-5214.
All proceeds will benefit Ross School programs and scholarships.
For more information on how you can support and contribute to the Ross School please visit www.ross.org
