Avi’s Fund for Families
THE AVINASH AGARWAL SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT
Avi’s Story:
If you knew Avi, you knew the value he placed on education. What you may not have known, were the struggles he faced in his own early academic life and how Montessori school played an integral role in his development and ultimately to his success as a transplant surgeon. Avi arrived in the US as a toddler. He immigrated from India with his family when his father through his own academic acumen secured a coveted US surgical residency in New York City. Avi’s parents arrived with $8 to their names and a dream to build a better life for their children, which they did.
Initially, learning English was quite challenging for Avi and made his early school years more difficult. Avi’s parents, looking to help their son and optimize his education, decided to invest their limited resources in sending Avi to a private Montessori school in New Rochelle, New York. Under Montessori principles, Avi gained confidence, curiosity and a love for lifelong learning that served him well at Cornell University, New York Medical College and throughout surgical and transplant training at esteemed institutions. It was for this reason, when it was time to find early childhood education for his own children, Devan and Nathan, MSC was the obvious choice. The impact Montessori education had on Devan and Nathan impressed Avi’s sister and brother-in-law so much that they too chose to send their children, Kiran and Dilan, to a Montessori school in Scarsdale, New York.
Our family has chosen to begin this endowed scholarship fund to honor Avi and acknowledge that given the proper resources other immigrant, minority or refugee children can begin their own learning discovery into the world. Additionally, diversity in the MSC community only makes us stronger.
While a portion of the scholarship has been funded by the family foundation honoring Avi, we have asked MSC to raise matching funds to ensure this scholarship is self-sustaining and continues to bring hope and opportunity to many future students. This scholarship isn’t just important to our family; it’s important to families in our community, it’s important to MSC’s mission of making Montessori School education accessible, it’s important to bring more ethnic, racial and cultural diversity to the classrooms. On behalf of the Agarwal Family and MSC I am asking you to please consider making a donation by following the link provided below.