News Archive

Check out the E-Journal of the Benefit HERE (5MB download)

Thank you to all of the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Corporate Sponsors for this year's Benefit. We are honored by your support. Check out the full list of sponsors here.

Each year the Center holds its Annual Cocktail Benefit to raise nearly half of its operating costs. At the Benefit, we give awards to leading professionals in Business, Design, and Public Service.

This year, we will hold our Benefit on Wednesday May 4, 2011, from 6 - 8 PM at the Atrium Shops and Cafés, 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue.

Our Business honoree is Jonathan Mechanic (Fried Frank) along with David Rockwell (The Rockwell Group) for design and Robert LiMandri (Commissioner of New York City Buildings) for Public Service. Plus, Robert Selsam will receive a Special Recognition Award for Service to the Center.

Corporate Sponsors who donate $5000 or more to the Annual Benefit will have their organization's logo displayed on our website here.

Please consider sponsoring at the following levels:

•   $25,000 (15 guest tickets) supports the Center's flagship program, GLOBE  [Guided Learning through Our Built Environment], a multi-year partnership with New York City public schools
•  $15,000 (10 guest tickets) provides professional development for teachers in the Salvadori method of using real-world applications to teach math and science
•  $10,000 (8 guest tickets) supports after-school engineering programs for under-served students at New York City Housing Authority community centers
• $5,000 (4 guest tickets) helps publish and distribute books and lesson plans to teachers around the world

Additionally, you can donate:

• Auction Items: submit an exciting, tax-deductible gift for our silent auction.

You can always make a donation to support the Salvadori Center's programs through our donation page or fill out our sponsor form here.

The Helena Rubinstein Foundation has renewed its support of the Center’s GLOBE program with a $15,000 grant. GLOBE [Guided Learning through Our Built Environment] is our flagship school program in which Salvadori educators mentor teachers in their classrooms over a period of three years. The Helena Rubinstein Foundation supports programs in education, community services, arts, and health, with a special interest in programs that benefit women and children and assist disadvantaged communities.

At the National Science Teachers Association conference, held in Baltimore this past November, Leonisa Ardizzone led a workshop on using bridges as a means to create integrated science, technology, engineering and math learning experiences. It drew a healthy crowd, as participants used everyday materials to built model arches and discuss how to use these structures to enhance science learning--from examining the forces that make bridges work, to applying measurement, patterns and geometry as part of the engineering design process.

A few days later, Leonisa gave a presentation about how designers can best partner with schools and community centers at the annual A+DEN [Architecture + Design Education Network] conference in Chicago, “From the Inside: What Schools Really Need from Your Design Education Program.

In October, Leonisa was invited to give a lecture about Dr. Maria Montessori at John Jay College as part of Italian Culture and Heritage Month. In her talk, she not only discussed the admirable life and work of Dr. Montessori, but also drew parallels between Dr. Montessori and our founder – another outstanding Italian educator, Dr. Mario Salvadori.

The Center launched this year’s B.R.I.D.G.E.S [Build, Research, Invent, Design, Grow and Explore through Science] after school program with a new Skatepark Design curriculum. Young people are studying, designing and constructing model skateparks to gain a better understanding of the necessity of shared community space. They are also learning about the shapes, elements, and structures that make up a skatepark and the math and science concepts behind them. “Skateparks allow children to see the fun in physics,” said Dr. Leonisa Ardizzone, President of the Salvadori Center.


The B.R.I.D.G.E.S. Program is entering its third year of after school adventures in 15 New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) community centers throughout the city. The sessions are co-taught by Salvadori educators and NYCHA instructors, and the program will grow to 25 community centers by 2013. B.R.I.D.G.E.S is made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation, a federal agency.


The Salvadori Center has kicked off its 2010 Annual Appeal, with the special theme of Help Us Help Schools. Due to severe budget cuts, many schools can no longer afford Salvadori services. In response we are creating a School Scholarship Fund for the high needs schools that want, and need, our assistance.

Read more here

Forty-one teachers from our eight GLOBE schools attended a three-day Institute just before the beginning of the school year. Participants focused on Urban Infrastructure, and immersed themselves in the Salvadori pedagogy. Highlights included field trips to a major Consolidated Edison substation, arranged by ConEd engineer/Salvadori board member Len Singh, and a visit to a forensics engineering firm, Lucius Pitkin, hosted by board member Robert Vecchio. "Rarely does a teacher gets a chance to actually see how infrastructure supports daily life in New York City," said senior architect-educator Pat Shuford. "Plus they came away with rich ideas for projects and design challenges for their students."