Hey Guys,

Some of you may have already heard about the project Jeremy and I are working on. Before we discuss our project, we feel compelled to tell you of some unfortunate circumstances that will take effect next year, changes that will likely affect each of us. We first thought small and decided to raise some money for our school (Staten Island Technical High School), so we sat down for a meeting with our principal. He told us that while the official numbers aren’t out yet (but will be shortly), NYC Public High Schools can expect to lose around 750 million dollars of government funding by the fall.

This should strike each of us as some seriously disconcerting news; major funding cuts could leave many schools unable to pay for many clubs, committees, sports teams, activities, and even “unnecessary” classes such as AP and Elective Courses. While there’s little that we can do to try and fight these budget cuts, Jeremy and I have thought up a plan that, if implemented properly could help out everyone involved. We tagged as many kids as we could think of, because really—the more the merrier.

So, What’s The Big Idea?

We’ve spearheaded the creation of an organization to address the problems mentioned above. We named this organization The GrayMatter Foundation, and we are filing for incorporation as a nonprofit composed almost entirely of high school students, for high school students. Hoping to gather and unite kids from all over the city against these unfortunate budget cuts, we look forward to raising money and giving back to NYC students.

There is a wise proverb that says “Learning is like rowing upstream, when you’re not progressing, you’re being swept back.” As students of this city, we’ve decided to take the problem of budget cuts into our own hands by building a team of students to approach our dilemma. We hope to have everyone’s support, as it is not just another charity, it is a charity that will directly improve our lives and our communities. We encourage you to tell your friends and families to raise awareness and support for our cause.

So, Why Are You Telling Us?

In short, we’d love to have popular support from you guys, and everyone, but we wrote this note with another, even more promising goal in mind. We all know that two heads are better than one, and three heads better than two, so, below we proudly present our first annual application form for Board Members of the GrayMatter family.

To ensure that we’re all on the same page, we are all welcome to become participating members of The GrayMatter Foundation. However, being a Board Member will bring on yet another level of leadership, leadership that we desperately need to improve our outlook for next school year. We will all do our part to handle the budget problem we face, but Board Members assume the responsibility of helping the Board, including Jeremy and I, plan, organize, and hold future events to raise money. In addition, we’ll be giving out GrayMatter email addresses to stay in contact with our fellow teammates, as we hope to disperse the Board throughout NYC.

You can find and download the application at: http://drop.io/grayboardapps
If you guys can’t open .pdf files, just email us, we’d be happy to help.

We hope to hear back from as many of you as possible with Board Applications, but we also welcome questions, comments, and concerns. As an added favor, please let your friends and family know of this idea and the application; we’d love to hear back from everyone and hear their responses. Thanks for taking the time guys, we’re waiting on tenterhooks.

Let’s Give Back To Us,
Shah and Jeremy

Shah – shahaullah@gmail.com
Jeremy – jeremygmeyers@gmail.com