Friends, I am raising money for Blue Engine, a worthy charity headed by my friend Nick Ehrmann. Nick is an inspirational, data-driven PhD and former Teach for America teacher. He wants to improve education at some of the toughest high schools in the country by a very innovative hands-on "swarm offense" approach to bringing students, one at a time, up to grade level and beyond in difficult subjects like Algebra. Blue Engine posted incredible results after its first full year of operations. I joined the marathon fundraising team a month ago or so and are looking to you, my friends, to help me raise $10K to support the cause. Please take a look at the organization (www.blueengine.org) and if you are so inclined, make a pledge to support the organization through my run. Thanks! Geoff

BLUE ENGINE INC wrote -

"If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain’t enough!"

-Shel Silverstein, "The Little Blue Engine"

This quote identifies Blue Engine’s perspective on education; that in order to get over the hill to success students need more than just a positive attitude - they need support and rigor.  Our Blue Engine Teaching Assistants (BETAs) provide this to the students we tutor in high-needs public high schools in New York City (please read more about our mission here).

The proceeds from this event will provide many hours of small-group instruction to support the individual needs of our students. Specifically, with each $20,000 raised, we can fund one BETA for one year as he or she spends roughly 1,000 hours tutoring, coordinating college visits, and facilitating after-school programs for 100 students.

We know that you support us and our students, but we suspect you’ll need a different kind of support and rigor while you “train” for this race and conquer the hills from the ascent up the Verrazano Bridge to that last push up Central Park. During race day, you can count on the Blue Engine team to support you along the way.

As this is our first year sponsoring a team in the ING New York City Marathon 2011, we have a limited number of spots, so please contact jon@blueengine.org if you are interested in participating.

For more information on the ING New York City Marathon 2011, please visit their website at http://www.nycmarathon.org