AFSA Member's Son Wins National Scholarship, Dad is Baltimore School Administrator.

WASHINGTON -- The American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), AFL-CIO announced today that an AFSA member family has won a Union Plus college scholarship.

Jenner David Alpern has been chosen to receive a $1,000 grant for his college education this fall. He was one of 120 scholarship winners selected from over 5,500 applicants. As the child of an AFSA member, he was eligible to vie for the Union Plus awards. His father, Steven P. Alpern is a member of AFSA Local 25, the Public School Administrators and Supervisors Association of Baltimore City (PSASA). He is an assistant principal at Highland Town Elementary School in Baltimore, and area coach for the city's schools. The family resides in Towson, Maryland.

"The benefits of union membership are wide-ranging," said AFSA National President Baxter Atkinson. "From having a real voice at work to enjoying better working conditions, benefits, job security, and salaries, union membership continues to be the best choice for working families. For Steve Alpern and other parents of college-bound students, union membership equals access to scholarships, loans, and other programs to help meet their higher education goals. We congratulate Jenner on this stellar achievement and wish him great success for the future."

Jenner is interested in environmental science. He is very passionate about the environment and ways in which we, as a human race, can help sustain it. In his application essay, he writes: "I have always been surrounded by people who stressed the fact that we need to protect our environment. Then, there is my grandfather who is an activist who lives in a log cabin in the redwoods of California. I feel that it is absolutely essential that we protect nature and stop the destruction of the environment. As a Stream Team volunteer, I am doing whatever I can to work with the streams and tributaries I live near that flow into the endangered Chesapeake Bay." He enjoys exploring the great outdoors and getting his hands dirty. He has hiked in the rainforests and caves of Belize, kayaked in the San Juan Islands, and summited on Mt. Rainier.

Unions have played a significant role in his family's life. "Both of my parents belong to unions, and I have been aware of how they have each benefited as a result," he says. "My dad is involved in public education, and he has told me that without the benefits that are provided by his union, he would not have been able to afford to contribute to society by staying in public education as a career." With the influences of his parents and grandfather, Jenner looks forward to continuing his family's union legacy. "Now that it is my turn to contribute to society, I am confident that I, too, will be involved with a union of some sort," he says. This fall, Jenner plans to attend Clark University in Worcester, Mass. where he will also play soccer.

Applicants were judged based on academic ability, SAT scores, a 500-word essay, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and an understanding of the value of union membership. Union Plus was created in 1986 by the AFL-CIO to provide union members and their families with valuable consumer benefits. AFSA announced the winners of its 2005 Scholarship Program on June 6. See www.admin.org for details.

Media note: Jenner's photograph is available upon request to [e-mail] or [phone].

The American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), AFL-CIO is the only national labor union representing public school principals, assistant principals, administrators, and supervisors. AFSA has been fighting for quality public school education since 1976. AFSA provides labor, legislative, political, professional, occupational, and leadership services and benefits to over 20,000 members nationwide and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.