Last Monday, I had the honor of attending an awards luncheon at the annual convention of the National School Boards Association where the Roslyn Public Schools' Gold Card Program received a prestigious 1998 Magna Award. Trustee Asenath Anderson accepted the award on behalf of the Board of Education.

Magna Awards are bestowed annually by the American School Board Journal on a small number of school districts from all parts of the United States in recognition of excellence and innovation in educational programs. In 1998, more than 1,250 school districts submitted proposals for consideration for these awards. Roslyn's Gold Card Program was one of only 24 programs nationwide to be selected for this year's distinguished list of honorees.

"School boards have developed well-planned, thoughtful and creative initiatives to improve academic achievement, serve special-needs populations, maintain quality in the face of rapid population growth, and build bridges to parents, community residents, and organizations that serve youth," write the publishers of the American School Board Journal to describe the basis of the Magna Awards program. The Journal cited Roslyn's Gold Card program as "a model of community outreach to senior citizens, an often overlooked constituency."

The Gold Card Program, which has attracted 1,500 card-holding members since its inception four years ago, is a reflection of our Board of Education's philosophy to reach out to the school district's many constituencies. It is just one part of a broad, continuous effort to communicate effectively with members of our community who represent individuals of every affiliation: parent organizations, houses of worship, businesses, institutions of higher learning, other educational organizations, civic associations, government agencies at all levels, grass-roots community groups - and, of course, senior citizens.

One could say that there is an even larger philosophical basis for the Gold Card Program: to make the schools accessible to everyone in the Roslyn school community. It has become a truism in most communities that many older residents whose children graduated from the school system decades ago have lost all connection with the public schools. No matter how positive their past experience with the schools may have been, and how favorably they may have viewed the district's educational programs while their own children were attending our schools, it is only natural that most adults' awareness of the public schools will wane over time.

The Gold Card Program is a natural complement to Roslyn Adult Continuing Education, as they both provide avenues for life-long involvement in the Roslyn Public Schools. Gold Card members have told me countless times how much the program has meant to them. Whether senior citizens enroll in a discounted Defensive Driving Course, volunteer to serve in a kindergarten classroom at the Heights School, sign up for one of hundreds of Adult Education offerings, or dance the night away at the annual Jamboree, they are directly engaged in the public schools and feel a connection to the school community that they had not experienced for many years.

Cynics are quick to dismiss such programs as mere ploys to gain support for school budgets. But as the American School Board Journal points out, Roslyn is not a community that has ever suffered from a lack of support for its public schools. The program's value is very real indeed for the many senior citizens who have rekindled friendships with neighbors they haven't seen in years - not since their children were in school together - and who become regular participants in Gold Card events just to seek new experiences and keep these acquaintances alive.

The program also blends wonderfully with two other recently established outreach programs. Students in the high school's Community Service program have volunteered innumerable hours at Gold Card events alongside parents and teachers, and school-business Partners have provided invaluable support to all Gold Card activities so that the program can continue without increasing the burden on local taxpayers.

I congratulate not only the Board of Education for 1998 Magna Award, but all of the residents, students, parents, teachers, staff members, organizations and businesses of the Roslyn School District who have made the Gold Card Program the enormous success and object of pride that it has deservedly become.