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School for deaf student center named for longtime educator | Riverside County | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
Though he's now retired, Gerald "Bummy" Burstein has left a lasting mark on Riverside and its sizeable deaf community.
Today he'll lend his name to a small part of it when the California School for the Deaf in Riverside dedicates the Gerald "Bummy" Burstein student center, a renovated room to be used for student government and leadership programs.
"His entire career was around the deaf and the deaf community and leadership," school spokeswoman Laurie Pietro said of Burstein, who was a teacher and administrator at the school for 37 years.
He also gave $100,000 to a fund to help provide leadership opportunities for area deaf students, Pietro said. The school serves pre-school through high school students.
Students helped refurbish the room, a former media center where Burstein spent many hours when he worked at the school. Pietro said the students built a large table as well as helping with new paint and lighting. Computers will likely be added later.
The school tries to encourage students to get involved in student government, outside leadership programs and the community, Pietro said.
"They will lead tours around the school. They will explain what the school has to offer -- (it's) just getting them ready to get out there and do presentations within the community," she said.
Burstein, 83, a native New Yorker who is called "Bummy" because of his love for the Brooklyn Dodgers, has a history of community involvement that stretches far beyond Riverside.
He endowed a chair for $1 million at Gallaudet University, where he graduated in 1950. He was an educator for 52 years and is the first deaf person to become a certified professional parliamentarian. He also is a past president of the California Association of the Deaf.
"The new student center was my second home," Burstein said from his Riverside home through Pietro, who interpreted via video phone.
"I am very, very honored and it's much to my surprise that this is being done," he said.
Though he's now retired, Gerald "Bummy" Burstein has left a lasting mark on Riverside and its sizeable deaf community.
Today he'll lend his name to a small part of it when the California School for the Deaf in Riverside dedicates the Gerald "Bummy" Burstein student center, a renovated room to be used for student government and leadership programs.
"His entire career was around the deaf and the deaf community and leadership," school spokeswoman Laurie Pietro said of Burstein, who was a teacher and administrator at the school for 37 years.
He also gave $100,000 to a fund to help provide leadership opportunities for area deaf students, Pietro said. The school serves pre-school through high school students.
Students helped refurbish the room, a former media center where Burstein spent many hours when he worked at the school. Pietro said the students built a large table as well as helping with new paint and lighting. Computers will likely be added later.
The school tries to encourage students to get involved in student government, outside leadership programs and the community, Pietro said.
"They will lead tours around the school. They will explain what the school has to offer -- (it's) just getting them ready to get out there and do presentations within the community," she said.
Burstein, 83, a native New Yorker who is called "Bummy" because of his love for the Brooklyn Dodgers, has a history of community involvement that stretches far beyond Riverside.
He endowed a chair for $1 million at Gallaudet University, where he graduated in 1950. He was an educator for 52 years and is the first deaf person to become a certified professional parliamentarian. He also is a past president of the California Association of the Deaf.
"The new student center was my second home," Burstein said from his Riverside home through Pietro, who interpreted via video phone.
"I am very, very honored and it's much to my surprise that this is being done," he said.