Student enrichment company celebrates Roslyn Heights branch

Max Zahn
Ribbon cutting to celebrate the Roslyn Heights branch of the student enrichment company Village East Gifted. Community members (from l to r) in attendance included Diane C. Duel, secretary of the Roslyn Chamber of Commerce; Wayne Wink, North Hempstead Town Clerk; Tobi Phillips, owner of Village East Gifted; North Hempstead Town Councilman Peter Zuckerman; Harun Hassouni, Roslyn Chamber of Commerce Board Member; Barbara Kaplan, vice president of marketing and public relations for the Roslyn Chamber of Commerce.

The owner of a student enrichment company called Village East Gifted, Tobi Phillips, held the program’s first instruction in the basement of her home.

“I provided tutoring at my house for the first four years,” Phillips said. “Eventually I had 80 students coming in and out and opened an office in Huntington.”

On Monday, Village East Gifted celebrated its  10-year anniversary with a ribbon cutting at its second branch, on Mineola Avenue in Roslyn Heights.

North Hempstead Town Councilman Peter Zuckerman and Town Clerk Wayne Wink were on hand for the occasion, as were several representatives from the Roslyn Chamber of Commerce, including the president, Vito DiTrapani.

Phillips said her company supplements instruction given by public schools, which she said struggle to fully serve gifted and talented students.

“Gifted students need everything,” Phillips said. “Sometimes they don’t get opportunities in public schools.”

Village East Gifted is a highly selective program, accepting three of every 10 applicants, Phillips said.

Students from age 2 1/2 to 16 can enroll, though all instruction is at a high school level or higher.

“We have kids learning SAT words at age 4,” Phillips said.

The program uses a teaching approach created by Phillips called Phillips RBM, short for reawakening brilliant minds.

“It integrates all areas of the brain at some time in every lesson,” she said. “Each lesson includes math, social interaction, hand-eye coordination and art.”

A total of 130 students receive instruction each week at the company’s two locations, which employ six part-time teachers.

“Here we get challenged,” said Noah Pastula, a student. “In school the stuff they teach us is limited because other students need help with work.” 

Another student, Ian Yasso, said he enjoys the social dimension of the program.

“Where I come from it’s all about sports,” he said. “I’m a tech person and it’s nice to know other people like me.”

The program offers financial aid to underprivileged students, Phillips said. “We don’t turn anybody away,” she added.

“These kids are going to the Ivy League,” Phillips said. “We’re just getting them trained for that.”

For his part, Pastula said he wants to study science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Yasso, meanwhile, is looking beyond college.

“I want to work in game design,” he said.

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