Born and raised in New York City, a Vietnam War Veteran in the First Calvary Division. Spent his career as a Deputy Superintendent of Maximum-Security Prisons. Within the New York State Prison for 34 years, Sing Sing Prison for 25 years, then retiring from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.

 

As a retired Deputy Superintendent for Maximum Security Prisons, he knows firsthand the consequences of students who do not get a high school diploma. An astonishing 80% of the students that do not complete high school end up in a Maximum Security Prison.

 

Data from a Third Grade Reading Legislation in 2019 showed that students not reaching reading proficiency at the end of their school grade year, are four times more likely not to finish high school. A very sad fact is that the private prison Industry builds jail cells based on this data.

 

Lighthouse 4Students, Inc. since its very inception was created to bridge the gap and address these statistics, that we are experiencing in our school system. L4S has grown from its first public school adoption in 2018, to now five school adoptions in 2022. L4S has been nominated by Dania Elementary, and awarded the Outstanding Community Youth Mentoring Program of the year by Broward County Schools for 2018/2019. Again, being nominated for the Outstanding Community Youth Mentoring program by Pines Middle School for 2019/2020.

 

Brother Mac stands firm on the belief that education is key and the most important element to bolster our students toward success and help to eliminate poverty and ignorance. Low reading scores have unintended consequences and long-term effects, affecting a student’s economic and social position later in life. Data from the Nations Report Card Center by State shows a continuing decline in reading scores across the country. Covid and Lockdowns have made it even worse. Programs like Lighthouse 4Students are making a difference. We are proud to report 9 out of 10 students enrolled in our programs show improvements in academic reading and math scores.