Margitta (Kitty) Rizzo, a 13-year Sun City resident, has a granddaughter Maddy who she is very proud of. Kitty cannot help but explode with pride and tell everyone how her Granddaughter’s successful efforts with a failing student were recently featured in a Tulsa, Oklahoma article. She says my Maddy “gives back to the community”. Kitty beaming with pride tells “To me she is perfect”.
This past year Madelyn (Maddy) Popp worked with AmeriCorps’ City Year. City Year Maddy explained “is a program that is in high-poverty communities bridging the gap for student support that schools do not have the resources.”
Maddy took a Tulsa, Oklahoma student under her wings. This student had given up; he skipped school, became despondent and felt hopeless.
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After graduation, she found an opportunity with AmeriCorps. The experience with City Year has led Maddy to change her focus of study. She stated that “I want to make a difference.” She is continuing with America Corp; participating in an Urban Teach program that is in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins School of Education. The program’s goal is to provide teachers that improve the academic performance of students in high-need schools. Maddy has begun the four-year journey that will lead her to her Masters in Secondary Education focusing on Urban students. “In the morning, I teach in an urban Dallas, Texas school” she explains the rigorous clinical training model “and in the afternoon, I concentrate on my …show more content…
“Maddy even teaches me” she proudly says “Maddy taught me how to send texts” and now that is how they keep in touch.
Kitty’s pride and devotion to her entire family is evident by all the framed photos in her home. She also has photos of the pets she cares for, “I love animals” she says with a huge grin.
You might see Kitty walking the dogs she cares for while others are away or taking care of a home for some of the snow birds. You also might see her shoveling snow in her fur coat not only on her property but that of her neighbors. She giggled while she shares “My neighbors sometimes joke and say there is that Rich Lady, shoveling the sidewalk. I tell them it keeps me