Ellen DeGeneres surprises School of Education Partner School in Harlem with $50,000

Ellen DeGeneres surprised Hunter College School of Education partner school Patrick Henry Preparatory (PS 171) students with a $50,000 check to be used toward improving their educational experience at the East Harlem school. Partnering with Verizon, Ellen also let the students and faculty know that they would be receiving a high-tech, on-site laboratory, free of charge.

Principal Dimitres Pantelidis, a Hunter School of Education alum, gave viewers a peek inside the school’s halls prior to the live reveal. Pantelidis remarked, “This is not the easiest community to live in. Some of our students are raised in single homes, some are raised by grandparents, some live in shelters. But when they do come to our school, they feel that warmth, that love, not only from myself but from the entire staff.”