Richard Vitale Photo by Can Türkyilmaz
High school may be over for Richard Vitale, but he is still focused on students’ futures. Vitale, a 1991 Woodrow Wilson High School graduate and Bank of America senior vice president, was recently named a finalist for the Dallas Foundation’s 2012 Good Works Under 40 award for his work creating the Woodrow Wilson High School Community Foundation. The organization, which was expected to raise $130,000 in 2012 as of press time, helped fund Dallas ISD’s first International Baccalaureate program—a high-intensity academic track—at Woodrow. The organization also raises money for elementary and middle schools that feed into Woodrow and for scholarships for graduating Wildcats.
Tell me about this award.
What I think the Dallas Foundation’s putting together—it’s their third year, if I understand correctly—is they look for individuals in the community under the age of 40 that have done really good work in the community and kind of balance that work/life equation. [Dallas ISD District 2 Trustee] Mike [Morath] thought that I would be a good candidate for that, considering specifically the work that we’ve done at the Woodrow Foundation. They picked me, but they have to have a person to honor. There was no way we could have done what we’ve done if I hadn’t surrounded myself, quite frankly, with people who are so much smarter than me.
What was your experience like at Woodrow?
I was active. Woodrow is one of those unique places, you’ve probably heard this from other people, where you can do anything you want to. You can be in sports, so I played baseball, four years varsity. You can be in show choir, which I was. You can be in art club, you can be in French club, you can be in the annual musical, you can be in the one-act play. I did all that stuff. I basically did everything that was available to me.
How did you get involved in Woodrow again?
Ruth Vail [the principal at the time] needed some volunteer leadership to help her get [the International Baccalaureate program] off the ground. She asked me to basically sign off on the application that went to DISD to redesign the school, so I was the official business sponsor for the application. Then I asked her, “How are we going to raise money to support it, because DISD has limited means and this is an expensive program?” Before she answered I said, “Why don’t I start a foundation to support it?” After getting input from a number of community members, I said, “Why don’t we name it the Woodrow Wilson High School Community Foundation?” The grand idea was to support not just Woodrow Wilson High School but to support the feeder pattern, all the schools, the elementaries, the junior highs, that feed into Woodrow.
What does the foundation do related to the feeder schools?
Everyone means well, but if you don’t have those outside support resources helping you, things fall through the cracks. Kids fall through the cracks, and we don’t want that to happen. We work with PTAs, we work with volunteer leaderships. At probably 80 percent of the campuses, we put on fundraisers for them on a monthly basis. Something as simple as, Fuzzy’s Taco will have a day where a percentage of their sales will go to the school.
So donors can pick which school they want their money to go to?
They can pick the school they want it to go to, they can pick the purpose. It’s been real exciting because I didn’t want to be known as a scholarship organization, but we’ve had so much success with it. The first year, which was 2011, we gave out probably $5,000 worth of scholarships that were all endowed. We’ll be in the scholarship business forever. Last year, we gave out about $18,000 worth of scholarships. It’s been a big part of our business. We get to invite the families of the children selected, and we ask each one to give a speech. It’s real emotional because many of these children, you hear what they’ve gone through to get where they are, if they are college bound, and this money is so important to them to help take the next step. You’re helping change a life. That’s pretty critical.
Learn more about the Woodrow Wilson High School Community Foundation, and donate to its causes, at woodrowfoundation.org.
