Banneker High School

Benjamin Banneker
Academic High School
800 Euclid Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
202-673-7322

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Benjamin Banneker Academic High School is located in the Howard University neighborhood of the District of Columbia. Banneker students are some of the brightest and driven young people, and teachers are treasured as highly sought after educators. However, like so many public schools in need of resources, Benjamin Banneker suffered many deficiencies. Through the partners and staff of Holland & Knight LLP and resources of the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation, the school has been the recipient of greatly valued resources from our people and our charitable foundation.

Latin: For years, Holland & Knight lawyer Alan Vollmann has volunteered his time as a Latin teacher at Benjamin Banneker. His class begins early each day, prior to Alan's work day. His students are consistently finalists and winners in regional and national Latin competitions and excel in their exams. Most of all, Alan is a valued mentor to students and teachers at the school, and an outstanding recruiter of volunteers from his law firm. Donations that Alan makes directly to the Foundation are used to purchase books and awards for his students. The hours donated and the contributions of funds made by Alan make him one of the most involved Opening Doors volunteers on record.

Poetry Out Loud: Holland & Knight sponsors the National Poetry Out Loud Competition at Banneker High School, by producing an outstanding written program of the competition, and providing nine judges from the firm, including, partners, associates, legal assistants, secretaries, and a part-time clerk -- all poetry lovers. This impartial panel selected the winner who will, with the runner-up, represent Banneker at the national competition on March 12 in Washington at the historic Lincoln Theatre.

Friends of Banneker: Many thanks to Richard Sills and other lawyers within Holland & Knight for the creation of Friends of Banneker public charity, a fund raising vehicle for Benjamin Banneker School. Sills is the school's "answer man" when it comes to questions regarding their 501(c)(3), but never reports his time – we know he's given tons of hours helping with regulatory and fund raising questions.

Coffee: Hard to believe, but many public schools don't have a budget for coffee for their teacher's lounges. That's the case at Banneker, and it's been Holland & Knight donors (one in particular) who provide donations that go to provide coffee for the school's faculty. Imagine what a sleepy place it would be without these kind gifts.