Class of 1996 Profile: Amy Bucher

As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the YTI Class of 1996, YTI alumni are interviewing each other, discovering and recording what is happening in the lives of our YTI family today. If you are a member of the class of 1996, and would like to participate in this project, contact Sara Toering at sjtoering@gmail.com

Amy is interviewed here by Beth Kormanik Hubbuch

Amy attended Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., and graduated with degrees in English and Education. While in college she had the chance to travel to Indonesia to see her birthplace and study for a semester. After college, Amy taught English to elementary school children in Japan through the JET program. Afterward, she moved to New York and then to California where she continued her work with children by running an after-school program for children at a small private school. She now runs a school-based program for the Boys & Girls Club that was recently visited by Vice President Biden. The program has grown under Amy’s leadership, from 100 students to 200 students – and there’s discussion about adding 70 more students. Amy described her job as being “the principal of the afternoon.” The job is demanding, and, not surprisingly, educational issues occupy most of Amy’s time and energy. One issue is disparity: the high school graduation rate in the community where she works, East Palo Alto, is 30 percent; in nearby Palo Alto it’s 90 percent. With programs like Amy’s, there’s hope for change.

The most significant impact YTI had on Amy’s life happened just after the program. “It was my first time to hang out with people for that long and create relationships and bonds,” she said. “It brought me out of my shell socially.” YTI also gave Amy the confidence to question organized religion: “I had always been curious about exploring other religions and a wider range of beliefs and it gave me a space to do that. I moved away from the idea that God was present only within a certain structure. I gained confidence in questioning and feeling like that was okay.”

Amy is engaged to David Ghandehari, a software engineer for TiVo.