PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Auburn native Jodi-Lyn Pontbriand has received the 2003 Feinstein Enriching America Award at Johnson and Wales University, which recognizes exceptional community service projects.

Pontbriand, a graduate of Edward Little High School, is the daughter of David and Debra Pontbriand. She is working toward two bachelor’s degrees: sports, event and entertainment management and travel-tourism marketing.

Pontbriand was recognized as one of four student teaching assistants who initiated and facilitated an innovative service project between the Travel and Tourism Department and Sophia Academy, a middle school for low-income girls in Providence, called Adastra: A Travel-Tourism Academy – named for a Latin term meaning “Reach for the Stars.”

“I collaborated with the other teaching assistants to create a year-long, community-based service program in which we educated Sophia Academy students about tourism within their community, available job opportunities, diversity of the world surrounding them, and practical life skills,” said Pontbriand. “Despite the seemingly endless work related to creating this program, I can honestly say that the unexpected impact that these girls have made on my life, and vice versa, has made it all worth it.”

The $500 award, administered by the University’s Feinstein Community Service Center, was presented at a student leadership award banquet

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