15th Aunnual Odyssey Brunch

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15th Aunnual Odyssey Brunch
Odyssey Board Chair and Hero Veronica Morrissette, Odyssey Scholar Aja Patterson, and Jason Esteves (Atlanta Public Schools)

15th Aunnual Odyssey Brunch
Co-chair Chambless Kalka, Odyssey Executive Director Jeff Cohen, Co-chair Alden Potts

15th Aunnual Odyssey Brunch
Odyssey Teacher Honorees Ann Tedesco and Michelle Hayes

15th Aunnual Odyssey Brunch
The Jerome Bettis Bus Stops Here Foundation (Trameka Bettis, 1st row, center)

The 15th Annual Odyssey Brunch was held at The St. Regis Atlanta on February 3, 2020, to a sold-out crowd eager to help.

The event, hosted by Co-chairs Alden Potts and Chambless Kalka, is Odyssey’s most important fundraising event of the year. Proceeds allow scholarship recipients to experience Odyssey’s six-week academic summer enrichment program, tuition-free. 2019 Co-Chairs Jen Bennecke and Mary Schwartz served as Honorary Chairs.

Highlights included a networking reception and champagne brunch for nearly 600 guests, who heard keynote speeches from Odyssey Teacher Honorees Ann Tedesco and Michelle Hayes, followed by this year’s Odyssey Scholar, Aja Blair Patterson.

Mrs. Patterson spoke fondly of her experience as an Odyssey scholar, spanning from grade 7 to her high school senior year, only to return as a proud alumna and intern who gave back to the organization that had given her so much.

Now an elementary language arts teacher, Patterson expressed, “My goal is to expose more children to higher quality education as well as embody the mission of Odyssey: A quest for knowledge, a path to college.”

The program continued with a surprise performance by saxophonist Frank Houston, a raffle prize to Montage Deer Valley, and closing remarks by Odyssey Board Chair and Odyssey Hero, Veronica Morrissette.

Brett Lane

Brett has more than 20 years in the magazine business, starting with health & beauty articles and progressing into travel writing. She is passionate about sharing the many philanthropic organizations and their events in the greater Atlanta area.

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