At the Newton Child Care Commission's annual meeting held on May 18, 2005, Andy Vizulis was awarded the Tom Torchia Child Care Advocate of the Year Award. Given annually, this award honors a person who has significantly impacted the lives of young children and their families in the City of Newton.

Andy first became involved with the Child Care Commission as the Newton School Committee's appointed Commissioner in 1996. Andy served on the Commission for 6 years. He continued his involvement with the commission after his official appointment ended with his participation in "Kidz in Jeopardy" - the Child Care Commission's annual fundraising event. Andy is the technical wizard behind the electronics of "Kidz in Jeopardy". Andy has donated time and materials to make the buzzers work, the light bulbs light, and the computer-driven game board to appear on a large screen. Andy took it to another level in 2004 when he integrated his equipment with that of the local cable television network at NewTV, helping to create the first televised version of "Kidz in Jeopardy".

Andy served the children of our community as a Newton School Committee member from 1994 to 2001. He started NPS Online, Newton's public school information website while a member of the School Committee in2000. He still maintains it serving as its website administrator on a daily basis to ensure that parents, students, and other citizens of Newton have 24/7 access to important information about our school system. (www.newtonpublicschools.com)

Andy is currently chair of the Metro South/West Regional Employment Board (www.mswreb.org), an organization that is responsible for the development of the Massachusetts workforce with a strong focus on youth through its Youth Employment Initiative and its Technology Initiative.

Andy has enjoyed being a violinist playing with the Newton Symphony Orchestra (www.newtonsymphony.org) since 1977. He is active in promoting and judging the Lasker Young Soloist Competition which gives Newton elementary, middle and high school students the opportunity to win a chance to perform with the NSO at its annual family concert.

Andy was born in England and immigrated to the United States at the age of 10. Prior to moving to Newton in 1977, Andy traveled extensively through Singapore, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia, Taiwan and Afghanistan. He lived for several years in Japan where he taught English to Japanese students.

Currently, Andy is CEO of Mindspark, Inc. a developer of Palm-based software for education, non-profits, and industrial applications.

Andy and his wife Becky live in Newton and have one daughter, Arjana, who recently graduated from NYU.