Highlights from the College Board Midwestern Regional Forum
Mar. 2010
Although it was raw and gray outside, the atmosphere at the College Board Midwestern Regional Forum was warm and bright. Some 400 educators gathered for the two-day meeting and were welcomed to the College Board’s regional version of the Winter Olympics by Von Mansfield, superintendent of Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233 and chair-elect of the Midwestern Regional Council.
Mansfield and Pam Horne, assistant vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions at Purdue University and past chair of the council, filled in for Chair Nickie Roberson, who was unable to attend. Horne declared that, like the College Board, Midwestern educators are “solutions oriented.” They all play a significant role in the “critical pipeline” that leads to college graduation and postsecondary success for their students.
During the luncheon, the Midwestern Regional Distinguished Service Award was presented to Don Hossler, executive associate dean of the School of Education at Indiana University Bloomington, by Mary Anderson, director of admissions at IU Bloomington. Hossler received the award in recognition of his service and leadership to the College Board and the education community in the Midwest. In accepting the award, he recalled that the College Board had published his first book, and commented that from the beginning of his career, the College Board has been at the intersection of his personal and professional life. He commended the organization for taking strong advocacy positions on such public policy issues as diversity and enrollment.
Following the award presentation, Mansfield introduced keynote speaker Salome Thomas-EL, a teacher, chess coach and author of I Choose to Stay: A Black Teacher Refuses to Desert the Inner City.
Calling education the “passport to transform our communities,” Thomas-EL urged everyone to “come to the table together.” There is an increasing number of minority students who are taking the SAT®, but few of them are black or Latino males.
“Think of all those things that women have done,” he said, adding that women have carried our communities. “Now”, he continued, “it’s time for the men to step up.” “So many young men have never had a man in their lives. They need a mentor. They need to understand that one day, they will be parents.” To young women, Thomas-EL said, “If he’s not on his way, he’s in your way.” Working with boys and girls, Thomas-EL helped his inner-city Philadelphia students to succeed.
“This work is a ministry,” he said. “High school reform begins in elementary and middle school. We can’t win this fight without you. Dream — dream to connect K–12 with higher education. If not for people like you, I would not be here today.”
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