New EnglandA Note from New England Regional VP Ed Klotzbier
Found in New England News
Apr. 2013
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VP Ed Klotzbier |
Dear Colleagues,
Spring is off to a busy start for everyone. As students await word on whether they’ve been accepted to their school of choice, educators are focused on the critically important goal of matching them to schools where they will be successful.
Our team has recently spent time with educators in New Haven and Trumbull, Conn., and Nashua, N.H., performing AP® diagnostics, helping to ensure that these districts’ AP programs are meeting the needs of students and preparing them for college.
Achievements Recognized, Member Engagement Emphasized at Regional Forum
Found in New England News
Apr. 2013
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On Jan. 29 and 30, about 500 educators from the New England Region gathered in Boston to network, learn and collaborate with peers from across the K–16 spectrum. The theme of the conference, “Collaborate! A Blueprint for Student Success,” set the tone for thought-provoking sessions specifically geared toward the New England Region and its distinct issues. Participants came together to discuss, among other topics, rigorous instruction and strategies to make assessment data transparent, accessible and actionable. Mary K. Grant, president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, delivered an inspiring keynote address that focused on the Berkshire Compact for Education, a countywide initiative to promote a continuum of education in Massachusetts’s Berkshire region.
Keynote Speaker Mary Grant Showcases the Power of Community Collaboration
Found in New England News
Apr. 2013
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The New England Regional Forum began with an inspiring keynote address by Mary K. Grant, president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, who emphasized the importance of meaningful community collaboration to meeting national college completion goals.
As the 11th president and the first alumna of the college to serve as its leader, Grant has expanded academic programming and facilities; provided students with new study away, internship, research and service opportunities; and has overseen growth in enrollment. She was introduced by incoming regional chair Nancy Barile of Revere High School in Revere, Mass., who described Grant as a passionate advocate for public higher education, civic engagement and community service. “I can’t think of a better person to kick off the forum,” Barile said.
Ethan Warner Named New England Recipient of Bob Costas Grant for the Teaching of Writing
Found in New England News
Apr. 2013
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Ethan Warner, an English teacher at O.H. Platt High School in Meriden, Conn., is one of six recipients of the 2013 Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing. The grant recognizes exceptional teachers for using innovative methods to inspire their students to write. The award was created to support teachers and to thank Bob Costas, the Emmy Award–winning broadcaster and author, for his generous public service work on behalf of the National Commission on Writing. Each winner receives a grant of $3,000 to support her or his innovative work. In this project, Warner had students choose a topic and write monologues, scenes, poems and music to be performed at two sold-out events. Proceeds from ticket sales benefited the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an organization also selected by the students. The grant will help students take the production to other schools and share their work.
High-Achieving Low-Income Students Talk About Obstacles and Success in College
Found in New England News
Apr. 2013
AP® English teacher Nancy Barile and school counselor Diana DeCristoforo, both of Revere High School in Revere, Mass., led a panel of former AP students who have made successful transitions from high school to highly selective colleges and universities including Harvard, Brown, Boston College and Wheaton College. By hearing firsthand from students, participants learned strategies for overcoming barriers to success for historically underrepresented students in AP that they could, in turn, implement at their schools and in higher education.
Revere is an urban school district with approximately 65 percent of its students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Students speak more than 40 different languages and come from countries as diverse as Columbia, Bosnia, Morocco and Brazil. Barile talked about the need to address students’ cultural deficits in high school in addition to providing rigorous academic preparation. She leads the high school’s Culture Club, a group that celebrates all cultures and takes monthly field trips to plays, museums and operas at no cost to the club members. By reaching out directly to local universities and professors, Barile lobbied to have her high school students, many of whom would be the first in their families to attend college, invited to visit college campuses and experience college lectures. Said one student panelist: “These programs to help kids close that cultural gap are really helpful to students once in college.”
