Marquette convenes urban education conference

National and local education experts to discuss “High Success with High-Need Kids”

Event Information
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010
Time: See below
Place: Marquette Law School – Eckstein Hall – and Weasler Auditorium Contact

Marquette University Law School and the Marquette University College of Education will convene national and local education experts for a one-day conference entitled, “Urban Education Innovation and Reform Programs:
High Success with High-Need Kids,” Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010.

Nationally renowned reformers Raj Vinnakota and Rafe Esquith, as well as local education experts, will share stories about what works to achieve high success with high-need kids, and explore topics such as social impact, value creation, and the development of sustainable cultures of innovation and achievement in urban education.  Details follow and complete schedulecan also be found online.

PLEASE NOTE:  Media interested in attending should contact Brigid O’Brien Miller at 414-288-7445 or Brigid.miller@marquette.edu. The daytime events are full, but portions of the event will be streamed live online. Seating remains for the evening presentation at the Weasler Auditorium. Register online.

Conference presenters:
Rajiv (Raj) Vinnakota will give the morning presentation, “Social Impact through Innovation: Urban Education Reform.”  Vinnakota is the founder of the SEED (Schools for Educational Evolution and Development) Foundation in Washington, D.C, which helps prepare students facing academic and social challenges for success in college and in the professional world. For his work at The SEED Foundation, Vinnakota was named a “Washingtonian of the Year” by Washingtonian magazine and received the Manhattan Institute’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneurship Award. He also is serving as Marquette University’s 2010 Social Entrepreneur in Residence, November 8–12, 2010.

National Teacher of the Year Rafe Esquith will share his passion for urban education and draw from his extensive experience during his afternoon presentation, “Connecting with Today’s Kids.” Esquith has been a teacher at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles, California, for more than 24 years and is the author of Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire. He is the founder of The Hobart Shakespeareans, a public school classroom designed to improve the quality of life for economically disadvantaged children. His numerous other honors include the “American Teacher Award,” Parents magazine’s “As You Grow” award, and Oprah Winfrey’s “Use Your Life” award.

A morning panel discussion will feature local education experts on “Local Paths to High Success for High-Need Students.” Panelists will include Clavon Byrd, principal, Starms Schools;
Heidi A. Ramirez, chief academic officer, Milwaukee Public Schools;
Robb Rauh, principal, Milwaukee College Preparatory School;
Marcia Spector, executive director, Seeds of Health, Inc.

That evening Marquette’s College of Education will host a program with Esquith and The Hobart Shakespeareans at the Weasler Auditorium, 1506 W. Wisconsin Ave.

The events also presented by the Office of the Provost’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Contact
Brigid O’Brien Miller
414-288-7445
Brigid.miller@marquette.edu