Julie Mackin becomes a hero - trades nuclear medicine for career with kids

As a young woman in the 1970s, Julie Mackin wanted to make it in a man’s world and make lots of money doing it.

“I wanted to do it all; I wasn’t going to let anything stop me,” she said. “I was running marathons back when women weren’t.”

A radical change to her career path, though, and the lives she’s changed since earned Mackin the title of 2008 Green Bay Press-Gazette Everyday Hero in the category of education. Everyday Heroes are people whose deeds make Northeastern Wisconsin a better place to live.

Mackin was a nuclear medicine technologist at St. Vincent Hospital and said she was succeeding in a male-dominated career.

She was never one to ooh and ahh about babies, but when a little girl with Down syndrome came in for tests, Mackin felt at home working with her when another tech hesitated.

Mackin believes that event foreshadowed the midlife change in her career path. Today, she teaches special needs students at Franklin Middle School in Green Bay, and her focus shifted from making cash to making a difference.

The transformation began when Mackin married her husband, Mike, and had children. After her first child was born, she went back to work, and intended to do so after the second.

“Our second (Marnie) was special needs, and I thought I’d be able to go back to work, but after three months I realized that wouldn’t work,” Mackin said. Marnie, now 21, had health problems and needed to be in a full body cast for about eight months. Mackin left the hospital to care for her daughters, and then had a son and another daughter. Ten years later she went back to the hospital, but found her heart wasn’t in it.

“I wanted to do something with kids,” she said. “I found myself wanting to do something to make a difference.”

So she became a part-time paraprofessional working with special education students for the Green Bay School District. Two years later, she signed up for education courses at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

“It’s hard to make a change,” she said. “I was terribly afraid.”

Completing undergrad courses and achieving a master’s degree took about 10 years, she said. She’s now certified to teach special education.

Now she wouldn’t have it any other way. She considers her students her family, and admits she spends a lot of home time thinking about her second set of “kids.”

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Kids Speak Out About Environmental Issues and Going Green

The Kids’ Environmental Report Card is part of the Science Explorations program, a collaboration of Scholastic’s classroom magazines, SuperScience® (grades 3–6) and Science World®(grades 6–10), and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). In addition to sharing their views through the poll, kids can pose questions about the environment to be answered by scientists at AMNH each month. Each of the questions will be supplemented by multimedia content from Scholastic and AMNH, including interviews with the Museum’s scientists and curators, photographs, artifacts, and much more. Students and teachers can explore a range of topics such as ecotourism, preserving biodiversity, and reducing pollution.

“Kids have a lot to say about the job we’re doing as stewards of the environment, and the Kids’ Environmental Report Card gives them a chance to express themselves about these important topics,” said David Goddy, Vice President of Education at e-Scholastic. “With AMNH, we can provide students and educators with a hands-on way to investigate ecological issues, learn about careers in science, and expand their knowledge of the world around them.”

This marks the fourth year that Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, and the American Museum of Natural History, one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions, have joined together to promote science literacy among students in grades 3 through 10.

“Interest in the natural world and passion for conserving it is key to the mission of AMNH,” said Rosamond Kinzler, Senior Director of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology at AMNH. “Partnering with Scholastic is a powerful way for us to share this mission with kids across the country, in classrooms and on the Web.”

To learn more about the Kids’ Environmental Report Card or Science Explorations, go to www.scholastic.com/scienceexplorations.

For more information about the American Museum of Natural History, please visit www.amnh.org.

Rhodes scholarship or the NFL?

Florida State safety Myron Rolle was recently awarded a Rhodes scholarship.  He is the first major-college football player of his generation to win what is considered the world’s most prestigious postgraduate academic scholarship.

He became the most prominent student-athlete to win the award since Bill Bradley at Princeton in 1965. Bradley was later a Knicks star, a senator and a presidential candidate. Other winners have included Pat Haden (U.S.C. and the Rams) and Tom McMillen (Maryland and the N.B.A. and Congress).

Rolle, a preseason All-ACC and All-America candidate, is an astounding anomaly in a sport synonymous with low graduation rates and dumbed-down majors. He’s a 3.75 pre-med student who will finish his undergraduate degree in just two-and-a-half years; a National Leadership Honor Society inductee; the recipient of a $4,000 research grant for his work studying human mesenchymal stem cells and the facilitator of a health and living program at a charter school run by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Rolle, an aspiring neurosurgeon, will now decide between the NFL and an all-expense paid scholarship for two or three years of study at Oxford University in England.

Rolle’s quest to the win the Rhodes had received heavy attention from the news media because he chose to risk missing all or part of Florida State’s pivotal game at Maryland to have the interview, which took place in Birmingham, Ala.

Don Lemon (CNN) profiles a college football player who has to choose between a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and the NFL.

Highschool principal is a hometown hero

The Rev. F. William Etheredge, principal of Aurora Central Catholic High School, will be presented with the Hometown Hero Award by Mayor Tom Weisner during halftime of the school’s varsity basketball game on Friday.

The Chargers will face St. Edward Central Catholic High School of Elgin at 7:30 p.m. at home.

“Father Etheredge works diligently for the spiritual and academic development of children and young adults,” Weisner said.

“He consistently demonstrates his faith with kindness and humility, and generally embodies the traits we all strive to inspire in our young people.”

The city presents Hometown Hero Awards to recognize an individual’s contributions to Aurora.

Etheredge also serves as superintendent of the Catholic schools in the Aurora deanery.

Before his Aurora assignment, he was an associate pastor in both DeKalb and Rockford and an assistant principal of Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford. He graduated from West Aurora High School and then entered Waubonsee Community College, where his father, the late Sen. Forest D. Etheredge, was the college’s president. His mother is Joan Etheredge.

Rev. Etheredge went on to Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., before attending Gregorian University at the North American College in Rome.

Both Etheredge and Aurora Central Catholic are celebrating milestones in 2008. Etheredge was ordained to the Catholic priesthood 25 years ago, and Aurora Central Catholic is celebrating its 40th anniversary following the consolidation of Aurora’s Madonna and Roncalli high schools in 1968.

The Beacon News

$1M for cirriculum creativity

Jordan Brand, a division of Nike, Inc., announced that through its Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program it is recognizing close to 300 educators nationwide for their outstanding achievements and contributions in the classroom. This year, the Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program will award $1 million in total grants for the 2008-2009 school year to aid teachers working in grades K-12 in underserved communities. These grants provide the resources necessary for instructional creativity and enhance curriculum development.

“Jordan Fundamentals was designed to honor educators across America by providing financial support to their schools,” says Keith Houlemard, Jordan Brand President. “Our committed educators pave the way for the future of this country due to their unwavering commitment to their students and their communities by providing the best education possible to every student that enters their classrooms.”

The Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program acknowledges and provides financial support to teachers who endeavor to overcome challenges and limited resources in order to achieve excellence through instructional creativity, innovative teaching and high learning expectations for students. Since 1999, the Jordan Fundamentals program has presented more than $9 in financial aid to public secondary school teachers where at least 50 percent of the student body population is eligible for the free or reduced lunch program.

“Jordan Fundamentals allows teachers the opportunity to bring fresh ideas and innovative programs into the classrooms,” said Tim Anderson of Chicago’s May Community Academy and 2008-2009 Jordan Fundamentals grant recipient. “It is through these grants that we can inspire children to awaken their appetite for learning by gaining access to books, supplies and resources that have previously been out of reach to these deserving children.”

For the list of grant recipients and more information about the Jordan Fundamentals program, please visit www.jordanfundamentals.com.

CSR Wire

International Children’s Painting Competition Announced

To help raise environmental awareness and foster science literacy among elementary and middle-school students, Bayer Corporation and the United Nations Environment Programme’s Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA) have kicked off the second year of their partnership in the United States to bring the International Children’s Painting Competition (ICPC) to schoolchildren nationwide.

With this year’s theme, Climate Change – Our Challenge, UNEP and Bayer Corporation are inviting students ages six-to-14 to learn more about climate change and express that knowledge creatively through art.

The students’ paintings are expected to focus on the impact of global warming on our planet, as well as concrete actions people can take, such as using renewable energy and eco-friendly light bulbs, planting trees, sharing vehicles and using public transportation, among others.

Bayer Corporation’s ICPC partnership with UNEP RONA is part of the company’s national award-winning Making Science Make Sense(R) initiative that advances science literacy across the United States through inquiry-based, hands-on science learning, employee volunteerism and public education.

“Environmental education projects are an important part of Bayer’s commitment to sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and science education/science literacy,” said Greg Babe, President and CEO, Bayer Corporation. “With the International Children’s Painting Competition, we’re able to link these issues together for students who will soon inherit the mantle of the nation’s environmental stewards.”

Amy Fraenkel, Director of UNEP RONA, added, “Climate change is a priority issue for UNEP, and we are delighted that, through the ICPC, Bayer Corporation and UNEP are helping educate young people on how climate change is impacting our neighborhoods, our communities, our countries and the world. By participating in this competition, they are also learning about measures they themselves can take to help reverse the problem.”

The free-style artwork for the ICPC must be submitted on either letter- or legal-size paper and can be done using crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, oils, etc. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2009. For complete entry rules and conditions, please visit www.BayerUS.com/MSMS.

The ICPC regional winners will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. First-place regional winners are selected from each UNEP region: Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; North America; and West Asia.

This year, the ICPC North American first-prize winner will receive two fully-paid trips. The first trip will be to a World Environment Day celebration in North America on June 5; the second trip or the grand-prize trip will be to the 2009 Tunza International Children’s Conference to be held during the summer. Tunza, which is held every two years, is a global youth forum of UNEP that brings together youth from all over the world to share experiences on the environment.

CSR Wire

2 Million Minutes - compelling education reality

Regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking.  From that very moment the child has approximately -

…Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult.

How a student spends their Two Million Minutes - in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off — will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.

Dollars helping students ‘Aspire’ to graduate

Many scholars claim that the United States has a dropout crisis and  researchers now report overall graduation rates are near 70 percent.  African-American and Hispanic rates are often calculated to be as low as 50 percent nationally.

To many this isn’t new information.  Time Magazine dubbed the Untited States “Drop out Nation” in April of 2006.

The good news in this time of economic slowdown and restricted school budgets is that there are some programs aiming to help solve the crisis.  One of note is the Aspire program which is active and supporting schools across the country.

As one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to high school retention and workforce readiness, the $100 million AT&T Aspire program will support organizations with strong track records that promote educational success, from the classroom to the workplace. The recipient programs of this year’s High School Success grants provide a range of support for students, including academic intervention, mentoring and tutoring services.

In October alone, AT&T has announced several grants under the Aspire program for school districts in California.

• $700,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in Sacramento Area
• $730,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in Los Angeles Area
• $1.4 Million in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in San Francisco Bay Area
• $360,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in the Central Valley
• $650,000 in Grants to Help Address High School Dropout Crisis in San Diego and Orange County

As part of the Aspire initiative, the AT&T Foundation has committed $29 million in High School Success grants to more than 170 schools and nonprofit organizations. Statewide, AT&T is awarding 35 grants totaling more than $3.5 million.

America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest multi-sector collaborative dedicated to the well-being of children and youth, has noted that nearly one-third of U.S. high school students drop out before graduating — with about 7,000 students dropping out every school day, or one every 26 seconds.

“High school dropout rates are a serious issue affecting students all across the U.S. including here in San Diego and Orange County,” said Mark Leslie, vice president, AT&T External Affairs - San Diego. “We’re committed to helping kids succeed by preparing them for tomorrow’s economy. We are pleased with the response we’ve seen to the Aspire program, and look forward to working with these groups to build a brighter future for our youth.”

In addition to the retention program grants, AT&T Aspire will award funding in three other key areas:

• A student job shadowing initiative involving 400,000 AT&T employee hours that will give 100,000 students a firsthand look at the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century workforce.
• The underwriting of national research that will explore the practitioner perspective (teachers, principals, superintendents, school counselors and school board members) on the high school dropout issue.
• Support for 100 state and community dropout prevention summits, announced earlier this year by America’s Promise Alliance.

From CEO To Math Teacher

As the CEO of H&R Block (HRB) — America’s top tax preparation firm that revolutionized electronic filing — Tom Bloch produced huge profits and earned nearly $1 million a year.

Despite his success and fortune, he gave it all up at age 41 to do what he saw as more fulfilling and beneficial to society: teaching math at an inner-city middle school.

His career change drew national attention in 1995. Oprah had him on her TV show, as did NBC’s “Today.” People magazine featured him, as did the New York Times.

They all quoted people wondering how a CEO could leave the firm that his dad built and take a 98% pay cut.

Bloch’s answer? He borrowed one from the Dalai Lama on the meaning of life: Be happy and useful.

“I think when you find your calling and you follow your heart, you just become a more fulfilled person,” Bloch told IBD. “I find that my work in urban education in a very, very small way (is) working at repairing the world. And what I learned over these years is that when you work at repairing the world, you repair yourself.”

BY TRANG HO
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Read the full story From Tax CEO to Math Teacher

Related Posts:

• Tom Bloch interview with Entrepeneur.com - Sept 2008
• Seven Lessons Learned by CEO turned teacher Tom Bloch - Aug 2008
• Tom Bloch’s book - Amazon.com
  • Stand for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner-City Charter School (Hardcover)

North Carolina High School Students administer $160,000 dollars in grants

On Saturday, October 25, 2008 more than 300 high school-aged youth from across North Carolina will come together in Greensboro for the Third Annual North Carolina Youth Giving Summit.   Entitled “The Art Of Giving”, the Summit is designed to prepare how and where these high school students will grant over $160,000 to help their communities. The funds have been donated from philanthropic organizations across the state and will be entrusted to these youth for allocation.

The North Carolina Youth Giving Network (NCYGN) is a statewide collection of 17 different youth philanthropy sites, from as far East as Rutherford County to as far West as Northampton County.  The NCYGN is coordinated by Leading To Change, a nationally recognized training organization based in Charlotte, in partnership with NCGives.  NCYGN members at the Youth Giving Summit will learn strategies to assess the needs of their communities, techniques to effectively facilitate meetings, and methods to further develop resources in their communities. Community leaders and churches selected youth from their areas that are committed to giving back to the community for participation in the Summit.

The Summit draws youth from over 25 counties, including Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Vance, and Wilkes Counties.  Additionally, the statewide organization NCNAYO (North Carolina Native American Youth Organization) will also participate with youth representing over 20 tribal communities throughout NC.

This Summit marks only the third ever convening of all of these counties for youth philanthropic efforts. Sponsors of the event include NCGives, Foundation for the Carolinas, North Carolina Community Foundation, the Winston-Salem Foundation, Communities In Schools, Generation Engage, and the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.

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