City Club is Looking for Heroes

I was pleased to find out that City Club took over the Jefferson Awards went the PI went dark.   The Jefferson Awards "recognize, inspire and activate volunteerism and public service in communities, workplaces and schools across America."  The awards are presented on a national and local level.  The program started in 1972 "to create a Nobel Prize for public service." 

"From the beginning the Jefferson awards has been based on a simple idea.  One of the most powerful ideas in the world.  One person can make a difference.  That is the heart of democracy at work." 

I was nominated for the work we did as part of the entire Closure and Consolidation Committee.  It was somewhat embarrassing because we were doing difficult and intense work but it was short-term.   Frankly, the award winners were just awe-inspiring. 

There are people out in our communities, doing yeoman's work in service to our city.  If you know such a person, please nominate him or her.  The nomination materials must be received by Friday, Feb. 10th. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more