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Where There's a Will, There's a Way

If you haven't heard of Will Steger, you should have.

He mounted the first unsupported dogsled expedition to the North Pole, the longest unsupported dogsled trek in history (1,600 miles through Greenland), the first dogsled expedition across Antarctica (all 3,471 miles) and the first Antarctic crossing on foot (!). Along the way, he has witnessed at close hand the dramatic effects of rapid climate change in some of the world's remotest places. He recently spoke with Public School Insights about his ongoing work to share the impact of climate change with K-12 teachers and students nationwide. ...

I recently interviewed Simon Hauger, a math teacher at West Philadelphia High School's Academy of Applied and Technical Sciences. Hauger and his students in the Academy have grabbed headlines over the past few years by building the world's first high-performance, environmentally-friendly cars. Their cars consistently win top honors at the Tour de Sol, a prestigious national green car competition. In fact, Hauger and his urban students have repeatedly bested teams from universities like MIT. Their story is incredibly inspiring. (Click here for PublicSchoolInsights.org's account about the Academy's program.)

In the interview, Hauger offers a ringing endorsement of programs that bring hands-on learning into the school day. He describes his own program's genesis, some of the obstacles it has faced, his work with community partners, and lessons he and his students have learned along the way. It's truly worth a listen.

Hauger also poses a very interesting question: If a bunch of high school students in impoverished West Philly can create a high-performance car that gets over 50 miles to the gallon, why won't the major car companies? ...

Yesterday's on-line edition of Education Week includes a story about The Tom Mooney Institute for Teacher & Union Leadership, which "is a new effort by seasoned leaders within the teacher union movement to develop the leadership skills and organizational capacity of emerging progressive teacher unionists."

Named for a former Ohio Federation of Teachers president who passed away unexpectedly in 2006, the Institute aims, in the words of co-directors Mark Simon and Naomi Baden, to make unions "constructive partners in education reform." You can learn more about the Insitute in a January Education Week commentary published by Simon and Baden.) ...

Hot off the presses is the news that the American Association of School Administators has named Daniel Domenech as its new executive director. Domenech, a celebrated former superintendent of gargantuan Fairfax County Public School district in Virginia, will succeed retiring AASA executive director Paul Houston on July 1st. Throughout his tenure in Farifax, Domenech enjoyed a national reputation as one of the nation's most innovative education leaders. 

If you happen to be a member of the press, please note that ""AASA will host an opportunity for reporters to meet Domenech on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at AASA headquarters, 801 N. Quincy St., Arlington, Va., 22203. To schedule an in-person or phone interview with Domenech for Tuesday, April 8, 2008, please call Amy Vogt at 703-875-0723." ...