Milken Family Foundation National Education Conference: How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality

By Christopher Mazzino, a 2003 Pennsylvania Milken Educator

Christopher Mazzino is delivering a "Models of Quality" presentation at the Conference on The Children of Willesden Lane.

In November 2003, I attended the National Council of Teachers of English National Convention in San Francisco, just a month after receiving the Milken Educator Award.  It was at this conference that I had the honor of attending a session presented by Dr. Jane Foley, senior vice president of the Milken Educator Awards Program; Ms. Mona Golabek, co-author of The Children of Willesden Lane; and Sarah Powley (IN '93), a fellow Milken Educator Award recipient.  That session changed my life.

Having already read Ms. Golabek's memoir, I knew the powerful story of her mother, Lisa Jura, as she fled Vienna on the Kinderstrasport to safety in England.  What I had not experienced to that point, however, was how powerful the story became when Mona performed many of the musical selections referenced in the memoir.  As I sat in the presentation and listened to Mona play the piano and tell Lisa Jura's story, I felt the power of this memoir on levels never before experienced from reading a book. It was that feeling that charged me with the mission to bring this incredible story to the students of the Scranton School District.

Through the tremendous help and support of the Milken Family Foundation, Mona Golabek and her incredible foundation, Hold On To Your Music, Dr. Jane Foley, Mayor of the City of Scranton Chris Doherty, the Albright Memorial Library in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the School District of the City of Scranton and its faculty, staff, and students, I was able to introduce this story to nearly 4,000 students in the school district as well as countless community members when the City of Scranton adopted the memoir as the featured work in its Scranton Read - One City, One Book program in 2004.

Throughout this entire project, students from the Scranton School District repeatedly shared with me their love of this memoir—many of whom asserted that it was the first book that they'd actually enjoyed reading.  This book connected, for the first time, the Scranton School District with the City of Scranton, a partnership that continues today as the Scranton Reads program works together with the school district to broaden the participation in such a worthwhile program.  I encourage everybody to read Ms. Golabek's memoir and work together with your school district and city to bring this story and experience to your students and community members.  I guarantee that it is an experience you will never forget.

For more information on the Conference—including the agenda, bios of Conference presenters, photos and videos—please visit the Milken Family Foundation Web site at www.mff.org.

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