Educator Inspires Beacon Leadership Students
University
Reporter 
Institute
for Community Inclusion, A National Center,
To Move To UMass Boston
Russert
to Speak at Commencement
Fulbright
Scholar Aids
Environmental Management in China
WUMB
Debuts New Station at WNEF 91.7
Educator
Inspires Beacon Leadership Students
Technology-Enhanced
Classrooms Open for Spring Semester
Reality
Check Conference Examines Gap Between Income and Housing Costs
“Happenings
@ UMB” Column New to University Home Page
Center
for Social Policy Researchers Recognized for Work on Issues of Homelessness
in America
Celebrating
Black History Month: How Academics and Athletics Led to Success
Best
Practices: Nursing Students Connecting with Communities
Annual
“Teaching for Transformation” Conference Held at University
Revealing
and Celebrating a Great Poet
PeopleSoft:
Where in the World is Becky Hsu?
By
Anne-Marie Kent
What does risk-taking have to do with leadership? How does an aspiring leader choose the focus of his or her life’s work? What role should mentors and colleagues play? These and other questions were on the minds of UMass Boston students enrolled in the Beacon Leadership Project as they interviewed Mission School Principal Deborah Meier and examined her trajectory from part-time substitute teacher to nationally respected leader in the field of education. A MacArthur Fellowship recipient, Meier is the author of three books on education and founder of many schools that serve low-income, African-American, and Latino students with great success.
At a January 15 luncheon hosted by Dean of Students Stephanie Janey, Meier revealed that over three decades ago, as a substitute teacher, she discovered in the Chicago Public Schools “the most disrespectful environment” she had ever encountered. Despite the difficulty of substitute teaching—or perhaps because of it—she became a full-time kindergarten teacher and discovered that, by teaching her class well, she was “doing something important in the world” as she influenced the lives of her young students.
As a kindergarten teacher, she wondered what would happen if the same class stayed together for a number of years, surrounded by teachers who knew them well. The question led to an experiment that worked, and so began her role as innovator in urban education. She went on to create a network of New York elementary schools now held up nationally as examples of excellence in education reform. She founded the Central Park East Secondary School in New York, and 90 percent of the entering students went on to college during her tenure as headmaster. She is currently principal of the Mission Hill School, a K-8 public, pilot school that she founded here in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood on principles of academic excellence and respect.
She encouraged Beacon Leadership Project members to do what is right and prepare to defend their decisions. She said, “We can make more things that seem impossible happen if we have the courage to go after them.”
Image: Deborah Meier, Mission School principal and recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, speaks about her experiences to Beacon Leaders. (Photo by Harry Brett)