The Horace Mann League

Minutes of the Annual Meeting, Saturday, February 19, 2005, San Antonio

Welcome by George Garcia

Introduction of Past Presidents by Spike Jorgensen

Recognition of first time attendees by Jerry Sellentin
Introduction of Corporate Partners by Douglas Otto
Legal Issues by Fred Hartmeister
Nominations Committee by Larry Dlugosh
Ambassador Awards presented by Walt Warfield
Friend of the Horace Mann League presented by Spike Jorgensen
Outstanding Public Educator Award presented by Colleen Wilcox
Outstanding Friend of Public Education presented by Jane Hammond
The President’s Award presented by Larry Dlugosh
AASA Panelist “The Values of Public Education” Terry Grier, George Garcia, Susan Purser and James Anderson

Meeting called to order by George Garcia, Director, at 11:50 a.m.

Welcome

Introduction of the officers and directors by George Garcia

Introduction of Past Presidents by Spike Jorgensen

Recognition of first time attendees by Jerry Sellentin

Invocation by John Simpson

Introduction of Corporate Partners by Doug Otto

Advanced Academics

Apple Computer

Learning Together

Plato Learning

Pearson Education Companies

Report on Legal Issues by Fred Hartmeister

Report of the Nominations Committee by Larry Dlugosh

New Director: Gary Marx

Reappointed directors: George Garcia and Susan Purser

Vice President: Colleen Wilcox

President Elect: Walt Warfield

President: John Sampson

Past President: Spike Jorgensen

Motion made and passed by the members present

Presentation of Awards

Ambassador Awards presented by Walt Warfield

Walt Warfield, Fred Hartmeister, Colleen Wilcox, Art Stellar, Jerry Sellentin, John Monahan, Douglas Otto, George Garcia, Steve Rasmussen

Friend of the Horace Mann League presented by Spike Jorgensen to Jack McKay

Spike Jorgensen, Judy McKay and Jack McKay

Outstanding Public Educator Award presented by Colleen Wilcox to Linda Darling Hammond

Linda Darling-Hammond and Colleen Wilcox

Return to Horace Mann ideals, leading prof says

Speaking after receiving the league’s 2005 Outstanding Educator Award during the luncheon gathering, the researcher, author and former president of the American Educational Research Association said one of Mann’s beliefs was that “public education is, in part, educating the public.”

Considered the founder of the American common school, Mann also was an advocate for adequate funding of schools, believed in organizing professional practice around how children learn and celebrated successes, she said.

Mann would have approved “the challenge we are taking on in public education,” Darling-Hammond said, “that of educating kids who would have been discarded a century ago.” The Massachusetts educator also knew “that you could not deliver a quality education by student-proofing or teacher-proofing the curriculum.”

Also honored at the league’s meeting was the Stupski Foundation of Mill Valley, Calif., founded by Joyce and Larry Stupski to promote excellence in public education. It received the Outstanding Friend of Public Education Award. Larry Stupski, in accepting the honor, said he had invested in public education because of former teachers, because of the great need, but mostly because public education “is rooted in a social justice mission.”

John Simpson, superintendent at Norfolk, Va., took over as president of the league from Spike Jorgensen of Tok, Alaska.

Outstanding Friend of Public Education presented by Jane Hammond to the Stupski Foundation and Larry and Joyce Stupski.

 2005 Outstanding Friends of Education Award, Horace Mann League

Joyce and Larry Stupski make a powerful team as advocates for the systemic improvement of public education throughout the United States. They demonstrate their commitment to public schools not only by providing substantial financial resources, but also by dedicating themselves to sustainable district reform. The Stupskis provide the inspiration, leadership, strategic thinking and policy guidance for the work of the Stupski Foundation.

            The core belief of the Foundation is that courageous leadership and organizational effectiveness at the district level lead to higher achievement in the classroom. All children can learn and achieve high academic standards, regardless of race, income or language. Success depends on creating an equitable, system-wide, results-oriented culture that embraces change, driven at the public school district level.

A former educator, Joyce is president of the Stupski Foundation and provides a systems perspective to the work of school district reform. She learned through her experiences in San Francisco Unified School District that to truly reform education, the school district must be the unit of change. Joyce spent 13 years working in the San Francisco schools teaching learning-disabled children, providing teacher training, and working with compliance and program development and implementation. She also taught second grade in the Chicago Area.

Joyce was founder and president of Pringle and Associates, a management communications firm specializing in the production of meetings for large corporations. She was awarded the Business Achievement Award from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration. She has been a member of the United Way Campaign Cabinet, a Board Director for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and a volunteer for the Harvard Business School Association’s Community Partners. Joyce holds a BS and MS in special education from Indiana University.

Larry is chair of the Stupski Foundation and contributes his sharp insight and big picture perspective to the work of the Foundation. He served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Charles Schwab Corporation from 1980 to 1992, and Vice Chairman from 1992 to 1997. He served as Chairman of the Education Task Force of the California Business Roundtable, Math Committee member of the Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards for the State of California and member of the National School to Work Task Force.  Larry also served as chair of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Larry currently serves as Board Member of Glide United Methodist Church Foundation and Board Member of EdVoice, an organization devoted to improvement of California Schools.

Joyce and Larry bring a thoughtful commitment to public education and its improvement, serving as an inspiration not only to the staff at the Stupski Foundation, but also to educators and policymakers nationwide.The President’s Award presented by Larry Dlugosh to Spike Jorgensen

Spike Jorgensen and Larry Dlugosh

Presentation of gavel to John Simpson by Spike Jorgensen.

Meeting adjourned at 1:25 p.m.