The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation honored Afterschool Alliance board chair Terry K. Peterson for “excellence in the service of children, schools, and communities” at the Afterschool Alliance’s “Breakfast of Champions” this morning.
Peterson, a former U.S. deputy secretary of education, received the foundation’s William S. White award in recognition of his longtime advocacy for students and after-school programs. In addition to chairing the Afterschool Alliance board, Peterson serves as the director of the Afterschool and Community Learning Resource Network in Charleston, S.C., and works with other education groups, including the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University.
The Breakfast of Champions marked the closing event of the 2010 Afterschool Alliance-National AfterSchool Association joint conference. During the breakfast, the alliance honored 10 “champions” of after-school programs. As the alliance put it, the work of the champions has increased access to high-quality programs across the United States.
Those champions are:
- Carla Sanger, the president and CEO of L.A.'s BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) after-school enrichment program;
- David Davison, CEO of the American Savings Foundation in New Britain, Conn.;
- Mayor Chuck Oberlie of Michigan City, Ind.;
- Wendell Maddox, the president and CEO of the United Way of Wyandotte County, Kan.;
- Mayor Jerry Ellis of Farmington Hills, Mich.;
- Renee Rider, the assistant commissioner for the Division of Child Care Services in the New York State Office of Children and Family Services;
- Thierry Malley, the state director for the Pennsylvania Area Council of Boys & Girls Clubs;
- Rhode Island state Rep. Ed Pacheco;
- William “Bull” Byars, a retired judge and the current director of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice; and
- Nashville City Council member Ronnie Steine.
Obviously, all these champions are doing important work. Who are the “champions” in your community, and why?