| 2005-06 Recipient
Sarah Newell Usdin ’87
 “My
professional career has been devoted to public education reform
with the belief that high-quality education for all children,
regardless of who their parents are or of the zip code where
they are born, is the only way to begin to establish social
justice in this country.”
It was in a small German town called Willingen-Upland
that Sarah Newell Usdin’s life took a significant turn.
After graduating from Colgate University in 1991, Sarah accepted
a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English for a year to grades
5 through 13. So far from home and with no prior teaching
experience, she had no idea what to expect, but her courage
to meet the unknown certainly paid off, as she discovered
a love of teaching: “I realized how fulfilling it is
to bring learning alive.”
Since her time in Willingen-Upland, Sarah
has dedicated herself to bringing what she learned from the
German perspective on education to the United States: the
value of educators in society, how they should be trained,
and who should teach. Sarah went from Germany to Baton Rouge,
Louisiana where she taught 5th grade through an Americorps
program called Teach for America (TFA). After her first year
of teaching through TFA, Sarah won her school’s Teacher
of the Year award.
Her vision and leadership skills were naturally
in high demand, so after leaving the classroom in 1995, Sarah
was asked to become Executive Director of TFA in Louisiana.
Committed to working at a more systemic level
to solve the subpar education and teacher shortages, Sarah
became founding partner of The New Teacher Project in 2000.
This national, revenue-generating, non-profit organization
focuses on forming partnerships with educational entities
to draw more talented and caring individuals to teach in public
schools and obtain teacher certification.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sarah
is the founder of New Schools New Orleans. New Schools New
Orleans is reinventing public education in the city. By supporting
and evaluating high-quality schools, New Schools New Orleans
is committed to establishing excellent public schools for
all kids.
It truly is a privilege to honor the achievements
of people like Sarah Newell Usdin because their lives serve
as important reminders of how much an individual can utilize
their passion and talents to better this world. At the age
of 36, Sarah’s life is already a true source of inspiration.
It is comforting to know that people like Sarah exist and
are actively reforming public education. She says that one
of her main goals is to create options for all children to
attend the kinds of schools she would want for her own children:
“All kids should get a Collegiate education!”
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