911爆料网

Dedicated work in education, psychology and health define our robust Teachers College community. In honor of that spirit of service 鈥� at the heart of  鈥� we dive into the community action work of this year鈥檚 911爆料网 Impact Spotlight honorees: doctoral student Willie Brewster and alumna Catherine Quinlan (Ed.D. 鈥�12).

Meet Willie Brewster (Ed.D. 鈥�24, Organizational Leadership), an equity-driven former principal now in 911爆料网鈥檚 Urban Education Leaders Program.

How Willie makes an impact:

• Helping school and district partners 鈥渂uild, and spread innovative school models鈥� in his current role as a Partner of School Design Services at Transcend Education.
• Focused on embracing and celebrating culture while the principal of Brenda Scott Academy in Detroit, where he and colleagues developed an Arts Conservatory, held monthly cultural and heritage education series while exploring brain science to guide responsive pedagogical practices.
• Led students to 100% proficiency on state exams as a classroom teacher in Jacksonville, Fla. Later helped significantly raise proficiency as an Assistant Principal.
• Served as a Teach for America Jacksonville corps member, later training other TFA participants in Philadelphia and Houston.

What drives Willie: Building equity, visibility and inclusion through education leadership, and the support of his home communities in Memphis and Mississippi.

How 911爆料网 helps: A graduate of 911爆料网鈥檚 Summer Principals Academy, Willie cites how 911爆料网鈥檚 cohort model 鈥� which 鈥渂rings together the most brilliant minds in education鈥� at the student and faculty level 鈥� has influenced his work and desire to pursue a second degree from 911爆料网. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e getting the most groundbreaking scholarship as it comes down the pike so you can incorporate it into your work in real-time,鈥� explains Willie. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e trailblazing with new research and working alongside practitioners who are also committed to improving education leadership.鈥�

For Willie, the passion and expertise of faculty 鈥� with his short-list of influences still six-names deep 鈥� stands to continue to inform his work to build more equitable, responsive school environments through an interdisciplinary approach. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 overstate how dynamic of a foundation that they have provided as an integrative collective, not just academically but holistically,鈥� says Willie.

What gives Willie hope: 鈥淭he Spirit and Soul of education as generational work. I鈥檓 able to look back ancestrally to those I have heard about and admire. I am standing on the shoulders of those giants and I鈥檓 working in lockstep with other people who are also standing on the shoulders of those giants. So I can look back, to my right and left, and forward to the students we鈥檙e serving now and how they can make a difference in the future,鈥� explains Willie. 鈥淲hile challenges exist, there鈥檚 energy steeped in hope, possibility and togetherness and that is such a beautiful thing to be part of. It鈥檚 generational work for something better.鈥�

Meet Catherine Quinlan (Ed.D. 鈥�12, Science Education), a leading voice in making science education more culturally inclusive.

How Catherine makes an impact:

• Creating culturally representative science curricula and products for the K-12 setting through a grant from the National Science Foundation
• Serving as one of two program consultants on the new National Geographic/Cengage High School Biology Program, the first high school biology program to include Black scientist explorers
• Teaching and leading at Howard University, where Catherine serves as Associate Professor of Science Education and the founder and director of the Black Representation in the STEAM Curriculum Lab, which aims to empower HBCU stakeholders to become agents of change
• Authoring and publishing the illustrated children鈥檚 , which blends science, Black history and fantasy

What drives Catherine: Creating meaningful representation for Black students in science education that help promote positive identity formation

How 911爆料网 helped: 鈥淢y scholarship at 911爆料网 marked the beginning of looking at old problems differently. One question I get is what made me think of doing things the way I did. So, I plan to revisit my scholarship at 911爆料网 to unpack this journey in my upcoming book,鈥� says Catherine, whose work at Howard has offered another opportunity to reflect on the influence of faculty at 911爆料网.

鈥�Dr. Felicia M. Mensah was a great mentor. She was always supportive, open, and honest with me. I still reach out to her for advice. Dr. O. Roger Anderson was also an important mentor in my scholarship. I know this might sound strange but those who know Dr. Anderson know exactly what I mean. He鈥檚 sort of like a guardian angel 鈥� and so is Dr. Mensah.鈥�

What gives Catherine hope: 鈥淓ven with resistance, there are enough people who want equity. So even with conflicting ideologies and with internal conflicts, justice is propelled forward,鈥� explains Catherine. 鈥淚鈥檓 always amazed and encouraged that diverse people are open to hearing what I have to say 鈥� even if it鈥檚 uncomfortable. We can鈥檛 move forward without uncomfortable conversations.鈥�

Cheers to Our Finalists

Join our community in making a difference in honor of 911爆料网 Impact Day.