Champions of Change

Champions of Change Blog

  • Collaboration, Communication, Accountability, and Equity: The Key to Parental Engagement

    Posted by Anne Stafford on August 9, 2012 at 10:10 AM EDT

    Anne Stafford is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort in supporting parent involvement in our children's education.

    Over the years I have been involved in many projects and programs that aimed to increase parental involvement in education. What I have learned is that the ones that have the greatest chance of truly impacting student achievement are the ones that are focused on parental engagement and are based on the principles of collaboration, communication, accountability, and equity. 

    The most commonly used word in education when it comes to parental involvement is partnership. Often the education world tries to reach out to parents to develop a “partnership” that falls short of its definition. To truly engage parents as partners in education, we have to be willing to identify and utilize the strengths and skills they have to offer, be willing to take the time to educate them about the information that really matters, and empower them to act on issues that are in the best interest of their child. We have to be willing to be transparent and accountable, even in difficult times, in order to work together to find the answers. That’s what you would want from a powerful partner and a strong, beneficial partnership. 

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  • Creating an Environment for Life-Long Learners Through PTA

    Posted by Sharon Meigh-Chang on August 9, 2012 at 10:06 AM EDT

    Sharon Meigh-Chang is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort in supporting parent involvement in our children's education.

    My involvement with PTA like many others began when my daughter entered school. I found there were many volunteer projects that I could be a part of to enhance the educational experience for every child. I worked alongside teachers, principals, community agents, and other volunteers to create an environment where children strive to be life-long learners. Through PTA I have been fortunate to have an outlet for my passion of helping others and to improve the lives of children. 

    Volunteering for a non-profit organization like PTA (pta.org) that benefits our children and youth nationwide has given me the opportunity to develop leadership skills, advocacy on behalf of youth, and the ability to help where there is a need. The benefits of PTA are many from advocating for Healthy Lifestyles, Creating a Bully-Free environment, Common Core Standards, Families in Education, Stable Funding for Education, and the numerous programs that PTA offers.

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  • The Nation's First High Speed Rail

    Posted by Dan Richard on July 30, 2012 at 6:08 PM EDT

    Dan Richard is being honored as a Champion of Change for his time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    America’s economy cannot outgrow its transportation system. It is well known that roads, bridges, ports, airports and transit systems must be kept in good repair and upgraded. But more than that, America will continue to grow and must find new ways to provide for the movement of people and goods.

    California embraced the notion of a passenger high speed rail system more than 30 years ago. During the ensuing years, the state took small steps to establish an organization to design and construct such a system – common in other parts of the world, but still elusive as a transportation mode in the U.S.

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  • Committed to American Innovation, American Jobs, and Environmentally-Friendly Mass Transportation

    Posted by David Bennett on July 30, 2012 at 5:58 PM EDT

    David Bennett is being honored as a Champion of Change for his time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    Proterra is a quintessential American story. Our world-leading EcoRide™ 35 foot battery-electric fast-charge transit bus was designed and developed in the United States by Dale Hill, a bus industry veteran with an entrepreneur’s sensibility. Since its inception, Proterra has made strides that have taken transit bus technology from a platform mostly built in the 1950’s to a platform that today satisfies the environmental and efficiency goals that the U.S. Federal Transit Administration hoped to achieve in the year 2030. Think of it: the EcoRide achieves 23 miles per gallon diesel equivalent efficiency, carrying 68 passengers – five to six times greater than a diesel hybrid or CNG bus and potentially more efficient than the passenger car you drive today.

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  • Improving Efficiency through Simple Technology

    Posted by David Barger on July 30, 2012 at 5:53 PM EDT

    David Barger is being honored as a Champion of Change for his time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    I am humbled and honored to be a White House Champion of Change. When I think about change, especially through the lens of transportation, I can’t help but think how much aviation and the airline industry has changed and modernized over the past 100 years. We’ve morphed and evolved – through innovations in materials, technologies, aircraft look and feel, fuel efficiency… you name it. In this industry, you never know what’s next on the horizon. Constant change is a given, and it’s one of the things that I love about being in aviation.

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  • Telling the Big Story of America’s Rivers

    Posted by Jerry Enzler on July 30, 2012 at 5:43 PM EDT

    Jerry Enzler is being honored as a Champion of Change for his time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    Our country was founded by river people, and still today hundreds of thousands of people owe their jobs to river borne commerce. The people who move the nation’s goods on our rivers today are the descendants of the early flat boat shippers, steamboat pilots, engineers, and towboat deckhands. RiverWorks Discovery (RWD), a nationally recognized education outreach program, tells this story to children and their families and shows how those who work the river are also concerned about river culture and conservation.

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