NYC Outward Bound to Honor NYC Schools Chancellor Walcott at Annual Gala, June 7

LONG ISLAND CITY, NY, June 01, 2011 (Press-News.org) On Tuesday evening, June 7, New York City Outward Bound (http://www.nycoutwardbound.org) will honor New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott at a gala event at Gotham Hall expected to raise over $1 million in support of the achievements of the organization's now-Citywide network of Expeditionary Learning schools. Students Katherine Wei, Marsh Avenue Expeditionary Learning School and Danya Gutierrez, Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School, will present Walcott with the annual Educational Leadership Award, bestowed on an individual who has demonstrated commitment to young people and public education, and embodies the spirit of Outward Bound. The organization's Gaynor McCown Award for Excellence in Teaching will also be presented to high school science teacher Scott Henstrand of the network's Brooklyn School of Collaborative Studies (BCS) (www.bcs448.org).

"We are delighted to be presenting our 2011 Educational Leadership award to Chancellor Walcott, who has devoted his professional life to improving the lives of children in New York City," said Richard Stopol, NYC Outward Bound president. "His life's mission parallels ours--almost 25 years ago, New York City Outward Bound began working with our public schools to create challenging, supportive environments in which students achieve great things."

"We are proud of the accomplishments of the more than 50,000 City students our educational programs have reached since 1987, and of the successes of our ten Expeditionary Learning schools here in the five boroughs," he added. Expeditionary Learning is a nationally-recognized school model adopted by over 150 schools throughout the country.

Since 2002, Dennis M. Walcott has been Mayor Bloomberg's point person on all City education and youth policy, planning and programmatic efforts. A graduate of New York City's public schools--P.S. 36, J.H.S. 192 and Francis Lewis High School--and a lifelong resident of Southeast Queens, Walcott began his career as a kindergarten teacher after graduating from the University of Bridgeport with a bachelor's degree and a master's of Education. He earned a master's in Social Work from Fordham University and served as an adjunct professor of social work at CUNY's York College.

Teacher Par Excellence
Established in memory of Gaynor McCown, a member of the NYC Outward Bound Board who died in 2005, the award being presented to Scott Henstrand recognizes a teacher from among the organization's school network, for embodying the true spirit of the Expeditionary Learning model. Winners, who must have been teaching in public schools for at least two years, receive $2,500 each. They are nominated by staff members, students or parents from a NYC Outward Bound network school and are recognized for their passion, innovation, ability to inspire, and willingness to collaborate and develop professionally.

A veteran teacher with 18 years experience, Scott Henstrand, exemplifies the qualities that Gaynor McCown herself exhibited as a teacher and that she sought to nurture and support in others. Scott is a tireless teacher and learner - always looking for ways to improve his practice. He has been teaching at BCS for the past 9 years and is a mentor to his colleagues at BCS and also fellow teachers from NYC Outward Bound's other network schools.

"Calling on the craftsmanship and attention to detail he developed in his prior career as a contractor and master carpenter, Scott builds a meticulously layered curriculum that requires students to build and test knowledge, revise and improve their work, and find in themselves more effort toward and joy in learning than they knew," said Alyce Barr, principal of BCS. "He is a passionate teacher and learner who takes full advantage of the professional development offered through our school and the national network of Expeditionary Learning schools." Henstrand joins 7 distinguished educators in the NYC Outward Bound school network who have received the award.

"Scott has extremely high expectations for students, evidenced by his grading scale which requires students to revise all their submitted work until it scores at least an 80%," notes Scill Chan, BCS High School Director, "He knows how to capture students imaginations through his creative classroom units. In his Earthquake-Resistant Buildings in Earth Science, for example, students research and defend geological information, pass licensing assessments to demonstrate mastery of knowledge, and make a presentation to the 'City Council' to win approval to create a 5-story model of a building that is able to withstand an earthquake. In my ten years of being an educator/supervisor, I do not often see students as excited as they are when this unit project culminates in a 'Night of Destruction'."

Chairs of this year's gala are: Frank A. Bennack, Jr.-Hearst Corporation, Mark Newhouse-Advance Publications, Bruce Ratner-Forest City Ratner, Brad Raymond-Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, Arthur Sulzberger Jr.-The New York Times Company and Virginia and Geoffrey F. Worden. And Vice Chairs are: David Dase & Jacqueline Flake, James L. Dolan-Cablevision Systems Corporation, Michael Gould-Bloomingdale's, Jeffrey R. Gural-Newmark Knight Frank, Fiona Hollands & Ethan Berman, Joel I. Klein-News Corporation, Robert S. Miller-Workman Publishing, Lisa Moran & Scott Ainsbury, William E. Phillips, Richard Plepler-Home Box Office, Michael Roth-Interpublic Group and Peter Thonis-Verizon Communications.

More than 400 students, educators, local officials and supporters are expected to join in this recognition of excellence in public education. Proceeds from the event will support NYC Outward Bound's network of Expeditionary Learning schools and its adventure and team building programs for other public schools throughout the City.

A national school creation /transformation model, Expeditionary Learning emphasizes real world learning, engaging instruction, rigorous curricula, and character development. Students learn their core academic subjects through in-depth projects that often use the City itself as a classroom. NYC Outward Bound provides extensive professional development to each of its network schools around implementation of the Expeditionary Learning model, and is involved in all aspects of their schools, including school design, governance and evaluation, staff recruitment, teacher professional development, and student support.

About New York City Outward Bound: Approaching its 25th anniversary, New York City Outward Bound is an independent non-profit organization that brings the educational philosophy and expertise of Outward Bound to New York City's public schools. Since 1987, NYC Outward Bound has served more than 50,000 students and educators from more than 250 public schools. For most participants, involvement with NYC Outward Bound has resulted in profound learning and for many it has been transformational, helping them to recognize how much they are capable of accomplishing individually and collectively. In 2004, while continuing to provide customized teambuilding and leadership programs for schools throughout the City, the organization undertook its most ambitious venture--to build and operate a network of small schools, in partnership with the City's Department of Education, incorporating the Expeditionary Learning school model which has its roots in Outward Bound's educational principles and practices. These schools provide demanding academics, real-world learning, 21st-century skill-building, character development and the support of a caring peer and adult community to foster high levels of student achievement.

Launched with initial help from grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, New York City Outward Bound's schools are: Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies, Bronx Expeditionary Learning High School, Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders, The James Baldwin Academy, Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School, Marsh Avenue Expeditionary Learning School, McCown Expeditionary Learning School, The Validus Preparatory Academy and Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School. In September the organization opened its 10th school--Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School--in Queens, making it the first NYC Department of Education partner to have opened schools in all five boroughs. There are currently more than 150 Expeditionary Learning schools in the country. For further information, visit our website, www.nycoutwardbound.org.