ALUMNI SIGHTINGS
Speakers Inspired at Reach Gala By Pam DeFiglio
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(a) Emcee Karen Jordan, ABC7 News anchor, welcomed guests to the Gala. (b) Mike Koldyke, from left, founder of the Golden Apple Foundation, Patricia Koldyke, Illinois First Lady Diana Rauner and NLU President Nivine Megahed celebrated NLU’s successes at the Reach Awards. (c) Harrison Professional Pathways program students, also recognized at the event, enjoyed the night along with NLU staff. (d) Jacqueline Samuel, from left, Amanda Leftwich, Arne Duncan and Matthew King posed for a photo at the Reach Awards.
NLU alumni, donors and friends arrived at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower Hotel May 17 to honor one of the United States’ most influential education leaders and three NLU alumni who are exercising their knowledge and leadership in ways that bring positive change to communities.
“We do this work at NLU because we believe it’s our moral obligation to be sure every student has a great education,” she declared.
Guests enjoyed filet mignon and crème brûlée during the dinner, which then gave way to the awards portion of the event.
Emcee Karen Jordan, an anchor at ABC7 News, introduced NLU President Nivine Megahed.
Matthew King , the Reach Award winner from the National College of Education and a change agent in education, is executive director and principal of EPIC Academy College Prep Charter High School since 2009. In accepting the award, he referenced the popular anecdote about a man throwing beached starfish back into the sea. When a bystander opines that he can’t possibly make a difference because there are far too many thousands of starfish, the man tosses one in the water and replies, “It made a difference for that one.” King declared that NLU and OneGoal, a national organization that partners with higher education for student success, would abandon a “toss one in the water” approach because it’s random and lacks strategy. Instead, they would study the data, find out why starfish get beached and find more efficient ways to get
“Education, more than ever, is our strongest vehicle for economic opportunity. It is our strongest hope for social equity,” Megahed said, explaining how NLU has created Harrison Professional Pathways as a quality program, at an affordable price point, with a built-in support model to help all students attain their bachelor’s degrees. She also told guests about how NLU educators created the Adaptive Cycles of Teaching instructional design, which uses cloud-based technology to provide coaching and feedback to teacher candidates on their classroom instruction. As a result, students performed significantly better than expected both on written tests and in classroom confidence.
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National Louis University VIEW | Fall 2016
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