January 8, 2008

Latino educator to speak at Purdue about success in the classroom

Carlos Azcoitia, founding principal of the John Spry Community School in Chicago, will present "Every Student has a Chance to Succeed: Lessons from Chicago" at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. His talk is part of the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Lecture Series. The event is free and open to the public.

John Spry Community School opened in 2003 and is located in one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, says Adriela Fernandez, an associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and organizer of the event. Azcoitia also is well known for his efforts to increase the country's low high school graduation rate for Latinos.

"His comprehensive community school concept has yielded nearly perfect attendance, strong tests scores and a 100 percent graduation rate" Fernandez says. "His approach has given educators renewed hope and he has been lauded by experts nationally and internationally.

"At a time when it seems intractable to work with Latinos, he delivers an impressive piece of good news."

In 2007, Azcoitia was featured on a number of media outlets including NPR,  the Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Azcoitia is planning to meet with faculty from the College of Liberal Arts and  the College of Education.

Faculty from the College of Liberal Arts are in the planning process to create a Latino and Latin American Studies program at Purdue. The college is home to 11 departments and 14 interdisciplinary programs.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Sources: Adriela Fernandez, (765) 494-7603, afernan@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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