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November 7, 2009

Harlem educator given Brock Prize for innovative education

By Julianna Parker Jones

A longtime educator focused on creating support structures for inner-city young people was named the recipient of the Brock International Prize in Education Friday.

Geoffrey Canada, president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children's Zone, was chosen by a jury of six educators from across the U.S. The jury deliberated Friday and announced their choice from six nominations at a dinner that evening at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

The Brock Prize is given annually to recognize an individual for innovative and effective ideas in education resulting in a significant impact on the practice or understanding of the field of education.

Canada exemplifies what the prize is meant to honor, said nominating juror Cathy Burden, Union Public Schools superintendent.

"Geoffrey Canada has set a standard for a community school," she said. "It's being talked about nationally."

Canada formed the Harlem Children's Zone in 1990. HCZ serves 10,000 children from poverty at 20 sites within 100 blocks, combining education, social and medical services. It provides a support structure for children who live in the Manhattan neighborhood so that they can benefit from a quality education.

The HCZ combines education, social services, medical services and community rebuilding to help students succeed, University of Oklahoma Provost Nancy Mergler said when she announced Canada will be the 2010 recipient of the award.

"In many ways this effort is about building and sustaining and coactive and engaged community," Mergler said.

Canada was brought up by a single mother in the Bronx and received his degree from Harvard University. He will visit Norman next year to receive the Brock Prize.

The Brock Laureate receives a $40,000 cash award, certificate and bust of Sequoyah during the Brock Symposium for Excellence in Education, where Canada will serve as the keynote speaker. This year's event will be March 25, 2010, at Oklahoma State University.

The symposium, hosted by OSU, OU and the University of Tulsa, seeks to shine a light on notable accomplishments in the field of education and then to use those accomplishments as a springboard for communicating educational excellence to practitioners, parents, researchers, administrators and political leaders.

The Brock International Prize in Education is made possible from a gift by John A. Brock and Donnie V. Brock of Tulsa, and is administered by OSU, OU and the University of Tulsa.

Julianna Parker Jones 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com

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