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Mr. Sherman receives "Essence of a Movement" Award

 

Our principal was recently an honoree for the NAACP Northeast Queens "Essence of a Movement" award. Junior NAACP Club Advisor and Special Education teacher extraordinaire, Latoya Patterson, presented Mr. Sherman with his award. Below was Ms. Patterson's presentation speech for the event. Speaker: LaToya Patterson Introduction for Ben Sherman - East West School of International Studies NAACP Essence of a Movement Awards Queens College, Lefrak Hall Auditorium February 28, 2015 Good afternoon, My name is LaToya Patterson and I am a Special Education Teacher at East West School for International Studies, here in Flushing, as well as the advisor to an inspiring and diligent group of students who make up the NAACP Northeast Queens Youth and College Division on campus. I am very humbled to stand before you all today. Three years ago, during my summer training for an accelerated teacher program, I met and was interview by a very tall principal. By the end of the 6 hour interview, I knew two things: I wanted to work at that school and I wanted to work with that man.This was a man who readily shared video clips and anecdotes about meetings with students and families in their homes, in their communities; notes and students work from his years of teaching in China and Japan; and pictures upon pictures of his happy staff and student body. This man who, as a fellow career changer himself, with three small start up companies and a brief stint as a farmer under his belt, saw me and professional background as an asset. I was at once floored but his pride, passion and obvious commitment to the culture, community and vision of the school, which focuses on four distinct pillars of success: Honor, Excellence, Curiosity and Celebration. Three years of working with this man has taught me many things. The first is that teaching is a form of activism. Everyday we stand in the classroom and fight to expand the horizons of our students to give them opportunities that they may not meet otherwise. Another thing that stands out the most at this moment is a quote by Mahatma Gandhi that  is memorialized on a poster in our school: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” This very tall principal embodies this by going above and beyond his role as a school leader to mentor teachers like me in order to cultivate and inspire leadership. He pushes student achievement and holds himself personally accountable for knowing and supporting them individually. Our school, which he founded in 2006, boasts a graduation rate of 95% with 98% of those students continuing on to higher education. It is true that at East-West, we work as a staff to create exceptional students, but it is because of our tall principal that we strive to cultivate exceptional people. Students are given opportunities to grow as people through participation in a diverse assortment of programs and activities like the NAACP Youth and College Division. I am so honored to be a part of his team and it is with this honor that I present the 2015 NAACP Northeast Queens Branch Essence of a Movement Award to Principal Ben Sherman, aka, The Very Tall Principal!