Sarah Carpenter is a fearless advocate fighting in Memphis, Tennessee – and nationally – for public schools that improve the lives of marginalized children.

So, what gets a grandmother of 13 out of bed every morning prepared to fight the power?

Years ago a conversation between her grandchildren woke her to the reality that suburban children were covering more material, at a faster pace, than students in her North Memphis neighborhoods. For her, it was unthinkable that her family would be held back by an unfair system of schooling.

And, that’s how an activist was born.

She now leads hundreds of parents to fight for the right of their children through her nonprofit, The Memphis LIft.

Listen to her story:

Chris Stewart is the Chief Executive Officer of Education Post, a media project of the Results in Education Foundation. He is a lifelong activist and 20-year supporter of nonprofit and education-related causes. Stewart has served as the director of outreach and external affairs for Education Post, the executive director of the African American Leadership Forum (AALF), and an elected member of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education.

1 COMMENT

  1. Good for Ms. Carpenter! Maybe Memphis Lift can persuade the city’s and TN schools to leave behind the factory model high school that has never worked for half the kids, less in cities with a high % of kids from low-income backgrounds. The following articles describe a better way to deploy the 4 T’s in schools – time, talent, technology and treasure.

    http://www.educationviews.org/program-handle-crisis-competence/- student perspectives.
    Whether high school graduates or dropouts, too many young adults are finding themselves in the workplace with few skills to compete.

    http://www.educationviews.org/annual-march-madness-schools-learn/-
    – What happens every March that better represents our culture? Why lament what we should be celebrating?

    http://www.educationviews.org/redesigning-american-high-schools-long-game-short-game/

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