Former Senior Policy Advisor at US Dept. of Education Karen Gross

The Total Tutor Neil Haley will interview Former Senior Policy Advisor at US Dept. of Education Karen Gross.

Karen Gross has taught and continues to teach across the educational pipeline.  In spring 2016, she will be teaching at Bennington College in Vermont.  She writes, consults and advises on how to improve student success and has a forthcoming book from Columbia University Teachers College Press titled Shoulders to Lean On (Publication date: 2016) on this very topic.  A former college president and Senior Advisor to the U.S. Department of Education, she currently serves as Senior Counsel to Widmeyer Communications, a Finn Partners Company, and as an Affiliate to the Penn Center for MSI’s at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. She blogs/writes for many education outlets including Huff Po, WPo, InsideHigherEd, Unplugged, DiverseEducation, Evollution, NAIS, and CollegeAD.

Karen is proud that two high school seniors at the Emma Willard School have so ably illustrated the Lady Lucy story.  The book and the process of its creation provide a concrete example of the kind of deep collaboration that can occur in education, where the teacher is a learner, and the learners are teachers.  The illustrations, led by Lindsey Slaughter, a gifted art teacher, have made Lady Lucy and the story come alive.  The author and the two illustrators and their teacher see Lady Lucy as a symbol of the power of the possible that rests within all of us.

Based on the true life of Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon, a leading 19th century fashion designer and survivor of the Titanic, Lady Lucy’s Quest brings vigor to the spirit of young girls everywhere. The illustrations contributed by high school students Ji Woo Jasmine Shin and So Young Jang, also shed light on the importance of empowering female youth.