AndoverMagSpring2015

Gil TalbotLaRose Davis, IRT associate director and program alumna,and Akhil Rajan ’17, an IRT Advisory Board member, voteon the IRT’s new vision statement and strategic goals.Institute for Recruitment of TeachersThe IRT addresses the lack of diversity in the nation’s teaching faculties by recruiting outstandingstudents of color and other scholars committed to diversity, counseling them through the graduate schoolapplication process, and advocating for sufficient funding for advanced study.March 28, 2015, was Visioning Day 2020for the IRT, and some 50 individuals—across section of alumni, IRT board andstrategic planning committee members,Andover administrators, and consortiumpartners—came together to brainstorma five-year strategic plan for the program.Although it isn’t the first time the IRThas created a five-year plan, this is thefirst since Executive Director AsabePoloma and Advisory Board Chair JuliaLloyd Johannsen ’96 have come aboard.“We’ve talked a lot about our visionfor the organization—elevating itsvisibility and increasing its impact,”“It was wonderful to havethat variety of actors andperspectives. It made theconversation very rich.”—Asabe Polomasays Johannsen, also the chair of theIRT’s strategic planning committee.“And we thought there’s no better way tofigure out how to do that than to undertakea strategic plan.” The first step wasidentification of a core value statementand a rewrite of the mission statement;the next step was Visioning Day.With the guidance of consultantChristina Drouin, Poloma and Johannsenled the Visioning Day participants—who came to Boston from as far away asMichigan—in small-group sessionsin which they were asked to visualize a“successful IRT,” come up with a onesentencevision statement, and thendecide which top six goals and strategiesshould be prioritized to reach it. Thegroups presented their vision statementswith a consistently high level of energyand enthusiasm—some even dancedwhile doing so—and all then voted tochoose one, which will be approvedby the board this summer. In addition,several themes emerged through thesmall-group work, chief among themthat the IRT’s model, building strongteachers who are also thought leadersin educational issues, needs to beshared more broadly.“Andover can’t afford to be modestabout the innovation that’s takingplace here,” says Poloma. “We have totake a public leadership role in reformingeducation, and the IRT is onesuch initiative. Our fellows embarkon careers in teaching not to be partof the status quo but to transform it.To do this important work, they statethat the support of the IRT and peernetworks is essential—not only forthe purpose of networking, but toprovide opportunities for cutting-edgepedagogical professional developmentoften inaccessible in public educationsystems.” She says that was reinforcedthrough Visioning Day 2020 and willbe revisited going forward.•1949Abbot Principal Marguerite Hearseyreceives a letter from a parent threatening thatSouthern families will withdraw their daughtersshould African American girls be admitted.•1949| | | John Kemper submits a “challengingAbbot admits its first African American students,report” to the PA Alumni Council about anumber of issues, including “how to helppoor students rather than dismiss them.”•1953Beth Chandler ’55 from Atlanta and Sheryl Wormley ’55from Washington, D.C. By midsummer, three Southernfamilies withdraw their daughters.Andover | Spring 201531