Dr. Eugene White, Superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools, accepted the MRSH 2006 Distinguished Service Award at a reception in his honor at this year’s National Educators’ Conference in Orlando, Florida. “This is not only an honor…it is a very humbling one,” he said. “Teaching is a service business. It has been my privilege to serve in various capacities during my career.”

Sally Kilgore , Modern Red President and CEO, referred to Dr. White’s early connection with the MRSH project by introducing him as “a valuable resource who shared my belief that the most important thing we can do for students is to expect great things from them.”

Educators with such expectations are often confronted with the need to change, and change can be difficult. Dr. White recalled one such occasion where he was expected to improve student test scores. “My number one problem was that we had to change the culture of the school district. It can be very difficult to get schools to change—but there are ways to do it. One vital factor is to develop a large, school-wide community with common goals and purpose. Unfortunately, too many schools are set up for the benefit of adults. When we get away from that and operate schools that benefit students, things get better.”

Dr. White cautioned against letting knowledge blind us to options and opportunities. “You have to be careful in education to keep lines of communication open. People think education opens minds. Actually, it can close your mind. Sometimes the more knowledge you take in, the more closed your mind becomes. This is a real danger to guard against. In order to move up, you have to be a thinker. You have to be able to look at the picture in more than one way. You have to be able to plan. After all, a vision with no plan is nothing more than a hallucination.” Dr. White—a proven thinker, planner, and educator—is a most deserving recipient of this award.

March 2006