Nardos King: 2008 Outstanding First-Year Principal Award

Earlier this year, beloved Fairfax County Public School educator Nardos King, the principal of Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria VA, took home one of the most prestigious FCPS awards: the 2008 Outstanding First-Year Principal Award.

Praised for her ability to motivate students, she set several goals when she became principal. The first was to have Mount Vernon become a positive focal point in the community. She also wanted to reach out to Hispanic parents who were underrepresented at the school.

And King was determined to improve instruction — and find a way to forge relationships among students and staff members. So she met with community members and parents and challenged them to become ambassadors for the school. Then she reached out to Hispanic parents, with the help of a neighborhood church, and ultimately established Hispanic Parent Council.

She also adjusted the bell schedule to facilitate student enrichment, mediation, and mentoring — and carved out a special 30-minute class period during which all students and teachers read silently. Students can also use part of the period to consult teachers for extra help, make up tests, or complete assignments.

Where no educator has gone before?

Then last year she did what few other educators might be willing to do: She promised to cut her hair into a Mohawk if students raised their SOL scores to 80% or higher in each of the four core areas. Not only did they accomplish that, but 28 students in the class of 2007 earned the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma—the highest number in the school’s history.

Last November 20, King headed to the hairdresser to make good on her promise.

“I have a passion for finding ways to address and close the achievement gap between white and minority students,” says King, who grew up in Mount Holly, NJ. “My mom is from Ethiopia and my father is American, so I had a taste of what it meant to merge two cultures when I was a child.”

She deepened that understanding after graduating from Virginia University where she got a degree in Business Information Systems in 1986. Her husband — as a second lieutenant in the US Army — whisked her off to Germany soon after the wedding. King wanted to get her teaching degree, but worked as a substitute teacher and a bank teller instead.

In 1990, the couple moved again to Lawton, Oklahoma. “My dream to teach was still there but I had a baby and no time to go back to school,” she explains. “I was hired by the school system to be an instructional assistant, but the position ended after a year and I was transferred to a library assistant position in another school. I enjoyed that position, too, but soon after was transferred to a local high schools to become the finance secretary.”

When there’s a will there’s a way

In 1995, when her husband was transferred back to the Washington, DC area, King wasn't going to let anything keep her from finding work in the classroom. First, she found a job as the secretary to an elementary school principal. Six months later she was hired at Mount Vernon to be the school's finance officer.

“As luck would have it, the principal told me about a program at George Washington University which allowed me to get my Master's in Special Education,” she shares. “I entered the program and left my finance position to take an Instructional Assistant in the Special Education Department at Mount Vernon. After a year of school, I was eligible to teach on a provisional license and was hired to teach at Mount Vernon, where I taught math to the special education students for the next four years.”

King worked her way up the system, eventually becoming a sub-school Principal at Mount Vernon. In the summer of 2006, she landed her dream job. The awards that have come since — and there are several of them — are wonderful, King says, but what is most important to her is helping at-risk kids.

“Four adult volunteers, and myself are currently working with a group of students in a program we call the 30/30 club,” she explains. “Prior to entering the program, these students were all low performing and unmotivated, but we have been successful in getting the majority of them to turn around their grades, behavior and attendance ion school. I strongly believe that building relationships with at risk students in key to the success of the program.”

King is determined to continue to be a positive role model in the years to come. She is currently studying for her PhD in Education Leadership and Policy at Virginia Tech, and hopes to one day become Assistant Superintendent — and then Superintendent — of a large school district.

“I know that if I am truly running the show, I can make a difference on hundreds of thousands of children’s lives,” she says.

We’ll let you know when King lands that job.

To learn more about the work Nardos King is doing at her high school, visit http://www.fcps.edu/MtVernonHS.

Stephanie Cohen Hosts First Annual DC Health Summit: Oct. 29 at the Mandarin Hotel

Mark your calendar for Oct. 29 when award-winning entrepreneur Stephanie Cohen hosts the first annual DC Health Summit, a meeting that is bringing together 100 of the top minds in the health care industry on Oct. 29 from 11 am to 1 pm at the Mandarin Hotel in Washington, DC www.dchealthsummit.com.

This free, groundbreaking event is open to business leaders and health care professionals who want to learn more about workplace wellness and how it can not only potentially lower health insurance rates. Wellness expert Steven Aldana, CEO of Wellsteps, Inc. and author of "The Culprit and the Cure," will give the keynote speech: “The Truth About Return on Investment and Worksite Health Promotion Programs."

Representatives from the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns will also be on hand to talk about each candidate's health care plans.

The moderator for the event is futurist Andy Hines of the global research and consulting firm Social Technologies, who will continue the discussion with a panel of leading-edge health care industry professionals: Virginia Senator George Barker, Kaiser Permanente's Director of Population Care Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, UnitedHealthcare COO Dr. Sandford Cohen, Neurosurgeon Dr. James Melisi, the National Rehabilitation Hospital's VP Dr. Paul Rao, and Maryland's former Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer,

“The goal of the Summit is to get all of the players in the health care industry one room — from futurists like Andy Hines to insurance company executives, doctors, hospital administrators, pharmaceutical companies, and politicians,” says Cohen. “All these people have their own ideas, war stories, and agendas about what needs to be done to get health care insurance rates back in check — but never before have they sat down together and talked it through. The Summit is the first step to get this important conversation going.”

Since co-founding the Gaithersburg, MD health care benefits firm Golden & Cohen in 1992, CEO Stephanie Cohen has helped it grow into one of the largest among female-owned companies in the Washington metropolitan region with $70 million in sales last year.

With more than 15 years of experience in small group health insurance, disability programs and life insurance, she recently qualified to be a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Stephanie also serves on the prestigious United HealthCare, Coventry, Aetna and Kaiser Broker Council, and is a member of the Womens’ President Organization, the District of Colombia Insurance Commissioner Advisory Council and The Greater Washington Health Underwriters.

Stephanie believes in giving back to her community, and has served on the board of Rebuilding Together, a non-profit group that rebuilds low-income homes. A native of Maryland, Stephanie received her BS in Marketing from University of Maryland in 1986. She has been married to Golden & Cohen co-founder and COO Scott for 15 years. They have two children.

For more information about this groundbreaking Summit, visit www.dchealthsummit.com. For details about Stephanie Cohen's firm, Golen & Cohen, log on to: www.golden-cohen.com.

Two Time Emmy Award Winning Producer Janet Shalestik

When it comes time to make that incredibly challenging decision to be a stay-at-home-mom or follow your career, two time Emmy Award winning TV producer Janet Shalestik didn't hesitate.

"It wasn't a choice," she says. "I simply knew that my kids were the most important people in the world to me. That made giving up the glamour and the world of TV a lot easier."

For years, she spent her days attending with great joy to the needs of her kids and husband. And nearly two decades later, the mom of Alison (17) and Sam (14) says motherhood is still her most important achievement. But now that the kids are a teens, Janet has embarked on a new career working as a representative for an international health and wellness company that helps people with physical, environmental and financial wellness.

"After many years of being a stay at home mom, I looked for a job that was flexible," she explains. "Even though they don't admit it, my teenagers still need their mom at home as much as younger children. That's how I define modern motherhood. Having a flexible job that allows you the time to be with your kids, attend their events, volunteer at their schools, and having the knowledge that you’re making a difference in their lives — all the while knowing you love your job and are getting paid to help people live healthier lives."

Janet says her life is different than her own mom, who is "87 years young, and the closest thing to an angel on this Earth. I’m not that angelic," she admits, noting that the traits she admires in other moms include compassion, intelligence and a sense of humor. "I detest closed-mindedness and people who say they’re going to do something, and then don’t."

Her biggest challenge these days is getting all the things done that I need to do, and not beating myself up for falling short much of the time. That's a far cry from her life a few decades ago.

"When I was in my 20s, I thought my greatest accomplishment was winning two Emmy Awards as a producer for 'Capital Edition' on WUSA-TV, Channel 9, and getting nominated for a national Emmy for an 'America’s Most Wanted' story against producers for Nightline, 60 Minutes and 20/20. In fact, when my son Sam was little, he used to think they were my basketball trophies! I’m 5’2” so I thought that was pretty funny. And as nice as those statues look in my family room, they can’t give me hugs, so they greatly pale in comparison to raising Alison and Sam, and seeing them grow up to be incredible human beings."

Janet admits she has faced some tough times recently.

"My husband and I are separated after 21 years of marriage, and that’s been tough on all of us," she shares. "My goal now is to show my children that if life sometimes throws you curve balls. But if your life doesn’t turn out like you once planned – you can pick yourself up, and make the best of it. I want my kids to know the importance of being resilient, because they'll be stronger for it. My goal is to stay open-minded and always live life with a glass half-full attitude."

Hope Justman Travels China's Old Roads

Hope Justman is one of those women who younger broads look up to and say, "If only we can grow up to be her." As a retiree, she penned a "Guide to Hiking China's Old Road to Shu." So not only has she written a great book, which was published in December by Universe Press — this academic adventure, who as a 60-something grandmother, has hiked some of the toughest paths in China. And she wants us to, too!

"I first became interested in China as an art history major at Mount Holyoke College," she writes on her website, http://www.chinasgreatroads.com. "I also first heard of the Road to Shu at this time as we studied the painting Emperor Ming Huang's Journey to Shu. I was particularly intrigued by the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background (lower right), although I was convinced that the artist had taken a few liberties in perching it so precariously on the side of a cliff."

After receiving her B.A. in Art History, she took graduate courses at the East-West Center and the University of Chicago, and during this period became interested in China as depicted in the accounts of 19th century travelers.

"On my third trip to China in 1999, discouraged by the unattractive modern buildings that had intrusively penetrated the most accessible sites, I decided to see how much of old China was actually still around off the beaten track," she notes, explaining she retraced the route of an Englishman who had traveled through northeastern Yunnan in 1910 along a route quite far away from any current tourist destinations

Although she had originally just planned on taking local buses to visit each of the towns he passed through, when she reached a third stopover she learned there was no bus to the next town. "I would have to return to the town I had just left and proceed from there. Not wanting to deviate from the original route, I decided to walk, and my landlord sent along a local boy so I wouldn't get lost."

She walked two hours along a dirt road and then "there suddenly appeared before us out of nowhere a single line of flagstones winding its way through the terraced fields ahead. I realized, with amazement, that I had stumbled upon a fragment of an old imperial road. I soon discovered that walking its well-worn flags was much more fun than hiking on a dirt trail."

Justman liked the fact that she was walking in the footsteps of all the 19th century travelers and, indeed, all the Chinese travelers that had traveled the 600-mile road for the last 2,000 years — and felt compelled to share it with others. After spending 31 months hiking and photographing the old roads, she returned to her home outside of Philadelphia and began writing the 435-page paperback. It features 19 hikes, details about local attractions, lists of transportation, hotels and restaurants, and maps and useful phrases in English and Chinese.

To buy this Truly Amazing Woman's book, visit http://www.chinasgreatroads.com.

Young Entrepreneur: Chef Kim Alvarez

Entrepreneur and chef Kim Alvarez was featured with her husband Edgar in a front-page article in the Philadelphia Business on Sept. 19, 2008 entitled “To market, to market, to buy a dinner to remember,” by reporter Adam Stone. “As business plans go, it’s perhaps not the most sophisticated. But it sure is straightforward,” Stone wrote. “Kim and Edgar Alvarez have a catering business to run, they’ve got a retail shop to manage, and they have ambitions for growth. Their strategy: Make the best food they can.”

If you are a fan of tasty international fare, they accomplished their mission. The menu — developed Philadelphia native Kim and Guatemalan-born Edgar — features hors d’oeuvres including chicken satay, spanakopita and vegetarian potstickers. Entrees range from orange ginger sesame chicken to short ribs to cranberry almond-crusted salmon.

The menu also reflects the couple’s experience working in some of the best kitchens in Philadelphia. They met more than a decade ago working at the four-star Philadelphia hotspot the Striped Bass (which was the backdrop to the anniversary scene in movie, The Sixth Sense) and married in 1999. Prior to that, Kim worked at Brad Ogden’s One Market in San Francisco and the Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, CA. She also worked as a chef at several gourmet markets in Philadelphia, including Gerard’s and Patina. Edgar has been chef at such notable Philadelphia bistros as Phillippe Chin, Dock Street and the Black Sheep Pub.

“At those establishments we learned not only how to prepare four-star meals, and lead other chefs so they enjoy coming to work each day," Kim adds. "We also came to master what it means to truly take care of your guests, Edgar and I have brought our passion and skills to the Delaware Market House, and this experience has been a highlight of our careers.”

Another highlight is sharing their passion for cooking with their children, Emma and Alejandro.

“I clearly remember the day my mom enrolled me in a cooking class at Bloomingdales in Jenkintown, PA,” Kim recalls. “I was 7 and it was Thanksgiving time, so our first assignment was to make homemade stuffing. My cousin Brandi was also in the class, and she also liked all the tearing of the bread and combining it with the wet ingredients using her fingers. But I loved it.”

Every Thanksgiving, she still whips up the recipe for the family—with a little help from her kids who look forward to tearing the bread and helping her sauté vegetables and mix it all together with their hands. Kim concludes: “Good cooking is about bringing joy to family and friends through combining the best ingredients with some skill and a little magic."

To read the entire Philadelphia Business Journal article visit: www.delawaremarket.com/to-market-to-market-to-buy-a-dinner-to-remember-philadelphia-business-journal.

About the Delaware Market House

Originally built in the early 1900s, the Delaware Market House long been a go-to-spot in Gladwyne, PA. Hungry residents came looking for a hearty meal, a hot cup of coffee, and good conversation. Award-winning Philadelphia Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez bought the Market in 2004 and continue the tradition by catering luncheons, parties and holiday meals, and serving up gourmet meals, fresh produce, baked goods, the finest cuts of meat, and providing customers with all the supermarket necessities of life—from cartons of fresh milk and bread to laundry detergent and diapers. For details call 610-642-7120 or visit http://www.delawaremarket.com.

The next president of the United States must put the full of weight of his office behind an energy plan, says Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson

When energy expert Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson addressed the National Press Club on Tuesday, Sept. 9, the ballroom packed with politicians, energy industry professionals and journalists took note as she described the plan she and her colleagues insist that the 44th president of the United States consider when it comes to energy policy.

“The priorities and legacy of a new administration are often defined and judged by the actions that are taken within its first 100 days,” said Jackson, a MIT-trained physicist and current president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who is the vice chairman of the Competitiveness Council — a group of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders committed to enhancing U.S. competitiveness in the global economy through the creation of high-value economic activity.

“The future economic competitiveness, national security, and prosperity of our nation will be determined by how we obtain and use energy, protect our environment, and address global climate change,” insisted Jackson, who was the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; a theoretical physicist conducting basic research at the former AT&T Bell Laboratories; and a professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers University.

Talk about a truly amazing woman.

Jackson went on to explain that America is caught as never before in a double grip: the need for national and global energy security, and legitimate alarm over our planet’s climate change.

“Issues that ensue from these twin realities—complex geopolitical and geostrategic challenges, unprecedented wealth transfer from one group of nations to another, the profusion of investment choices before us—require vision, careful analysis, coherent thinking, and finally, action,” Jackson explained.

As co-chairwoman of the Council’s Energy Security, Innovation & Sustainability Initiative—whose members include Caterpiller Inc.’s CEO James Owens and the national president of the AFL-CIO, Michael Langford—Jackson said her organization has put forth six priorities for the 44th president’s first 100 days:

* Set the global bar for energy efficiency. The next president must issue an executive order mandating that the federal government use the procurement process to lead the market toward efficient energy standards for goods and services, as well as in the construction and retrofitting of facilities.

* Assure access to clean and competitive energy.Immediately develop and utilize all sources of energy in America, including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, biofuels, geothermal, laser fusion-fission and other advanced energy sources.

* Jumpstart energy infrastructure investments. As our government has set aside loans for American to afford homes and start small businesses, today our country requires a $200 billion national energy bank to provide debt financing and drive private investment in the development of sustainable energy solutions and supporting infrastructure.

* Spawn technological breakthroughs and entrepreneurship by increasing investment in research and development, and market commercialization to deliver secure and sustainable energy.

* Mobilize a world-class energy workforce. As computer scientists and aerospace engineers were crucial to winning the space race in the 1960s, we will win the clean energy race by educating the next generation of science and technology researchers and game-changing innovators, thereby filling the workforce pipeline with a new generation of skilled talent.

* Clear obstacles to a national transmission superhighway. As with the interstate highway system and the information superhighway, our leaders must knit together the patchwork of regulations and oversight into a seamlessly connected electrical power highway that is technologically capable of allowing both on and off ramps for all energy sources.

“Energy security is the greatest challenge and greatest opportunity of our time,” Jackson concluded. “A national call to action will ignite our collective imagination, spark a new era of innovation, stimulate our economy, open new markets, unleash our national potential, and enhance our economic and national security. But, we must begin. The next president must send a clear signal—in the first 100 days—that will move us from rhetoric to reality.”

Hope Katz Gibbs is a National Press Club member and freelance writer in Northern Virginia. View this and other articles at the National Press Club blog.

Teaching the Tricks of the HR trade: Barbara Mitchell and Sharon Armstrong

In 14th-century England, masons, carpenters, leather workers, and other skilled craftsmen organized themselves into guilds—the first unions that were used to improve their work conditions. With the Industrial Revolution came divisions of labor, negotiable wages and hours, and challenging work conditions, and the owner was replaced by a new character, the boss, who was solely focused on getting the job done fast and right.

Conflict ensued—and so the human resources industry was born to help set things straight, explain authors Sharon Armstrong and Barbara Mitchell in their new book, The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional.

This quick-reference guide, published in the fall of 2008 by Career Press, sheds light on the issues that keep managers up at night, says Mitchell, who for a decade worked for Marriott Corporation and several technology firms in the Washington DC area before launching her own company—The Millennium Group International—in 1998.

“Human resource professionals are not only charged with resolving labor issues,” Mitchell explains. “We also help acquire, train, appraise, and make sure employees are fairly compensated, while attending to their concerns about labor relations, health and safety, and fairness.”

“It’s a big job, but we make it easier by outlining guidelines and best practice recommendations in the 12 chapters of our book,” adds Armstrong, who began her career in human resources in 1985 as a recruiter/trainer in a large Manhattan law firm before launching her own company, Armstrong and Associates, in 1997. “Whether you are a newly promoted manager, a seasoned business owner, or a human resources professional, knowing the ins and outs of dealing with HR issues is critical to your success.”

With this easy-to-read 250-page paperback, you'll learn how to effectively and efficiently:

• Individually manage each employee, starting on his or her first day.
• Manage a multi-generational workforce.
• Appraise job performance.
• Coach and counsel.
• Provide equitable pay, benefits, and total rewards strategies.
• Minimize legal risk.

HR professionals have raved about this 250-page paperback—mostly because it gives sound ideas that are simple to put into practice, says Stephen J. O’Connor, senior director of staffing, ESPN Inc. “This book is easy to use, and full of solid advice and information from diversity to interviews to legal issues. If you are HR professional, you should have this book at the ready every day.”

Joe Calloway, author of Work Like You’re Showing Off adds: “Finally, a complete, clear, and concise book that covers every essential element of that mix of art and science we call HR,” “It’s 100% applicable to the real-world challenges faced by today’s HR manager or business owner.”

About the Authors

Sharon Armstrong began her career in human resources in 1985 as a recruiter/trainer in a large Manhattan law firm. She took over as Director of HR at the DC firm Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge in 1991, and in 1994 became the Director of HR and Administration at the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

In 2000, she opened her own firm, Sharon Armstrong & Associates, and since has provided training and completed HR projects for hundreds of clients. Her firm also serves as a brokerage house for other HR professionals. In 1998 she co-wrote her first book, “Healing the Canine Within: A Dog’s Self-Help Companion,” a humor book about her dog Scooter, and in 2003 she penned, “Stress-free Performance Appraisals,” with co-author Madelyn Appelbaum.

Barbara Mitchell is a human resources and organization development consultant who is widely known as an expert in the areas of recruitment and retention. She has experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors and has consulted to a variety of organizations around the world.

She served in senior human resources leadership positions with Marriott International and several technology firms in the Washington DC area before co-founding the Millennium Group International, LLC (TMG) in 1998. She recently served on the Society of Human Resource Management’s Special Expert Panel on Consulting and Outsourcing in recognition of her expertise and long service to the HR profession. Barbara is a graduate of North Park University, Chicago, IL, with a degree in history and political science and has taken graduate level courses at UCLA.

Both authors live in the Washington, D.C. area.

Visit their website http://www.theessentialhrhandbook.com.