2009-2010 Fellow Biographies

Jane Henzerling – San Francisco, CA

Jane Henzerling made the decision to devote herself to the cause of educational equity more than twelve years ago, and she’s never looked back. She was an acclaimed elementary school teacher and staff developer in Phoenix, Arizona.  In 2003, Mrs. Henzerling joined the staff of Teach For America Phoenix as Program Director and relocated to Florida to lead Teach For America Miami-Dade, which serves nearly 10,000 students in the county’s lowest-income areas. As Executive Director, she established a diverse funding base and increased new contributions by 250% while strengthening ties with the school board, business community, and higher education institutions. Under her leadership, the professional development program yielded marked increases in teacher effectiveness, which doubled the percentage of students achieving significant academic gains. Mrs. Henzerling graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Spanish from Skidmore College and earned her M. Ed in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. Through the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, Mrs. Henzerling will launch a K-8 college-preparatory charter school in San Francisco, California.

Penny Schwinn – Sacramento, CA

Penny Schwinn comes to the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship with a deep commitment to her work in urban education: How did she go from a leadership position with Teach For America to working for more than a year as an operations supervisor at a supply company? It seemed a huge leap out of the field of education and into industry. Penny disagrees. With nuance and strength of conviction, she says that she chose to "learn" business because she knew that to start a school she would need that exposure and expertise. She would need to know how to develop real performance assessment tools and operational improvement plans, and how to create and implement working procedures. She began teaching high school in Baltimore, MD through Teach for America, where she achieved dramatic academic gains with her students. Ms. Schwinn had the honor of being a regional representative for the Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teaching Award. Ms. Schwinn was a Program Director for Teach For America in Los Angeles, supporting and developing 53 new teachers. She returned to the classroom as an acknowledged leader and Director of Student Achievement at a transformation charter high school in Sacramento. Ms. Schwinn completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in history from UC Berkeley and her Masters in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University. She is on her way to opening a high-performing charter school in Sacramento, California.

David Singer – Denver, CO

David Singer delved into the world of urban education early in his undergraduate career at the University of Hartford, spending hundreds of hours volunteering in inner-city high school classrooms.  Upon completion of his undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Secondary Education where he was recognized with the Regents Honors Award, Mr. Singer moved to Denver, Colorado where he began teaching mathematics and coaching boys and girls’ soccer at Skyview High School. He followed up with two years at Denver’s Manual High School, one of the lowest performing schools in the state, a controversial school and one destined for take over or restructuring.  Writing math curriculum, creating standards-based grading systems, guiding professional development around data-driven instruction and acting as a member of the school leadership team, David began to realize what was really possible with a fresh start school, not a school haunted by legends of the past. After the personal and professional impact of six years of teaching high school mathematics to low-income minority youth, David recognizes the enormous need for higher quality elementary and middle schools in Denver.  Upon completion of the BES Fellowship Mr. Singer will open a high performing, no-excuses Pre-Kindergarten-8 school in Denver, Colorado.

Clifford Thomas – Brooklyn, NY

Cliff tells us “The ‘sacrifices’ of time, energy, emotion and will that are surely required to run a successful school will certainly be greater than anything I’ve experienced. With that said, I can’t think of a better way to use my time or expend my energy than to help provide an educational opportunity for students that they might not otherwise have. As someone who has been granted the opportunity for such a rich academic experience, I refuse to believe that such a thing should be reserved for so few. Though this may be the most demanding goal I have ever sought to pursue, any so-called “sacrifice” I make would pale in comparison to the magnitude of student success that I will dedicate myself to. I have the rest of my life, and all of my time to work towards this; I am willing to do whatever it takes to guarantee as many students as I can education equality, and hope to be given the opportunity to do exactly that." Cliff’s experiences at Prep for Prep, Harvard and teaching in Brooklyn have given him the aptitude and drive to work with Building Excellent Schools to found an academically rigorous middle school in Brooklyn, New York.