Mike Sinclair, Principal of Brashier Middle College Charter High School, Receives Prestigious Excellence in Teaching Milken Educator Award
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 18, 2013 -- The Middle College National Consortium is proud to announce that Mike Sinclair, principal of partner school Brashier Middle College Charter High School in Simpsonville, South Carolina, is a recipient of the prestigious 2013–14 National Institute for Excellence in Teaching Milken Educator Award. According to the Milken Family Foundation the $25,000 award “Targets early-to-mid career education professionals for their already impressive achievements and, more significantly, for the promise of what they will accomplish in the future.” The Milken Educator Awards are meant to inspire excellence in teaching as well to say thank you to educators that have excelled in their profession.
Mike Sinclair has led Brashier Middle College Charter High School into a bastion of excellence. In the 2011-2012 school year, Brashier had a 98.9% graduation rate, 77.7% of its seniors took college classes earning 1,934 college credits and the 2012 graduates received a total of $2.2 million in college scholarships. The road to success does not come easy. Teachers receive ongoing professional development and are expected to stay abreast of successful research based instructional practices. All students are encouraged to take, and supported in, college classes, and struggling students are identified early and enrolled in a Freshman Academy that helps them upgrade their skills and prevents dropouts, which can be endemic in the 9th grade.
Mike Sinclair is a sought after educator. He is a regular presenter at Middle College National Consortium conferences, teaches a graduate class at Furman University and serves on SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) Review Team for the state of South Carolina. On receiving the Excellence in teaching Award from Dr. Mick Zais, South Carolina Superintendent of Education, and Dr. Gregory Stark, National Institute For Excellence in Teaching President and CEO, Mike Sinclair wisely noted, “My philosophy of education is that students all have tremendous potential and they develop at different times or in different ways, so as an educational system we need to be flexible and focus on meeting the needs of our students rather than meeting the needs of a system.” Dr. Cecilia L. Cunningham, founder and Director of the Middle College National Consortium, a partner organization with Brashier Middle College Charter HS, upon learning of Mike receiving the Milken Excellence in Education award stated, “Mike deserves this honor. He is the type of leader who inspires people to excel above and beyond what they believe they can do.”
Brashier Middle College Charter High School has had a long term relationship with the Middle College National Consortium, which is headquartered in New York City, and is a leader in the movement to establish and sustain high school/college dual enrollment as a viable and necessary educational model. Middle College National Consortium’s mission is to develop small schools in which high school students, especially those who have been previously underserved by their former schools, can earn both a high school diploma and either an associate’s degree or transferable college credits upon graduation.
To learn more about the Middle College National Consortium, visit us at (http://www.mcnc.us/) for a comprehensive overview of our history, design principles, current work and achievements.
Contact information:
Tony Hoffmann
Middle College National Consortium
O. 718-361-1981 X6
THoffmann(at)mcnc(dot)us
http://www.mcnc.us
Tony Hoffmann, Middle College National Consortium, http://www.mcnc.us, +1 (718) 361-1981 Ext: 6, [email protected]
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