District of Columbia: DC KIPP teachers win $10,000 teaching awards

SAN ANTONIO, TX - In a gala awards ceremony last night, KIPP teachers Mekia Love and Lisa Suben received $10,000 KIPP Excellence in Teaching Awards. Over 1,500 educators from 19 states were in attendance for the awards ceremony to honor excellence in teaching and learning.Love and Suben are two out of ten teachers from a pool of nearly 1,000 KIPP educators from across the country to win the $10,000 KIPP Excellence in Teaching Award. The winning teachers have a proven track record for improving student achievement, inspiring other teachers, and contributing to their school communities.

Love, a fifth-grade reading teacher at KIPP DC: KEY Academy, was awarded the U.S. Department of Education's American Stars of Teaching Award for 2007. Love facilitates the school's Saturday school program and participates in regular professional development activities. She is known for tailoring her lessons to the needs of individual students.

"This moment feels very surreal," said Love. "I feel very appreciated, loved and supported. Being part of this amazing and powerful team of educators is one of the reasons I love working at KIPP."

Suben teaches fifth-grade math at KIPP DC: AIM Academy. Suben helped found her KIPP site 2005, and wrote a new math curriculum to better challenge and excite her students. The school's first incoming class of fifth-graders improved from 16th percentile in math on the Stanford 10 in fall 2005 to the 77th percentile by the spring of 2006. Suben also directs the school's musical theater productions, and organizes an annual educational event called the "Metric Olympics."

"I really feel like this award is a testament to my students," said Suben. "I feel like I have become who I am because of them. My [school] administration is amazing and has created a special place where kids are excited to be smart."

Founded by two young teachers, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) started as a program for 50 fifth-grade students in inner-city Houston, TX in 1994. In 2000, Doris and Donald Fisher, co-founders of the Gap, Inc., partnered with Feinberg and Levin to replicate the success of its unique college-prep program across the country. KIPP has since grown to a national network of 66 schools in nearly 19 states serving more than 16,000 students.

KIPP D.C. began in 2001 with the foundation of KIPP DC: KEY Academy, which recently received the prestigious "Blue Ribbon School" designation from the U.S. Dept. of Education. Over the next decade, KIPP DC plans to expand to 10 campuses, reaching over 3,400 students in Washington, D.C.