The magazine Reader’s Digest and four education groups last week announced the 10 winners of the 1989 American Heroes in Education Awards.
The competition, sponsored jointly with the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teach,7lers, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National Association of Elementary School Principals, honors educators whose efforts “are making a difference in U.S. schools.”
Many of those honored were credited with bringing new life to schools that had been sinking under the weight of urban ills. Lawrence J. Pijeaux Jr., for example, has achieved major improvements in a high school in one of New Orleans’s poorest neighborhoods, the groups said.
Others were recognized for innovative programs, such as one developed by Daniel Jiru of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., to encourage students to aid the homeless.
The awards program, slated to last three years, was established in September.
Winning individuals and teams will receive $5,000 from the Reader’s Digest Association Inc., and their schools will get $10,000.
The winners are:
Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., principal, Solomon Lewenberg Middle School, Boston; Daniel Jiru, social-justice teacher, St.Paul High School, Santa Fe Springs, Calif.; Yvonne Allen, principal, Whiteville Elementary School, Whiteville, Tenn.; Stephen Korpa, art teacher, Carrick High School, Pittsburgh.
Daniel J. Greene, founder, David School, David, Ky.; Orguidea Organes Sanso, guidance counselor, Roosevelt High School, Yonkers, N.Y.; Christine E. Chalender, teacher, Washington Elementary School and Hays High School, Hays, Kan.; Lawrence J. Pijeaux Jr., principal, L.B. Landry High School, New Orleans; Robert and Jacquelyn Corrigan, teachers, Gorham High School, Gorham, N.H.; and
A team from Sonora High School, Sonora, Calif.: Ed Duggan, principal; Steve Southard, student-activities director; Barbara Smith, Charles Clyde, and Pat Sieben, teachers; and Tod Prouty, counselor.
