Geoffrey+Canada+lecture

=**Geoffrey Canada: Taking A Stand For Poor Kids**= //Jenny Asarnow 05/27/2010 at 8:00 p.m. ShareThis  // Geoffrey Canada is working to get every kid in Central Harlem a college degree. He's president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, which does 'whatever it takes' for children who live on 97 blocks. The Zone provides schools, education support, mental and physical health services — it even organizes block watches and tenant groups. It sticks with the same set of kids from before they're born (with parenting classes) until they graduate college.

Canada grew up poor in the South Bronx and later earned a Master's degree in education at Harvard. He believes kids born poor should be held to the same standards — and given the same opportunities — as America's upper middle class kids. He believes the only standard for success in today's economy is a college degree. And he thinks America's education system — which pumps out more high school dropouts than graduates in many big cities — is a disgrace. He says it's going to turn the country into a second–rate nation. President Obama is listening.

Canada spoke at the University of Washington's Kane Hall on February 9, 2010 as part of the Danz Lecture Series. He laid out The Zone's principles and urged everyone in the audience to save as many kids as they can.

Click [|here] to listen.

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