Chicago
Suder Montessori Magnet School
Mentor principal: Stephanie Bloom-Washofsky

“Educational reform is transformational and its vision cannot be achieved in isolation.  School leadership bears the responsibility of living the vision and empowering others to join the mission.”

Kesa Thurman knew she was interested in a career in education at a very early age, beginning her journey nearly twenty years ago when she received the Golden Apple Scholar Award.  Soon after she completed her bachelors in teaching and began work as a classroom teacher with marked years of consecutive student growth.  She later served as a TAP lead teacher for Chicago Public Schools and was an educational advocate with legislative officials on Capitol Hill and the United States Department of Education.

Kesa decided to apply to New Leaders because she felt that despite the positive impact she had in her own classroom, she wanted to reach more students and advocate on behalf of students on a larger scale.

As a Resident Principal with New Leaders, Kesa is learning how efficacy empowers leaders to bring a social justice focus to their school settings.  Kesa is embracing her personal leadership style and is forging trusting relationships that strengthen systems and operations in the school while building teacher capacity around instruction.  She has learned that that an effective leader must have a humble spirit and the ability to inspire others, and that empowering others to do the work is no easy task.

As a New Leader, Kesa feels that she can change the world by making tomorrow better for every student while communing with like-minded individuals who share a passion for doing the work.

“Being a New Leader means that I have the ability to help our students to reach new heights and achieve far beyond the imaginable.”