Metro Philadelphia Education Power Players

A product of the School District of Philadelphia, Kiana Thompson has dedicated her career to serving the district’s students. Kiana received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Morgan State University, master’s degree in Educational Administration from Gwynedd Mercy University, and EdS in Educational Technology from Walden University. In 2006, she was granted the unique opportunity to be a founding teacher at the Academy at Palumbo, where she later became principal in 2014.

What is something you have learned from your students?
My students have taught me to prioritize the things that are most important in supporting their well being. I understand that today’s teenagers are experiencing numerous challenges. Listening to the things they say informs my decision-making when it comes to programming and budgetary considerations. Once students have an environment where there is a sense of security, the academics will fall into place.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
My freshman year in college would probably count as the most transformative experience in my education. My junior high and high school experiences had been at very diverse magnet schools. Being at a historically Black college and university exposed me to Black excellence from all over the country and beyond. The sense of pride instilled in me as a young Black woman has always stayed with me as I move forward and support my students.

What conditions do you think are necessary for a safe and effective learning environment?
Putting the needs of the students first is the most important aspect of creating a safe, nurturing environment. Attracting like-minded staff who all subscribe to the same mission and vision ensures that the students are encouraged to perform to the best of their ability. Offering multiple opportunities outside of the classroom that speaks to the student’s interests fosters ownership and a feeling of community among all involved.

How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity? 
As a school leader, it’s important to think creatively in order to remove barriers and create opportunities for all students. Embracing partnerships, supporting extracurricular activities, and encouraging students to attempt the most challenging curriculum are ways we try to ensure all of our students have access to a well-rounded high school experience regardless of their race, gender, or socioeconomic status.

Michael G. Turner is The Shipley School’s 10th head of school, where he is leading the charge to redefine educational excellence and continue the school’s tradition of enhancing student achievement through individual and collective well-being. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Michael began his career in business, returning to his alma mater, Germantown Academy, to teach and coach in 2002. After serving as head of school at St. Michael’s Episcopal School in Richmond, Virginia, he returned to the Philadelphia area in 2019. He is also a doctoral candidate at The College of William and Mary. 

What is something you have learned from your students?
The natural power, beauty, and resilience of the human spirit. Whether preparing to head off to college or entering kindergarten, our young people have lived through a couple of cataclysmic years. Their ability to find joy, build relationships, learn, and grow amidst all of that has been inspiring. Those of us who work in schools have been sustained by our students.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
I basically grew up on Germantown Academy’s campus. I like to say that I was marinated in love for my entire childhood educational experience. The interweaving of that embrace of community and family, bound together by a striving for excellence and achievement is something that shaped me and shapes the vision I am trying to achieve at Shipley.

What conditions do you think are necessary for a safe and effective learning environment?
Beyond the basics of physical safety, students thrive when they feel a sense of belonging and connection within the school community. This begins with forming trusting relationships with peers and adults. It is enriched by ensuring students see themselves reflected in a culturally sustaining curriculum—a curriculum that is both appropriately challenging and personally meaningful to produce confidence.

How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity? 
In addition to providing need-based financial aid, schools like Shipley must create inclusive environments, where all students, regardless of their background, feel a true sense of belonging. For instance, at Shipley, 38% of our students receive financial assistance, and we prioritize maintaining a school culture where each individual can be their full and authentic self.

Dr. Alyn Turner is a sociologist and the director of quantitative research at Research for Action, where she specializes in evaluating and researching early childhood and K-12 education programs and policies. Dr. Turner is also the co-director of the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium, a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. She is also the principal investigator of a five-year Education and Innovation Research grant awarded to the Children’s Literacy Initiative to improve preschool curriculums. Prior to this, Dr. Turner was a research scholar at the Center for Women’s Health and Health Disparities Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She earned her master’s degree in Population Health Sciences and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. 

Dr. Mark L. Tykocinski joined Thomas Jefferson University in 2008 as the Anthony F. and Gertrude M. DePalma dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College. In 2014, he also became the university’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Instrumental in guiding Jefferson through its groundbreaking 2017 merger with Philadelphia University, Dr. Tykocinski was named president of Thomas Jefferson University in 2022 and now leads an academic enterprise that comprises 10 colleges and four schools spanning a range of professional training pathways from design to health to architecture.

What conditions do you think are necessary for a safe and effective learning environment?
Fostering creativity and innovation and allowing students to experience their chosen field while also understanding the other disciplines around them. An institution should be open to change, must acknowledge their history, and should focus on the future.

Jessica Varevice is Mastery Charter Schools’ chief academic officer, where she manages instruction, assessment, curriculum, coaching, and professional development for the network. Prior to her role at Mastery, she worked at The New Teacher Project as a consultant, and focused on leadership development, school turnaround, and teacher quality. Jessica was also an eighth grade teacher for the School District of Philadelphia. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a master’s degree in Urban Education from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Sean Vereen serves as president and CEO of Steppingstone Scholars, and will become the co-president of the merged organization with Philadelphia Futures. Sean received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and his EdD from the University of Pennsylvania. A thought leader on racial, social, and economic inequities within the educational system, Sean served as vice chair of the Mayor’s Education Nominating Board for the School District of Philadelphia’s Board of Education. Prior to joining Steppingstone Scholars, Sean was associate dean for opportunity and access in the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions. 

What is something you have learned from your students?
Joy. As difficult and hard as the issues we face as a city are, I have seen the joy that our students have for each other and their communities. There is a lot of heartache here, but students remind me to start with joy to do the hard things. I have also learned from our students that the prosperity all of us seek starts with them. We will not be remembered for buildings or festivals or championships. We’ll be remembered for how we treated our children. If we treat them well, they will make a better future for everyone.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education? 
When I was in elementary school I had a very difficult time learning how to read and was nearly held back in the fourth grade. I remember when I was finally able to read books without struggling, it was such a joy to do something that had felt nearly impossible. To this day I often carry a book with me because reading brings me back to that moment when the world opened up to me.

What conditions do you think are necessary for a safe and effective learning environment?
First and foremost, we as Philadelphians must love our students. At Steppingstone and Futures, we believe that the way forward as a city and nation begins and ends with this question: what are we willing to do for all of our kids? Our answer: our schools, organizations, institutions, and businesses must treat young people like our future depends on their success. We will find or make the pathways to opportunity because our students deserve no less.

How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity?
Connecting a good education to economic opportunities and careers for those who have been underserved is a core responsibility of every institution, business, and organization in this region. Our students must see their hard work actually leads to real opportunities. Futures and Steppingstone are committed to ensuring all Philadelphia students graduate high school with pathways to economic mobility through college and workforce success. Our merger is a message: marshal everything for the city’s young people.

Dr. Watlington is a visionary educator with 27 years of experience, who began his career as a history teacher. He previously served as superintendent of Rowan-Salisbury Schools and chief of schools in Guilford County Schools. Dr. Watlington received his bachelor’s degree in History Education from North Carolina A&T State University, and a master’s degree in American Political History from The Ohio State University. He also holds a master’s degree in School Administration and a PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

What is something you have learned from your students?
I’ve learned a number of things from my students over the years. I think the two most significant things are, first, to pay very close attention to them. As educators, we must learn how to ask them the right questions. I realize that I can get different feedback if I ask them questions in the right way. It’s important because we should explicitly ask for feedback instead of just making a decision on their behalf. I’ve also learned to have an appropriate level of patience in their educational journey, meaning that we should be careful about judging performance too quickly.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
There are several moments in my own education that resonate with me. The one that comes to mind first, is from my seventh-grade teacher, Mrs. Gregory. I don’t remember exactly what she said to me, but I remember that she made me feel noticed and smart. At the end of the year, she gave me a history award for a student who excelled in American history. This moment influenced me to study history and to become a history teacher.

What conditions do you think are necessary for a safe and effective learning environment?
There are both physical and emotional safety needs that are required for a safe and effective learning environment. I believe that our schools are some of the safest places for students to be. Beyond physical safety, we need positive relationships and communication between staff, students, and families. When there is a trusting and caring relationship, people are more likely to see something and say something.

How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity?
Research over a number of decades says that the number one factor that influences student academic growth is when they have access to highly-qualified, highly-effective, and well-supported teachers. We also need to make sure that these teachers have a highly-qualified and well-supported principal, because they hire, onboard, and retain those educators.

Tim Whitaker began his career teaching fifth and sixth grade in Philadelphia before becoming a writer and editor. He was the editor of Philadelphia Weekly from 1994 until 2008, and previously served as the editor of Philly Sports Mag and Pittsburgh Magazine. Whitaker was a head writer at NBC Radio and has written for PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He was the executive producer of an award-winning audio documentary on the history of soul radio in Philadelphia and the author of the book Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen.

What is something you have learned from your students?
All kinds of things, including resilience and perseverance. Also, comedic timing–the kids at Mighty Writers are masters at telling stories, and many feature cartoonish-like characters and people they know from their neighborhoods. Their stories invariably end with punchlines that make you spit out your water. Oh, and they all have amazing lie detectors and are able to spot a phony upon impact, which serves them well.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education? 
When it ended? I wasn’t the greatest student, but I was a big reader, and I could write a little bit, which got me through most classes, except for physics and calculus, which just thinking about still puts me in a cold sweat.

What conditions do you think are necessary for a safe and effective learning environment?
Environments that feel like their own. At Mighty Writers, our spaces are more like clubhouses than classrooms with superheroes like Spiderman and Maya Angelou and Cat Woman and James Baldwin side by side on our walls. You also need kind instructors who know that every day is not going to be like the one that came before.

How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity?
At Mighty Writers, our centers are all located in economically-challenged communities. So, that works for us. Big picture, you have to pressure government officials ceaselessly for funds to bring school buildings into the new age and so we can lure the highest quality teachers to the communities that need it the most.

Miles Wilson is the president and CEO of Philadelphia-based EducationWorks, Inc., a nonprofit providing academic support, career readiness, and workforce development strategies for children and young adults. Previously, Miles served as director of talent and collaboration at Philadelphia School Partnership, and project manager for the Philadelphia Great Schools Compact. He was also the mid-Atlantic regional director of the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Before that, he was the executive vice president of the People’s Emergency Center and the regional vice president of Community Education Partners. Miles serves on the board of the Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia, on the investment committee of Lenfest Foundation, on The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia’s Roadmap to Growth Action team, and on the advisory board for Jounce Partners. 

What is something you have learned from your students?
I’ve learned that the process of education is reciprocal. To be an impactful teacher you have to be receptive to the thoughts and ideas of the student, thus making you a student as well. The art of teaching is not a monologue, but a dialogue.

What was your favorite moment or experience in your own education?
I was a student both in parochial and public education in Philadelphia. I was inquisitive, but my inquiry was met with agitation, as teachers thought that I was pushing against their authority instead of recognizing that I was trying to engage with the content in a meaningful way. It wasn’t until I went to Lincoln University that I encountered educators that not only pushed for me to engage the content in a meaningful way, but encouraged me to agitate, pressure check, and participate in banter regarding any and all content.

What conditions do you think are necessary for a safe and effective learning environment?
Physical safety is obvious, but just as important is intellectual and emotional security. Educators need to respect the mores and traditions of the communities they serve, recognizing students’ humanity first, thus believing in one’s ability to achieve, regardless of zip code.

How do we ensure those without privilege have equal access to quality education and opportunity? 
Simply put, those individuals in institutions with resources should be held accountable for obvious disparities around equity and opportunity that their children and grandchildren have access to. While those terms are very general, the foundation of that thought can lead to the recognition and redistribution of said resources.