Our selection committee really knows how to pick ’em!

When we selected Desi Nesmith as the Alma Exley Scholar for 2000, we recognized his potential to become an outstanding educator.

Our confidence was reinforced a few years later when he was honored as Teacher of the Year at Mayberry Elementary School in East Hartford.

We weren’t surprised when he received the Promising Young Professional Award from his alma mater, the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, in 2009.

That was the year he became principal of SAND Elementary School in Hartford. In his first year, he transformed the school from one of the state’s lowest performing schools to one of the most improved. And he was recognized as Best First-Year Principal by the Connecticut Association of Schools.

Since 2011 Desi has been principal of Metacomet School in Bloomfield. Under his leadership, student academic performance has improved dramatically and the achievement gap has been narrowed significantly.

In recognition of his outstanding leadership, the Milken Family Foundation has honored Desi with the prestigious Milken Educator Award, the only one in Connecticut this year. The honor includes an unrestricted $25,000 prize.

The award was presented at an assembly which Principal Nesmith thought had been scheduled to honor the children for their academic achievements. He introduced State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor, who congratulated the students for reducing the third-grade achievement gap in reading by 19 percent, with reading scores exceeding the state average by 8 percent.

Then Dr. Jane Foley of the Milken Family Foundation caught Desi completely by surprise by announcing that he had been chosen for the prestigious award. (Dr. Foley and Commissioner Prior are with Desi in the photo above.)

After composing himself from the surprise of his life, Desi told the students that not too many years ago, he had been sitting right where they were, and that they, too, could fulfill their dreams and aspirations. (He grew up in Bloomfield and attended Metacomet School for first and second grades.)

It was such a pleasure for me to see Desi receive this much-deserved honor. I have followed his career since he received our scholarship as an undergraduate at UConn. It is abundantly clear that Desi cares deeply about his students and wants every one of them to succeed. Moreover, his inspired leadership is enabling them to succeed.

Seeing scholarship recipients like Desi grow, mature and have an impact in their careers is what makes being involved with the Alma Exley Scholarship Program so rewarding. Everyone who has supported the program over the years can take some satisfaction in knowing they have played a small part in helping to launch the careers of a wonderful group of outstanding educators.

– Woody Exley

It’s a rare 27-year-old who has a doctorate and a position as a school principal. But Khalil Graham is a man in a hurry.

“I’ve never been a person to wait,” he told me in a recent phone conversation. “I’m excited about making change happen as quickly as possible.”

Dr. Graham has been focused on a career in educational leadership since being honored as an Alma Exley Scholar in 2010. He received his doctorate from the University of Kentucky in 2013, and now he is embarking on his newest challenge as founding principal of IDEA Walzem College Prep, a public charter school that will open in August in San Antonio, Tex.

And oh, by the way, in 2013 he got married (to Ashlei Harden, also a graduate of the University of Kentucky), all the while supporting his 13-year-old brother, Maurice.

Today Dr. Graham finds himself a world apart from that of the Brooklyn teenager of a decade ago who made some “poor choices.” At the age of 16, he dropped out of high school and found himself on the streets of New York City.

His grandmother, who was raising him, gave him some tough love by telling him that he couldn’t live with her if he wasn’t in school. He left home and rode the subways until heading back to school a month later.

After Khalil completed 11^th grade, his fortunes took a turn for the better when he received a scholarship to the prestigious Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn.

Next stop on his educational journey was the University of Richmond, where he played varsity football, studied hard, volunteered in the community, and was chosen as the commencement speaker for the class of 2008. He pursued a master’s degree at Sacred Heart University, while gaining experience teaching in New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford, Conn.

He gained more experience in the classroom at Kentucky, but at a higher level. As a doctoral student, he taught classes in organizational leadership and educational data analysis.

“I was the youngest person in the room – and the person who was teaching the class,” he said. “I really enjoyed it.” Now he is applying his academic theory and practical experience to the task of hiring faculty and administrators and fulfilling his vision for the new school in the Northeast section of San Antonio.

IDEA Walzem will be the 18^th college-preparatory school established in recent years by the fast-growing IDEA charter-school organization. The schools in the Rio Grande Valley, Austin and San Antonio proudly proclaim that 100 percent of their graduates have been admitted to college in the past seven years.

Recalling his rocky road as a teenager in Brooklyn, Dr. Graham said, “Growing up in poverty, I had lots of opportunities to make poor choices. I was fortunate to have supportive people around me who kept me on the straight and narrow.”

Now, because of his diverse experience, he feels able to empathize and communicate with high-performing students as well as those who are struggling.

As I write these words about Dr. Khalil Graham, I’m in awe of what he has accomplished. I’m proud to count him among the many valued members of our Alma Exley Scholarship family. And I’m grateful for the support of all the donors who have enabled our program to help launch the careers of Dr. Graham and the other outstanding Alma Exley Scholars.

–      Woody Exley

I’m old enough to remember when doctors used to make house calls. I remember our family doctor coming into my bedroom, carrying his little black bag, and taking my temperature. Whether or not he cured what ailed me, his caring presence made me feel better.

My teachers, however, never came to my home. In fact, I didn’t know that teachers made house calls until I talked with Glenn Allen Jr.

Mr. Allen, whom we honored as an Alma Exley Scholar in 1998, began making home visits in his first year of teaching, and has been doing so ever since. Generally, he visits when a youngster is getting into trouble or has attendance issues.

“Sometimes when I say I’m going to their house, they don’t believe me,” he told me recently. “And they’re shocked when I arrive. But visiting students at home with their parents enables me to make a deeper connection. When I’m sitting on the couch in their living room, it brings our relationship to a different level.”

Mr. Allen, who grew up in East Hartford, Conn., has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Connecticut. He teaches Special Education English at Carson High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He has also served two years as a dean of students, and for several years he was on the coaching staffs for football and track & field.

I had the opportunity to visit Mr. Allen at Carson High School on a recent trip to Los Angeles. It was a great pleasure to see him in action with a class of 10^th graders, who responded to his caring manner.

“Making the effort to visit students at home always has an impact,” he said. “Over the past 14 years, not once have I been to a student’s home that his or her behavior hasn’t improved.”

When students have been in trouble, they’re usually resistant to Mr. Allen’s visits. Sometimes, when they greet him at the door, they tell him their parents aren’t home. Or Hispanic students sometimes tell him their parents don’t speak English. But he persists, and the students’ jaws drop when he speaks to their parents in fluent Spanish.

When students are resistant, he tells them, “Look, I don’t have to be here. I’m not getting paid extra to do this. I’m here because I care about you and want you to be successful.”

Showing that he cares has an impact. He continues to make these home visits because he sees the results in improved behavior and academic performance.

Mr. Allen says he has become more forgiving of students in the classroom as a result of seeing the conditions they are dealing with at home. Many of his students live in poverty, and some are in group homes.

“I wish more teachers would make home visits,” he said. “Some personal attention from the teacher can make all the difference.”

–      Woody Exley