Elizabethtown College hosts 'Knowledge is Power Program' founder March 23

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David Levin, award-winning educator visits Elizabethtown College.

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (02/26/2011)(readMedia)-- Award-winning educator David Levin will deliver this year's Leffler Memorial Lecture at Elizabethtown College. The lecture, "Making Promises to Children Sacred-How American Education Needs to Change," takes place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, in the College's Leffler Chapel and Performance Center. The event is free, but tickets are required. Call 717-361-4757.

The Carlos R. and Georgiana E. Leffler Memorial Lecture-created by Linda '67 and Patrick Castagna-honors the legacy and contributions of Mrs. Castagna's parents, who greatly enriched Elizabethtown College and their community during their lives. Through the fund, the College is able to present speakers of national and international renown, who enhance the educational experience for our students and create meaningful public dialogue.

David Levin is co-founder of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for college and life. After Levin graduated from Yale in 1992 he joined Teach for America and taught fifth grade in Houston. In 1994, he co-founded KIPP with Mike Feinberg and won numerous awards for teaching and community service in Houston. In 2000, the KIPP program went nationwide with the help of Doris and Don Fisher, founders of Gap Inc. Today, there are 99 KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia serving more than 27,000 students.

Levin is the recipient of the Robin Hood Foundation's John F. Kennedy Jr. Hero Award in Education and an Ashoka Fellowship, awarded to leading social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions and the potential to change patterns across society. Together, Levin and Feinberg received the Thomas Fordham Foundation Prize for Valor; the National Jefferson Award for Distinguished Public Service by a Private Citizen; the Charles Bronfman Prize, an honorary degree from Yale University; and the Presidential Citizen's Medal, our nation's second highest presidential award for a private citizen.

Levin currently serves as the superintendent of KIPP NYC and plays an active role in the leadership of the KIPP Foundation and Teacher U.

For additional events at Elizabethtown College click on the E-town Events WEBPAGE.

Elizabethtown College, in southeastern Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees. Through personal attention, creative inspiration and academic challenge, Elizabethtown College students are encouraged to expand their intellectual curiosity and are given the opportunity to become a bigger part of the world through experiential learning-research, internships and study abroad. Elizabethtown College's overall commitment to Educate for Service is fulfilled as students are taught intellectually, socially, aesthetically and ethically for lives of service and leadership.

Visit www.etown.edu for more information about Elizabethtown College.

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Harvey

Assistant Director of Communications

Marketing and Communications

Elizabethtown College

harveye@etown.edu

717-361-6412 (o)

717-371-2631 (c)

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