printMANHATTAN Magazine (New York, NY) - "To the Tenth Power"
By Alison Prato | December 1, 2011
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There is no shortage of people in this city who possess incredible wealth and wield an enormous amount of influence. That’s one kind of power. Another is the power of creative thinking and spirited efforts embodied by the 10 subjects assembled for this special feature. Their fields of work are varied and some of their goals incomplete, but as we head into 2012, one thing is certain: they are energizing New York.
David Levin
Co-founder of the celebrated KIPP charter school network and superintendent of KIPP’s New York City schools, David Levin lives by one motto, which he proudly displays on his button down shirt: “Work Hard. Be Nice.” “When you boil everything down it comes back to those two concepts,” explains Levin, 41, who started KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) with Mike Feinberg in 1994. “We’re asking of ourselves the same things we’re asking of the kids.”
KIPP has grown from two schools in Houston and New York to 109 schools serving more than 32,000 students in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Levin, who taught fifth grade before launching the program, works 75 to 90 hours a week training teachers, teaching students, raising money and toggling between schools. And, yes, he’s super-nice. Not only does he let KIPP students—who have gone on to become architects, doctors and teachers—call him at home on Sundays, he’s still enthusiastic about teaching.
“It’s the greatest job ever,” Levin says. “Teachers don’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering why they’re on the planet.”
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basis of race, color, gender, handicap, age, religion, sexual orientation, national, or ethnic origin.