Jefferson Awards: East Bay Educator Empowers Students To Self-Evaluate

OAKLAND (CBS 5) - "I could've done better if I'd paid attention to the rubric," explains 12th grader Cedric Wilson. He's telling his father how he's doing in each class at the Oakland Military Institute College Preparatory Academy - the good and the bad.

It's not your traditional parent-teacher conference. Here, students like Cedric do the talking.

"It shows our parents why we deserve the grades we got," he says.

The student-led conference, developed by Lt. Colonel Mark Ryan, OMI's superintendent.

"I know that in order for me to maintain that grade, if it's an A, or get a better grade, that I need to do these things," Mark says, explaining the thought process for the young people.

The conferences are part of the curriculum Mark launched as superintendent of the public military charter school the last four years, a school where nearly all of the 60 seniors graduate on time, and 7 in 10 attend four-year colleges and universities like Yale and West Point.

Teacher Johnna Grell credits Mark's leadership.

"The kids are experiencing the best in the classroom," Johnna says. "His expectations are really high, but he's realistic."

Over his 20 year career in education, Mark has been a teacher, principal, and administrator. He says he grew up in a broken home and recognized education was a key to his success.

"So many of my friends in inner city while I was growing up did not value education," he remembers. "They ended up in gangs, on drugs, in prison, or dead."

So Mark paid his own way through college, and earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction.

"The way to change the world is through education," he says emphatically. "It's the key."

When he's not meeting with parents and students, Mark serves as Assistant Executive Officer with the California Cadet Corps - the state version of JROTC. He's helps lead a youth leadership development program that reaches 100 schools statewide.

Oakland Military Institute's Admissions Officer John Wells says Mark inspires deep respect.

"In the 20 years I've been in the Army, there's been two people I'd fall on my sword for. In the subsequent 19 years since I've retired, Col. Ryan is the only one I can say that about," John says.

For Mark, his mission is simple: building scholars who serve.

"Yes, test scores are one way to measure a school. But more importantly, what kind of human beings are we producing? Are we producing people that are kind, generous, that give of themselves to other people?"

So for giving of himself in pursuing excellence in education, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Lt. Colonel Mark Ryan.