Graduation Speaker 2011--Stacie Kossoy '97
"I leave you with one of my most favorite quotes: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
I hope that each of you will join a committed group of citizens to help change the world, as you are the future of our planet. Congratulations on taking your first steps into the adult world." Stacie Kossoy '97
Stacie Kossoy has an impressive background in educational leadership. She graduated from Topeka Collegiate School in 1997, and Topeka High in 2001. She went on to attend Grinnell College, graduating in 2005 with a major in Sociology and a minor in Gender and Women's Studies. Stacie then joined Teach for America, which places outstanding college graduates as teachers in low-income communities. Stacie taught for several years in Camden, New Jersey, and then moved to Washington, DC to be a founding teacher at KIPP DC: LEAP Academy, a school opening with 100 PK students in South East DC. KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of charter schools with over 100 schools across the country. KIPP schools have made enormous gains with students from low-income neighborhoods and demonstrated that all children can achieve their full potential, and attend college, given an opportunity. Stacie was selected for the Fisher Fellowship, a year of leadership development and travel to excellent schools across the country in order to prepare to her to open her own school. In July of 2010, Stacie opened KIPP DC: Grow Academy, an Early Childhood School, with 100 Pre-Kindergarten students.
Clearly, Stacie has taken the Topeka Collegiate mission to heart. Her choice of vocation clearly demonstrates her "commitment to academic excellence and humanitarian ideals."