Stand for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner-City Charter School - Hardcover

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THOMAS M. BLOCH, former CEO of H&R Block and currently a middle school math teacher and president of the board at University Academy, has been involved in a variety of education initiatives since he changed careers. He and his wife, Mary, founded the Youth Service Alliance of Greater Kansas City to encourage and recognize outstanding community service through school-based programs. He is also a founding board member of the Kansas City Foundation for Higher Education, a trustee of the University of Missouri at Kansas City, President of the Endowment Fund for the Henry W. Bloch School of Business at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and chairman of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. He returned to H&R Block in 2000 as a member of the board of directors.

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People are Talking About Stand for the Best

"There couldn't be a more compelling story at a more critical time. Our schools need us; our young people need us. Tom Bloch boldly moved from success to significance. He became a teacher and in turn teaches us all the power and rewards of service."
?Marguerite W. Kondracke, president and CEO,America's Promise Alliance

"This is the story of an American hero, a modest and good-humored man who is bringing hope to children most in need. Everyone who cares about the children of America should read this book."
?Benno C. Schmidt, Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees,City University of New York; former president, Yale University

"Stand for the Best should be read by any educator who wants to make a memorable difference in the dreams, character, and lives of young people . . . It should also be read by any person, whatever their calling, who wants to leave a lasting legacy for good. I loved this book."
?Tom Lickona, co-author, Smart & Good High Schools;director, Center for the 4th and 5th Rs, State University ofNew York at Cortland

"Tom Bloch's transition from CEO of H&R Block to inner-city math teacher is . . . a selfless portrait in educational leadership."
?John Baugh, Margaret Bush Wilson Professor in Arts and Sciences; director, African and African American Studies,Washington University in St. Louis

"Thomas Bloch is one of those rare people who 'walk the walk' and put their ethics into practice."
?LouAnne Johnson, author, Dangerous Minds, The Queen of Education, and Teaching Outside the Box

Aus dem Klappentext

Stand for the Best

"In early 1995, quite deliberately, I stepped down as CEO of H&R Block, where I was making nearly a million dollars a year. I had decided on a higher calling: teaching math to inner-city kids. This is the story of how that decision changed my life and the lives of kids I tried to help."?From the Introduction

Tom Bloch was the successful CEO of H&R Block, the groundbreaking tax organization. The son of the company's founder, he was a happily married 41-year-old executive, but something was missing from his life.?After a nineteen-year career at the company, Bloch resigned his position to become a math teacher in an impoverished inner-city section of Kansas City.?Stand for the Best follows Bloch's struggles to make a difference for his marginalized students and how he eventually co-founded a successful charter school, University Academy.

But Stand for the Best is more than a memoir of one man's journey; the book also includes lessons learned from Bloch's experience, winning strategies from teachers he has known, valuable approaches for educating students no matter what their circumstances, and a unique model of education for teachers working with inner-city students. Most of all, it shows what can be accomplished when teachers, students, and the community all stand for the best.