GRANVILLE -- Educator and author Salome Thomas-EL presents "I Choose to Stay: A Teacher's Fight for America's Inner City Schools" at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 29) in Denison University's Slayter Hall Auditorium. The lecture, sponsored by the Denison Lecture Series, is based on his best-selling book of the same title and is free and open to the public.

Thomas-EL began working as a public school teacher in the Philadelphia School District in 1987 at the age of 22. He gained national notice as a teacher at the Robert Vaux Middle School, where he motivated and improved discipline among his students while teaching them to play chess -- well enough that they won world recognition as eight-time National Chess Champions.

In 1997 Thomas-EL was offered a promotion that would have given him a $25,000 raise and greater management options, which he refused. His faith and commitment to his students has encouraged Philadelphia students to attend magnet high schools and go on to colleges and universities.

Thomas-EL's best-selling bookI Choose to Stay: A Fight for America's Inner City Schools,(Kensington Publishing, 2003) is excerpted in the bookChicken Soup for the African-American Souland is the subject of an upcoming movie from Disney. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote the foreword to the book and awarded Thomas-EL's school a $20,000 grant after visiting -- and being defeated in a chess match by one of Thomas-EL's students.

Thomas-EL received the Marcus A. Foster Award as the outstanding School District Administrator in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania's distinguished Martin Luther King Award. His book received the 2004 Silver Angel Award in the Print category from Excellence in Media.

Thomas-EL frequently appears on the Fox News cable show, the O'Reilly Factor, C-SPAN, The Travis Smiley Show, CNN and NPR Radio. He also appeared recently in Reader's Digest and Black Enterprise Magazine.

Thomas-EL is currently the principal of John F. Reynolds Elementary School in North Philadelphia and a doctoral student at Nova Southeastern University. He is a graduate of East Stroudsburg University and received an Honorary Doctorate from Ursinus College.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Denison Lecture Series presents author and educator Salome Thomas-EL speaking on "I Choose to Stay: A Teacher's Fight for America's Inner City Schools"; 7:30 p.m., Thursday (Sept. 29), Slayter Hall Auditorium (200 North Road). Free and open to the public. Call 740-587-6769 to confirm information.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575