CLEVELAND, Oct. 4, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- John Wilson, recently retired executive director of the National Education Association (NEA), has been named chairman of Purple America, an initiative to shift the American conversation to a more civil dialog through a deeper understanding of a set of values widely shared across America that form our nation's common ground. Wilson will lead a national campaign to Re-Imagine America® around these values that connect us and that form our common ground.
"Our nation has a critical need for a meaningful and civil discussion about America's future built around the values that have shaped our history and our character," says Wilson. "As our nation struggles to correct its course, I look forward to engaging Americans from all walks of life in this dialog, including the teachers who build our nation every day by touching the hearts and minds of our young people."
Stuart Muszynski, founder of Purple America, says, "John Wilson brings a unique combination of vision, passion, leadership and experience on the national stage to Purple America as we kick-off our Re-Imagine America® campaign to re-connect with the values that unite us. His stewardship of the NEA gives him unique insight into our nation's deepest needs, including how to develop tomorrow's leaders." He replaces Ken Lanci who served as chairman of Purple America since 2009.
Wilson, a long-time special education teacher, led the NEA, the nation's largest teachers union, for almost 11 years. He has chaired the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and was presented with the Educator 500 President's Award in 2006 by the 3E Institute for being "a true entrepreneurial educator."
Wilson also has chaired the Learning First Alliance, a partnership of 18 leading education organizations with more than 10 million members. He has also served on the NEA Board of Directors and the NEA Executive Committee.
Born in Burlington, N.C., Wilson graduated with a B.S. degree in education and received a master's degree in education from the University of North Carolina.
Purple America's Re-Imagine America campaign encourages civil discourse by exploring the common set of values widely shared across America. It is a national initiative of Project Love® Remember the Children Foundation, a character-building program that has trained more than 50,000 American teens and 2,000 educators to build a culture of kindness, caring and respect in their schools.
Purple America, through a partnership with the National Education Association, offers television programming, lesson guides and website resources at www.purpleamerica.us to help teachers prepare the next generation to imagine, collaborate and build America's future. Educators can begin now to access these resources to create student interactions. The 12 values explored are: Equality, Faith, Family, Freedom, Love and Respect, Self-Expression, Doing the Right Thing, Community, Giving Back, the Good Life, Opportunity and Success.
For more information, go to www.purpleamerica.us.
Paula DePasquale
Landau Public Relations
216.912.2857
pdepasquale@landaupr.com
About Purple America®
Purple America is a national initiative of Project Love® Remember the Children Foundation, a character-building program that has trained more than 50,000 American teens and 2,000 educators to build a culture of kindness, caring and respect in their schools. Purple America's mission is to unite America around twelve values, neither red nor blue, that form our common ground: Equality, Faith, Family, Freedom, Love and Respect, Self-Expression, Doing the Right Thing, Community, Giving Back, the Good Life, Opportunity and Success. Project Love is a non-profit, 501c3 organization.
www.PurpleAmerica.US /PurpleAmerica.US /PurpleAmericaUS
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