Angela Jerabek Receives Social Entrepreneur Of The Year Award

BARR Center Founder and Executive Director Recognized by College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University for Inspiring and Impactful Work in Education

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BARR Center

Nov 19, 2020, 08:00 ET

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BARR Center announced today that its Founder and Executive Director, Angela Jerabek, is the recipient of the 10th annual Donald McNeely Center Social Entrepreneur of the Year award. BARR Center is a national organization that aims to bring education into the 21^st century through intentionally deepened relationships and a data-driven, personalized and supportive approach. Jerabek is being recognized for her notable achievements in enhancing the effectiveness of how education instruction is delivered in the U.S.

Each year, the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship celebrates influential and successful alumni of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. The Social Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes the achievements and qualities of an alumnus who best exemplifies the ideals of social entrepreneurship by founding an organization. This award honors those who have established an organization that enriches humanity, addresses a social issue in a manner that demonstrates notable characteristics and achievements, and upholds Benedictine values in the workplace and in their lives.

Jerabek stated, "One of the gifts I received while attending Saint Ben's was understanding the immense power of hope. While I am a determined realist, I am also an optimist who has seen the power of hope lift the tenor and prospects of students, staff and communities. I am continuously humbled to be a part of an organization that prides itself on providing hope to both students and educators throughout the entire country, especially in this tumultuous time."

More than 20 years ago, Jerabek was a ninth-grade counselor when half of the freshman class in her high school failed a class for the fifth year in a row. After talking with the high school principal, Jerabek learned that this failure rate was a nationwide phenomenon. Knowing something needed to change, she acted and created what is now known as the BARR model. BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) is a strengths-based model that focuses on building positive, intentional relationships between students and staff, peers and colleagues.

Jerabek used her passion to help students succeed by becoming the founder of BARR Center, which is a nationally recognized non-profit organization that builds strong school communities. BARR Center supports student success by improving school culture, school climate and educator effectiveness, and has served more than 100,000 students in more than 180 schools. Through the course of numerous randomized controlled trials and rigorous study, BARR implementation resulted in a statistically significant reduction in failure rates by an average of 34.5%. BARR recently received a $13 million dollar grant funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its national footprint and scope with a focus on Black, Latinx and students in marginalized communities. As the executive director and founder of BARR Center, Jerabek provides thought leadership and operational oversight of the organization and the national network of BARR educators.

"The McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship finds many of the values that we strive and labor towards echoed in the inspiring work of BARR Center," said Margrette Newhouse, director of the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship. "Angie's contribution to education will have a lasting impact on generations to come. We look forward to continuing to watch BARR help build strong schools and communities by providing accessible and equitable education for each and every student in elementary, middle and high schools throughout the U.S."

About BARR Center
BARR Center (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) aims to bring education into the 21st century with intentionally deepened relationships and a data-driven personalized and supportive approach that aligns students, teachers, staff, and families with unified culture of support and success so that, together, we can build strong schools and communities. For more information, visit, https://www.barrcenter.org.

SOURCE BARR Center