Josh Miller ’02 Receives CNN Hero Award
by Laura Weishaupt
Two years ago, when Josh Miller, UES class of 2002, was a sophomore at
Santa Monica High School, his good friend Eddie Lopez was shot and killed
by gang members in a case of mistaken identity. Deeply affected by the
loss, he wanted to do something to honor his friend and help others.
"Eddie was going to be the first in his family to go to college," Josh said. "He was one of the few minority students in AP/Honors classes at our school, despite the fact that over half the student body is comprised of minority students. He was courageous, he was charismatic, he was ethical and he was motivated. After he died, I decided I wanted to fight to help make sure that all students, regardless of their race or socio-economic status have the same opportunities to succeed in life."
Recently Josh was honored for his community activism with a CNN Hero Award. He was one of three people chosen in the category of "Young Wonder" for "outstanding achievement by a person under the age of 18." CNN received more than 7,000 online nominations for the awards. Three finalists were chosen in each of six categories and received $10,000 for their cause.
In addition to establishing a scholarship program to benefit dedicated students like Eddie, Josh's work includes producing "Tracking to Nowhere," a documentary film that explores the educational practice of categorizing students and then assigning them to classes based on those categorizations. Tracking often results in students from low-income and/or minority backgrounds being left out of higher-level classes that would prepare them for college. Informed by the research he did for the film, Josh founded the nonprofit student-run Resilient Youth Foundation, dedicated to helping ensure that "all students, from all backgrounds, receive an equal education, and an equal opportunity to succeed in life."
Asked about early experiences that shaped his social consciousness, Josh said he has read the newspaper every day from the time he was in sixth grade. He also credits his time at UES. Among his especially vivid memories are his experiences in the primary level, where teacher Cheryl Mattingly led her young students in learning about and celebrating diverse cultural contributions to American history. "That year I played Cab Calloway in our class' Harlem Renaissance play," he said.
In addition, Josh refers to "the never-ending guidance and wisdom of Ms. DeBlasio, and the passion and love of Ms. Moss, Ms. Cohn, and Mr. Gardiner" as important and lasting influences.
You can read more about Josh and the CNN Hero Awards at the CNN and Resilient Youth Foundation web sites.