Teacher Featured in Movie "Dangerous Minds" to Address Sage Graduates

Sage is pleased to announce that LouAnne Johnson, the inspirational teacher featured in the movie "Dangerous Minds," will deliver the 94th Commencement address at the May 14 ceremony, to be held at 10 a.m. at the RPI Fieldhouse.

Johnson is a former U.S. Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer, high school teacher, and author of The New York Times bestseller Dangerous Minds (originally My Posse Don't Do Homework) upon which the 1995 film was based. Presently she is an assistant professor of teacher education at Santa Fe Community College.

A native of rural northwestern Pennsylvania, Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1971 and served nine years on active duty, achieving the rank of Petty Officer First Class in the Navy and later, 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. She earned the Navy Commendation Medal and Air Force Achievement Award for her work as a journalist/radio-TV broadcaster.

In 1989, Johnson began teaching reading and writing to non-English speakers as an intern at a high school in California. Two years later, she was appointed department chair of a special program for at-risk teens. During the government evaluation of 10 similar pilot programs, her group was rated first in academic achievement, increased self-esteem, and student retention. Since then she has taught English, adult basic education, developmental reading and writing at high schools and colleges.

Johnson is author of the following books:

Muchacho (Knopf, Sept 2009) -- watch LouAnne Johnson talk about channeling her newest book, Muchacho (YouTube, 5:05)
Teaching Outside the Box (Jossey-Bass, 2005)
Queen of Education (Jossey-Bass, 2004)
Two Parts Textbook, One Part Love (Hyperion, 1998) (out of print)
School is Not a Four-Letter Word (Hyperion, 1997) (out of print)
The Girls in the Back of the Class (St. Martin's 1996) (out of print)
My Posse Don’t Do Homework (St. Martin's, 1992 – retitled Dangerous Minds in 1996)
Making Waves (St. Martin's, 1986) (out of print)

Michelle Pfeiffer starred in the 1995 box office hit “Dangerous Minds” as based on My Posse Don’t Do Homework. My Posse and The Girls were both condensed in Reader’s Digest magazine, and Dangerous Minds has been published in eight languages, including Italian, German, Japanese and French.

Johnson has presented keynote and commencement addresses to numerous organizations, including the National School Boards Association, the National Council on Curriculum Development, National University and the European Council of International Schools. She has appeared on several TV shows, including Oprah, CBS Eye to Eye, NBC Weekend Today, Maury Povich, Tom Snyder, and CNN. She holds a master's degree in teaching English from Notre Dame de Namur University and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of LaVerne.