LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Daniel McElwain was nominated anonymously. 

Mr. McElwain truly deserves to be called a LifeChanger. Twenty years ago, he was volunteering as a Sunday school teacher in Cleveland, OH. His middle school students would show him their report cards with all A's, but when he asked them to read, none of them could. His solution to the problem was to start a middle school for students who learn differently. Twenty years later, The Bridge Avenue School (TBAS) is going strong and educating a wide range of students who are not successful in a traditional school setting.

Mr. McElwain's establishment of TBAS has given opportunities to a group of students who didn't succeed in traditional schooling. Students below their reading levels work one-on-one or in small groups in intensive reading programs. He teaches the math classes, and his students range from first-grade math to Algebra in ability. He works hard to close the students' learning gaps and get them in a position to be able to succeed in high school. Mr. McElwain's impact is reflected in the number of students who have graduated from TBAS and come back to visit or volunteer. The students come back to tell Mr. McElwain how they are doing. They admit that his advice, which they may have ignored in middle school, has helped them as they have gotten older.