Chidley Recipient Confronts Challenges in Rural Alaska Game changers are visionaries — dreamers and innovators with ideas that make a difference. Tonio Verzone, a recipient of the 2012 Chidley Fund Academy Scholarship, is a game changer. Verzone is lead facilitator for Avante-Garde Learning Alliance, a not-for-profit organization in Anchorage, Alaska, that works through partnerships to build the capacity of Alaska’s schools and communities to support student learning. The Chidley award, funded by the Learning Forward Foundation, develops leadership in professional learning by providing two scholarships annually for recipients to participate in the Learning Forward Academy. Both scholarships are for educators working with large populations of underserved students. Alaska’s rural environment and extreme climate pose significant challenges to student success: high dropout rates, schooling that is