Week of April 11

On Monday, I traveled to Henderson County to speak with some pretty awesome BTs. Even though it was a Monday afternoon and a week before spring break, this group was energetic and I enjoyed the opportunity to talk and laugh about the teaching profession. Thanks to Amy Laughter for inviting me to visit! I had a great time.
After speaking to this group, I met my college friend for dinner and a little pre-planning for my space camp costume!

On Tuesday, I enjoyed a little time with Jessica Garner, my mentor and friend, to reflect on this truly amazing year. Jessica is such an inspiring mentor and a true friend. Thanks Jessica for all you have done to help me this year! After a lunch meeting with Jessica, I traveled back to Raleigh for our EPFP meeting. It was a great night and I really enjoyed our speaker!
I also had the opportunity to see the initial draft of the House budget. Needless to say, the speaker was much more inspiring than the budget!

The State Superintendent's Teacher Advisory Council met on Wednesday via webinar. We talked in detail about the proposed House budget and it's impact on public education. I really want to express that education has been cut tremendously over the past years. At this point, we are truly operating in skeleton form and almost ANY cut in education is a cut that will impact the classroom. Taking away support, does indeed leave a lasting impact on my classroom. I encourage you all (especially legislators) to think about the big picture when looking at the education budget.

On Thursday, I traveled to Greensboro to speak with the Delta Kappa Gamma group. We enjoyed a great dinner and talked a great deal about the importance of having solid roots during difficult storms. I ran into a former classmate from Midway and I also met a 1943 graduate of Meredith College. It was a wonderful evening!

(I am standing with a 1943 Meredith graduate and former Social Studies teacher. She is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.)

The Teachers and Leaders subcommittee of the Governor's Education Transformation Commission (GETC) met on Friday morning and we looked at the guidelines for teacher preparation programs and the importance of the collaborations between IHE and public schools in helping create amazing teachers for the profession. It was an interesting discussion.
I left GETC and traveled to Midway Middle School to serve as the closing speaker for their annual career day! The best part of the day was being introduced by my nephew, Michael McLamb. I had fun with this group of eighth graders! Thanks for inviting me and remember - Go, Go, Power Rangers!

I finished the Friday evening with my son at the Duke Basketball Banquet. This was not really a TOY event, but when you can spend the evening with Coach K, it is worth a line in the weekly blog, don't you think?