DC - Day 4 (5/5)

Is today really the last official day? Wow!

We began the morning with a panel discussion and press release of the Model Teacher Leader Standards. It was an interesting panel discussion. Panelists included:
Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director, CCSSO
Barnett Berry, President and CEO, Center for Teaching Quality
Christopher Poulous, Connecticut State Teacher of the Year 2007
Mary Beth Blegen, National Teacher of the Year, 1996
Joellen Killion, Deputy Director, Learning Forward
Katherine Bassett, Director of the Educator Relations Group, ETS
It was an interesting dialogue. More and more teacher leaders are faced with the difficult reality that moving up in education often means moving out of the classroom. As we begin to identify more teacher leaders and train schools and school leaders to effectively utilize our teacher leaders, amazing things are going to happen!

After the press release and panel discussion, we were able to visit the US Department of Education and participate in both round table discussions and a town hall style meeting with senior staff. It was a wonderful opportunity to engage in dialogue with each other and participate in discussions with those who help to shape education policy in the U.S. The Minnesota Teacher of the Year ( and someone I am proud to call my friend), Ryan Vernosh, was invited back to the Department of Education the following day to meet with staff on who focus on turnaround schools.
Danielle Kovach, an amazing person and the New Jersey Teacher of the Year, wrote about our experiences at the Department of Education. (see Danielle's blog)

We each had the opportunity to speak in our small groups and a few of my fellow TOYs spoke on behalf of our group. We were then able each make a video thanking a teacher (or two) who had in impact on our life. What an amazing time of reflection! (see a video of our day at the Department of Ed)
(photo credit: Joshua Hoover, U.S. Department of Education)




After our afternoon at the USDOE, we were honored with a reception by Scott Palmer and Education Counsel. The food and conversation were excellent and view was breathtaking! We also had the opportunity to hear from former Secretary of Education, Richard Riley. What an afternoon!



Then we went back to the hotel to put on our super cool Target shirts, grab our Target flip cameras and bag of Target goodies, grab our families and fill up three Target buses for a tour of DC. What a great time! We had great tour guides and enjoyed the guided evening tour of our Nation's Capital. What a fun evening to share with our families! Thank you TARGET!!




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