Before I get into a not-so-brief update of the excellent adventures of
Leading EDGE, we do want to make you aware of a great deal of a training opportunity.
We are conducting an “open” Level I institute in Plattsburg, NY July 7-11, 2008 at the
North Country
Teacher
Center. Registration fee is $500 per participant (a very good price!). If you know educators who would like to attend, please have them
call Diane Bonenfant at 1-518-564-5000 ASAP to register. Feel free to contact me for more information regarding this workshop.
e news.
Just to give you some insight as to what is going on, here are some of the latest ventures we continue to pursue:
Work with Schools
Lebanon –Certainly the most unique opportunity we’ve had of late is our work with the
International College (IC) of Beirut, Lebanon. IC is an elite private Middle School/High School in Ras Beirut - the most northwesterly section of the city on the campus of the
American
University of
Beirut. We were introduced to
Raouf Ghusayni (Director of Staff Development) two years ago through
Antioch
New England
University but because of the political fireworks over there in the fall of 2006 we weren’t able to start working with them until September of 2007.
Jack and I did the Part A of a 3-3 institute with 21 participants in the fall and
Cyndi LaPierre and I followed up with Part B this past February of 2008. We also visited most of their classrooms. They are a group of extremely competent teachers who remind us a great deal of the quality of educators we encountered in the
United Kingdom. These folks all speak Arabic and either English or French but rarely both. As you can imagine communication in all three languages while working with them is very interesting and, at times, challenging. They are eager for us to return this September 2008 to start a new group at Level I and move the first group forward with a Level II. Naturally, the political situation will determine if we can go. As you can imagine there are hours of stories to tell with this adventure.
California – Over the last three years we’ve worked with
Ronald Reagan Elementary School of
Lake
Elsinore
School District in
Wildomar, California. Originally they were a magnet school with the staff and administration united by a common commitment to the philosophy of Constructivist and multi-age education. We were introduced to them in 2006 at the Constructivist conference, were invited to conduct a Level I, 3-3 training with them in the spring and summer of that year, and then followed up with Level II training last year. Again, we’ve had the privilege to work with an extraordinary principal (
Craig Richter) and a wonderful teaching staff hand picked for the school. You may note that I used the word “originally”! In one of the most malevolent acts of educational vandalism I’ve ever witnessed, Craig and the staff of RRE was assaulted during the last school year by a new district administration hostile to Constructivism. The sole administrative focus – test scores. Needless to say it has been disheartening to witness much of our good work be dismantled and we grieved with the staff of RRE when
Craig Richter was summarily transferred to another school and threatened with firing.
With all this, however, there is a silver lining. The staff has taken the initiative to create a charter school and knowing that he was a target for dismissal, Craig “retired” and then promptly was hired by a progressive school district in
Santa Barbara, California.
Lake
Esinore’s loss will be
Santa Barbara’s gain.
And, I must mention, that during my visits there I met
Debra Callahan – the petite dynamo of a school site secretary at RRE. To make an involved and extremely romantic story very brief, I married Debra on May 24th, 2008. My kids and I are delighted that she has come into our lives. Just have to love a
California girl!
New York – Our work with schools in
New York continues to bubble along on a low simmer.
For the last four years some of our most consistent work has been with Clinton CS,
Bruce Bonney
Whitesboro district, and Westmoreland CS, all near
Utica. We’ve also had a very fruitful collaboration with
Champlain Valley Educational Services (CVES) in Plattsburg. With changes of administration and budget problems our relationship with the
Utica area schools is now on hold, but we continue doing curriculum alignment, strategic planning, and teacher staff development with CVES through our contact there,
Kim Mayer.
We have developed a great relationship with
Diane Bonenfont, Director of the
North Country Teacher Resource Center in Plattsburg. When we met Diane at the Constructivist Conference in 2006 it became clear we had an educational “match”. Last summer she subsidized an “open” EBD/SPEC Level I institute that was successful and has agreed to try again this summer (see above). Diane has also helped us to connect with
Northeastern Clinton Central School and with various other
Teacher
Center staff around the state.
Another hopeful development has been the invitation to work with teachers in
North Syracuse CS this summer and for me to do an introductory workshop for teachers in the
Capital Region BOCES of
Albany next fall in hopes of doing further training with both in the very near future. These contacts have come about because loyal folks who we’ve worked with earlier in their career have now moved to a different part of the state and taken their enthusiasm for our approach with them.
Bob Bone (who now works for Apple) is our connection to North Syracuse and
Terry Swett has introduced us to schools in the
Albany area.
Speaking of folks who have moved into new territory,
Karen Rowe is now part of the
Oneonta City School District’s administrative team and is doing her typically effective job of re-introducing EBD/SPEC to the youngest generation of teachers there. We are very hopefully that we’ll get a chance to do an institute of some sort with them in the coming year.
Peggy Golden until very recently was teaching the next generation of teachers as part of her role on the faculty of SUNY Oneonta. She, and her husband Ken (a Level I alumnus) introduced Leading EDGE to the staff development people at
Hartwick College and we are in ongoing discussions to do some form of facilitation and/or staff development with them this fall.
Jim Ballantine recently sent me an email indicating that the administrative environment at
Milford CS was beginning to shift and may well be ready to explore EBD/SPEC again. We hope to hear more.
Barb Capozolla reported in a week ago with a resounding “Awesome LBRP” as the title of her email (you know you’ve been around awhile if you know what “LBRP” means!). Her kids did an outstanding job on a challenge she gave them and as a result they have been asked to present at a faculty meeting. She too is hopeful that her school administration will take note of the “power of collaboration” as an approach to teaching and learning. We are eager to hear the follow-up to this story as well.
Finally a bit closer to home, I have been conducting workshops with
Pete Somich, Director of Technology during the past two years here in
Norwich City Schools. We are tasked with helping teachers rethink their approach as they try to integrate a massive influx of brand new technology (SMART Boards) into almost all the classrooms of the district. This has been a great eye-opening experience for us to see the potential of uniting our classroom model with the “magic” of new technology that has captured the imagination of students.
Connections with
Antioch
New England
UniversityRecently Jack and I met with
Peter Eppig and
Laura Thomas. All of us learned a great deal from our experience with the
UK and as a result we are committed to maintaining a very open, transparent, and collaborative relationship going forward. We were delighted to find that Peter is in very good health and that both he and Laura are as busy and energetic as ever.
As mentioned above, Critical Skills (formerly EBD) is now part of The Antioch Center for School Renewal. It was through their outreach program that Leading EDGE was given the opportunity to work as a subcontractor to deliver training in
Lebanon. Should the venture in
Lebanon continue as successfully as it has begun, there is really no telling where in the world we might be invited to work next. Needless to say, we are very grateful to Peter and Laura for this opportunity and we look forward to continuing a very productive and friendly relationship with them.
Jack’s Excellent Adventures
In addition to all the work we’ve done together, Jack continues to be very active in the
Saranac
Lake community grappling with development issues related to the village and the surrounding wilderness environs.
For years Jack has served on a voluntary basis and now some of those networks and relationships have led to business opportunities. I tease Jack that it won’t be too long before I see his name somewhere as a candidate for mayor!
Anyway, following are some of the projects he has been working on:
Adirondack Forest Preserve Education Program – Jack has been coordinating the development of an educational newsletter for visitors to the
Adirondack
Park. This project is underwritten with a grant from the “Tourism Cares” foundation in hopes of providing visitors to the Park with a consistent message regarding Knowing about the
Adirondack
Park, Protecting the Park, and protecting oneself. Jack has been writing much of the content and also lining up additional authors. If additional funding is approved this stage of the project should be wrapped up by the end of July.
Wilderness Education Association – Jack continues to stay involved with the Wilderness Education Association. At the February annual conference in
San Diego he facilitated a two-day Instructor Training Clinic and presented a workshop on the topic on “The Role of Ritual in Wilderness Leadership Training”. Jack also continues to write on his favorite topic, the outdoors. He contributed chapters to two different college texts in the past year, Adventure Education edited by Project Adventure and Hiking and Backpacking edited by the Wilderness Education Assocition.
Lake George
Park Commission – The Lake George Park Commission has contracted with Leading EDGE to facilitate a number of meetings regarding the use of stream buffers to protect lake water quality. Jack and I facilitated the first meeting May 28 and had approximately sixty stakeholders attend.
Adirondack Park Agency – Jack made a presentation to a visiting delegation of over 30 Chinese land managers on the topic of Wilderness Education and Ecotourism as part of the China Protected Areas Leadership Alliance Project. It was a fun challenge to figure how to engage the delegation when everything had to be translated.
Now that we’ve shared some of our story, how about checking in with any news of your latest adventures! We’d love to hear from all of you and, incidentally, confirm that we have current and accurate contact information on you.
Please let us know how you are doing.