The Life and Times of a Digital Immigrant

 We just finished 3 days of professional development with over 400 principals, assistant principals, and district administrators.  This year’s Academy was held for the third year at Hope Presbyterian Church.  The staff and volunteers at Hope were nothing but kind, helpful and accommodating as always.  A special thank you to Pastor Strickland, Kathy (our organizer), and Jennifer (our chef) for all you did to make this year’s Academy a success. 

Featured keynote speakers included, Dr. Jon Saphier, founder and CEO of Research for Better Teaching; Norman Kunc, nationally known advocate for students with disabilities; Dr. Victoria Bernhardt, nationally known consultant and data guru; Dr. David Steinberg, from Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland; Dr. Eleanor Rodriguez, co-author of What Is It About Me That You Can’t Teach?; and Dr. Rudolph Crew, Superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools.   Along with keynotes, breakout sessions that ranged from inclusion to classroom management to best practices were offered to participants.  

Dr. Oscar Love, Jr., principal of Raleigh Egypt High School, was selected as the MCS Principal of the Year and Dr. Shirley Jenkins earned the “Big Head” Award by attending the most professional development modules this past school year.  We also celebrated the lives of Henry Barton, Shirley Bridges, Catherine Mitchell, and Robert Terrell, MCS administrators who had passed in the last year.  

Our keynote speakers and guest presenters were nothing but complimentary of our city and the Academy.  They were impressed with the facility (Thanks Hope Presbyterian!), the quality of the Academy, and the participants.  It was a FULL 3 days of learning.  

Participants were very complimentary of this year’s Academy.  I received what I consider to be high praise from Berclair Elementary School principal, Sam Shaw, who said we made the Academy look “flawless”.    

Another great Academy is a wrap!  Stay tuned for Principals’ Academy 2009…