Teachers Teaching the Supt! Our first Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council meeting

What a great night! I had to blog or I would never go to sleep!!! It was our first Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council (TAC) meeting. Woo hoo!!! Four accomplished and acclaimed teachers graciously volunteered to serve as my co-hosts and meeting facilitators (not to mention they were the brains and creative geniuses behind the whole thing too…there’s this hummingbird putting out a forest fire with a Nobel Peace Prize winner that you just had to be there to experience):

  • Barry Blackmon, 2014-15 APS Districtwide Teacher of the Year
  • Rita Simmons, 2013-14 APS Districtwide Teacher of the Year and Finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year
  • Kenny Kraus, Previous Winner of the Atlanta Families’ Awards for Excellence in Education
  • Lindsay Wyczalkowski, Mary Lin ES teacher

I had a chance to recruit some of the teachers to serve on Superintendent’s TAC at the Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching conference a few weeks back. I was inspired by their passion for the profession of teaching, support for our school system and commitment to children. I’m so excited that many of them accepted the invitation to participate in this advisory council even though they are so busy serving our students every day.

Today, we had a conversation – a judgment-free, affirming, keep-it-real conversation from one effective teacher to another and from effective teachers to superintendent. We accomplished small things such as getting to know each other better and big things such as getting their input and feedback on ideas under consideration for work across the system and creating solutions for challenges and concerns. The purpose of the TAC is to help develop strategies to meet our strategic objectives, share insights on how to translate the vision and mission into implementation steps, provide feedback and perspective on issues from the field and engage in dialogue surrounding critical issues affecting students and teachers in the district. It’s BIG work on this advisory committee but was also a lot of fun with Mr. Blackmon cheering us on! We took time to test some perceptions and myths about the district and work through real solutions to real problems. It’s a BIG commitment too especially since they are also helping me plan for the Jan 5th All Staff Professional Learning Day…WHEW!!!

Thanks to everyone for being so awesome and helping me be a better superintendent and leader. Can’t wait to see you again soon! You all make me feel so hopeful (esto parte es para ti, Jorge)!

IMG_1363 IMG_2878 IMG_3900 IMG_4015 IMG_7588 IMG_9281

Blog Signup

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.