Party of Five

"Discover all the new horizons, just waiting to be explored. This is what we were created for.... Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze." ** Giddy-up, cowpokes!  I have just returned home energized and ready to dig in after a weekend at NY State PTA Summer Leadership Conference.  Added to that, it was a whole western theme, so I also have these images of cowboy hats and cowboy boots dancing in my head (so much for visions of sugarplums). This year, I had my partner in crime with me.  She is the Thelma to my Louise.  In the past, we have travelled to New York City together for an eduction debate, and also attended New York State PTA Convention together.  When we travel together, the two of us will often brainstorm in such a way about PTA and what we can do better to accomplish more, and this trip was no different.  The two of us were in our natural element attending a weekend of leadership development and advocacy training with...

A few years ago, I had made the decision to run for a seat on my local school board.    I made the decision. I was not asked to do it by anybody looking for their own end result. I was also not asked to run to counter someone else's decision to seek out one of the available seats. When I made the decision that I was going to pursue this, I thought hard and I prayed even harder. I always wanted to be certain that I was doing this for the right reason. The reason always being that I knew that I had a purpose that I was called for, and fully believing in my own children's public education. Make no mistake, the loss of that election still stings. I know that I'm called to advocate on behalf of children and public education.  I know this with every fiber of my being.  Certainly, there have been many times when I have closed up my computer and went to bed at night thinking I couldn't possibly read one more article, send one more email, make one more phone call.....