Learning & Laughter in St. Paul

Greetings all,

It's hard to believe it's Saturday night! It seems like I just arrived in St. Paul and am now thinking about packing things up and heading home tomorrow. Wow....what a great week's it's been.

On Friday we enjoyed several workshops. I gained new ideas and "stole" some great tools for my learning toolbox. As a matter of fact, yesterday our keynote speaker was Jermaine Davis. One thing he shared was - if the only tool you carry in your toolbox is a hammer, you will repair everything with ONLY a nail! Isn't that the truth? I have been adding to my toolbox - thanks to so many wonderful PD experts here in St. Paul.

I was honored to announce the Institutional Merit Award winner at the Awards Luncheon on Friday. Johnson County Community College was the recipient for their emergency planning commitment. They've trained 128 of their employees (over the past 5 years) with their (CERT) Community Emergency Response Team program. CONGRATULATIONS......JCCC!

During the afternoon I gained some new ice breaker and student engagement tips and tools. I can't wait to meet with a group of employees and/or students to share them. Last evening was the reception for Vancouver - where the annual conference will be held next year. I participated in the umbrella game and our team took 2nd place. We received silver medals.....actually they were chocolate medal ions from Charlie's Chocolate Factory which is in Vancouver!

Today we started and ended the day with meetings. At breakfast this morning we had the annual NCSPOD Membership Meeting. I then attended a couple of sessions - the first on the topic of staff learning programs and the second on the topic of emotional intelligence. I got some take aways from both sessions that I want to use in KCELT. Each year we have the "changing of the guard" when our board terms expire and our new board members are introduced and have the wonderful opportunity to attend their first board meeting. - which was from Noon - 6 p.m. We spent some time discussing the conference and then talked about the new year. Our board is wanting to spend a few days on strategic planning. After some discussion we've agreed to meet in Orlando, FL in January. Can you say.....DISNEY??!!!

As I prepare to head home I want to thank my NCSPOD colleagues for another wonderful conference. I look forward to continuing the conversation about learning throughout the year and look forward to seeing many of you in Canada next November!

The best is yet to be.
Lauri