Indiana Association of School Principals Fall Conference

Last weekend I had the honor of facilitating and presenting at both the State Assistant Principal's and the Principal's Conferences.  Dr. Todd Bess recently took charge as the Executive Director for the Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP), and he saw a 31% increase in attendance at the AP Conference, from 99 last year, to 130 this year.  The Fall Conference, for the Principals, had around 450 attendees.

Dr. Bess also got some big names to keynote.  Dr. Todd Whitaker, Col. Art Athens, Dr. Andrew Hargreaves, and the venerable Dr. Dave Emmert provided laughs, insights, and words of wisdom for those in attendance.

Teri Hoke and Penny Moss once again did their outstanding work to make these conferences hum, and the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown served as an excellent host as the greatest educational minds in Indiana got together to talk about education.

As the reigning Assistant Principal of the State of Indiana, I presided over the AP Conference Saturday and Sunday, until new Assistant Principals were crowned.  Between those duties, and serving as a facilitator, my weekend was kept hopping.

Saturday, and again on Monday, I presented during breakout sessions to my fellow administrators.  With the new evaluation models that are taking more and more of the administrator's time during the day, I wanted to share with them a research-based training program that they could use that wouldn't add a lot of time to their schedule.

My colleagues received the information well, and we had ourselves a couple of very productive discussions on school safety tenets.  My audiences were receptive, professional, and I even came away with some new thoughts on school safety.

I think Dr. Bess has a bright future as the Executive Director of IASP, and the future is bright for the school administrators of Indiana.

Safe Havens, International

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IASP Secretaries Conference

I had the honor and privilege today of presenting at a breakout session at the Indiana Association of School Principals State Secretaries Conference.  My presentation was on Being the Shield, developing the mindset for school safety.  Being the Shield is a new analogy for school safety that I have been thinking on, and this was the first time I shared it with others.

The ladies in attendance were very attentive, and as usual, I learned from them as much as they learned from me.  I was impressed with their professionalism, their dedication, and their desire to protect children.

I met one in particular, I wish I could recall her name, who was pointed out to me by another secretary.  She is a secretary at Henryville High School, recently reopened after being devastated by an EF3 tornado last March. She was in the office when the school bus, carrying 11 elementary kids, returned to the school minutes ahead of the tornado.  She shielded them in the office as Hell's Fury tore into the school.  I couldn't help but admire her for her strength for children, and here she was telling me how my presentation gave her chills.  We shared a hug, and blessed each other. 

Everytime I do these presentations, I met them most wonderful people, and their stories humble me.

Thank you all for Being the Shield.

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