What stood out to me about the panel on centering the experiences of Black students was unconditional love & the emphasis on helping students see the greatness of who they are. Also the reminder that parents were once students, who may have had negative experiences in school and just need someone to not give up the same way we don't give up on our kiddos.

Much like the panel, many of the sessions emphasized engaging families by understanding their needs (resources, language literacy, etc.), educating them and learning from them - what does their culture have to offer to enhance experiences for all of our kiddos?

Most importantly, I truly appreciated hearing the stories of some of our ELT members and how much they have gone through to get to where they are today. Understanding the stories of our community helps us truly see each other, better affirm each other and treat them the way they want to be treated. Thank you for your heart and vulnerability team!

I am not sure if it was a result of the opening session or simple math, but I was more aware of the increased presence of educators of color in attendance this year than in past years. CCSA, looked like the United Nations this year and evoked conversations within our own teams as well as those we share this space with in this small but powerful industry.

I continued to be intrigued by the conversations around me and with me. Especially amongst my own colleagues. I was reconfirmed in my belief that although color, culture, religion, social economic backgrounds along with several other elements of our personal existence matter and should be considered when trying to create and tailor education to be inclusive of all and for all to grow, if we dig deep, we can all find a commonality that will link us despite of visual differences, stereotypes, implicit biases, and assumed presumptions. 

I will wrap with my joy of the closing session. The speaker and her story were the perfect finish to what I felt about my experience of this year’s CCSA Conference and the nuggets I took away. Though she and I do not look alike nor did we grow up in the same environment, our experiences, especially in college when thrown into a different environment caused unexpected anxiety and challenged yet another part of our existence. This part ultimately shaped who we became as adults, how we are often preserved by the family and friends we grew up with and how to balance the two.  

Though I enjoyed the sessions related to my daily work, the theme of the conference this year is what made this conference one of the best I have attended.

Another takeaway was the podcast and conversation that we had together on Tuesday. The conversation that spontaneously occurred after the podcast helped us to see and understand each other better as a community working together for our students.

Lastly, I really enjoyed the chance to go all former-math-teacher fangirl over Sal Kahn, founder of Kahn Academy. I sent my family short video clip of him on stage and they joined in with my ooo's and ahhh's. 🙂