National Community College Hispanic Council

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

National Community College Hispanic Council

On Monday September 28, 2008, I was pleased to make a presentation at the 13th Annual National Community College Hispanic Council Leadership Symposium in Fort Worth, Texas.

The theme of the Leadership Symposium session in which I participated was "Stepping Out to Step It Up: Running for Elected Office to Improve Education Attainment in Our Communities."

It was a pleasure to join Dr. Cindy Casteneda of Richland College, Trustee - Garland ISD and Trustee Diana Flores, Dallas County Community College District, in this discussion of the role individuals can play beyond K-16 partnerships to improve educational outcomes and access in our communities.

A Teacher's Creed

"In the classroom on the first day of a new school year, I am eager to meet my students. I have rehearsed my greeting and first day’s remarks, but no matter how many years I’ve prepared for this procedure, it’s always new. My heart pumps a bit harder, faster; I feel adrenaline like an athlete, or like an actor, or maybe like a novice public speaker. It’s a marvelous feeling, this first day, because I know that something special is going to happen, and I know it because I’ve experienced it before and I know that I will experience it every time I meet a new class throughout my venerable career. And then they’re seated before me and I smile at this special feeling. This is an assembly of students, yes. But there’s so much more, because each of these young persons is more than just a student entrusted to me. Each of these students has a story to tell, a lifetime, however brief, of experiences, a history in volumes whose richness and depth I can barely begin to fathom. And so as I absorb the first glimpse of these young charges, I must appreciate the extent of my responsibility, of the privilege I’ve accepted in presenting these young souls my special knowledge. In offering them my talent and passion, I am adding an enormous array of new bright stars to the vast firmament of their minds, stars that will never have time to fade in their lifetimes. I will be part of their story. And I know that each of them will always be part of mine. And that’s a good feeling, a feeling that is perpetually renewed, revisited, and rewritten in A Teacher’s Creed."

Carla Ranger - Dallas ISD Education Blog

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

National Community College Hispanic Council

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