May 3, 2024 Read Time:
ConnectingSpring ShowcaseLeadingLearningSharing
It’s hard to believe, but the ECLC Spring Showcase of Learning is less than a week away! I want to take a moment to appreciate the richness of our community. As with everything we do, the Showcase of Learning is a collective endeavor. Many individuals and organizations have contributed their time, creativity, and passion into creating an event that promises to be intellectually stimulating, thought-provoking, and a lot of fun. We offer our deep gratitude to:
· Educators across Essex County who will share what they've learned this year, why they teach and lead, and what drives them to keep learning. Their commitment to their own learning and development is impressive, and their enthusiasm for teaching and leading is inspiring and contagious. We also discovered some musicians in the ranks, who will grace us with a soulful soundscape in the PEM atrium.
· Guest faculty members who have led engaging learning experiences this year and who have embraced our model of co-design. They are all widely regarded in their fields, and bring cutting-edge scholarship and strategies to our learning experiences.
· The Power of Place Board of Directors, whose members have rolled up their sleeves to help launch this still-new organization, put it on solid footing, and have helped to open doors on our behalf.
· The ECLC Advisory Cabinet, consisting of educators across many roles, who are our ears to the ground. They come together quarterly to offer sage guidance and critical feedback.
· Our partners at the Peabody Essex Museum whose competence, energy, and creativity have made the planning process an exciting, joyful experience. When the PEM team offered us an art-making opportunity, we were overwhelmed with gratitude. (Cliffhanger: you’ll have to join us on May 8 to see what I’m talking about.)
· None of the above would be possible without the financial and moral support of the Peter & Elizabeth C Tower Foundation, which has funded our work since 2017, back when ECLC was just an idea. It’s rare these days that a funder understands and endorses the slow, deliberate, and patient work of building community and shifting systems in a field and a world where complexity reigns.We also give thanks to our colleagues at the Essex County Community Foundation for their fiscal and moral support over the years, and to generous donor Linzee Coolidge.
Finally, I want to personally thank the extraordinary members of the ECLC team whose talents and steadfast dedication to the work are nothing short of awe-inspiring to me. All of us feel fortunate to be walking alongside Essex County educators and providing the kind of lifelong learning that you, like all professionals, desire and need.
We can’t wait to see you at the Showcase! To learn more here, and click here to register.
