Down Under

One of the greatest gifts is being able to see people grow.

Recently, I have been reflecting and wondering if this is the very heart of what my life’s work should be about. From friendships and families, to the classroom, to motherhood, to the school level and then district level, I feel a pull to help people move along their path of growth. 

Last month, the Australian Council of Educational Leaders came calling upon ERG.

ACEL is a not-for-profit company that actively supports the development of educational leadership capabilities across Australia in a variety of ways. They are the largest professional association in the education sector in Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.  

So, yeah, they’re kind of a big deal.

They were searching for a conference keynote speaker related to assessment, and our collaboration with Sue Brookhart led them to ERG. And it took about, um, two seconds for us to say yes to this opportunity!

The event is in Sydney in October 2019. Even though the actual event hasn’t happened yet, you can imagine the excitement around our office and within our organization. I feel like this is one of those “I would like to thank the Academy” moments.

I keep picturing being interviewed about this and asked about our thoughts. In my fantasy speech, it would go something like this (cue the music):

The magnitude of this moment is not lost on us.

We are so appreciative of this opportunity.

It may seem like we are heading off to a far away place for an event that has nothing to do with our day to day contacts, but that’s not the case. You see, each and every one of our prior ERG moments have led us here.

We are taking a piece of each moment with us. There is a piece of every classroom, school, etc. we have ever touched in this event.

We’re taking the teachers who allowed us into their classrooms fourteen years ago to do this “new kind of professional development.”

We’re taking all of our informal advisors who helped us problem solve, dream big, and figure things out.

We’re taking the spirit and voices of our collaborators who continue to mentor and educate us regularly.

We’re taking the determined principals who went out on a limb to fight for funding.

We’re taking the classroom teacher who said she was scared but let us observe anyway.

We’re taking the assistant superintendents who made sure the schools that needed us got services.

We’re taking the teacher who teared up the first time we met but was a super fan by the time we left.

We’re taking the curriculum facilitators who identified a need in the classroom and said, “I have to get some help.”

We’re taking the superintendents who, despite having a macro view of education, worked to get micro movement.

For all of you have been supportive over the last 14 years, this is not just about ERG, it is about each of you. We could not be prouder and we hope we live up to this moment.

To put it mildly, we are excited.

Growing educators in Australia and potentially impacting students around the world is an incredible opportunity. 

We may be headed Down Under, but ERG is definitely growing up.

-Alice