Making a Difference

Back in December 2014, a friend in Pennsylvania sent me a message that read, "This is great.  Maybe you can use it somehow!"  It's a wonderful TEDTalk that emphasizes how small things that an individual does has lasting effects.  It's title Everyday Leadership and you will find it at http://t.ted.com/h62xCDb    Well, here I am after the May 2015 Administrative Board Meeting going over my notes wondering if we are really making a difference.

You see, we added a day to the Administrative Board Agenda to do some Blue Sky Thinking about where the Society stands right now and how we are going to evolve it to the next generation of support for women educators.  We talked about how our founders shaped an organization to meet the needs of the women educators in the 1930s, and discussed what organization we need now.  This is all part of reframing DKG to what the culture and the society in which women educators work now calls forth.

We decided that we, as board members, can certainly model behaviors when we are out to your state organizations as representatives of the Society, and make personal contacts to answer questions about how the international tier of the Society operates.  We agreed that we need to make everyone aware of the data that the Dropped Member Survey has given us.  You will soon hear about efforts on this behalf, because therein lies answers to the retention problem that we have throughout the Society.

On that Blue Sky Thinking day, we also settled on 10 things that we will be working on until we meet again next fall.  That doesn't mean that we will stand still until then.  So keep looking for these new ideas that will be unfolding.

Warm Up Your Cerebrum

This coming spring the weather of this winter will be but a memory.  Schools are closed, make up days lie ahead, and the winter doldrums are in full swing for many of our members.   To help you shake the feeling of melancholy, consider a video viewing blitz of educational and leadership videos.  Here are 3 of my favorites:

TED Talks Education - Rita Pierson on Dropout Prevention/Relationships:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dilnw_dP3xk

A Day Made of Glass - Edited Version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CdsMrgvVWA

Charles Leadbeater:  Education Innovation in the Slums
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X-8TA4RBog


I hope one or all three of these become a catalyst for additional ideas and actions to beat the winter doldrums.  Taking time to think, recharge your passion and connect with new ideas is essential to staying positive and renewing your own personal and professional development.

Installation of New Texas Chapter

Courageous Beta Pi Members
Sponsor a New Chapter in Texas

I was delighted to be in the audience recently when the Texas State Organization Expansion Team conducted a new chapter installation led by:

Joanne Webb Davis - State Organization Expansion Chair
Nancy Newton - State Organization President
Betty Vines - TSO Executive Secretary/Treasurer
Lori Shontz - TSO Area V Coordinator

Beta Pi Chapter women realized that their members had to drive long distances to attend meetings and took the courageous step of discussing expansion to be a solution for their members.  The result was that seven of their members, six reinstated members, and eleven new initiates formed Mu Omega Chapter on Sunday, October 19, 2014, in Premont,TX.

What a thrill it was to see my name on the signature line of the new chapter charter!  I was asked to bring greetings to the charter members, and my thoughts centered on offering my wish that they will think of themselves as a member of a true International Society.  With over 81,000 members in 17 countries, DKG is realizing its mission of impacting education world wide. I also encouraged them to set personal goals for participation beyond the chapter level.  Only then will they experience all that Delta Kappa Gamma has to offer.