Lowell's Experience at the National Dropout Prevention Conference #3
What an amazing afternoon and evening! My presentation went well. I had about 25 people there from all over the place - Canada, Alaska, South Carolina, Virgina, Georgia, and I may have missed some. They knew nothing about FLVS so it was like writing on a blank slate…really fun. Everyone was responsive and fully engaged. After the session a lady named Kim Anderson comes up to me. She works for the SERVE Center based out of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. They are the repository for the federally funded SERVE program that does educational research funded by the federal government. Yes, our tax dollars at work. She offered to help with doing research on Counselor staffing numbers among on-line providers. This could really be a help to our Counseling team. I was excited to meet her, and she was eager to help beccause Florida is one of the states they are mandated to serve and not much is happening. There are probably lots of ways we can use them to help. everyone needs to check out their site and be thinking….you too Jeremy. http://www.serve.org/
So then after checking in with Diane, my love, I head out for the Nova Net (Pearson) wine and cheese social. I figured I may as well have a drink on the competition. But now I’m not considering them much in the way of competition. After talking with Mark Matwick at Pinnacle I realize that organizations like FLVS are providing students an education far above what the others are offering. The best thing that happened at the Nova Net Wine thing was meeting Mark, a Principal of an alternative ed site in Maryland. I spoke to him because he had an Atlanta Falcons logo on his shirt but it turned out to be the logo for his school also. Go Falcons! Bummer that they lost to Denver Sunday. Mark is tired of the numbers game. He reminded me that as much as we might need data ,and be evaluated on the basis of data, and be married to data based decision making, we are working with people. Numbers can never give the full story about students we help. AMEN! (I shouted). I’ve embraced data as a necessary part of what I do, but it will never tell the real story. I’ve lost count (not good data recording) of the mothers that have called me to tell me how FLVS has saved their child’s life. So Mark and I decide to have a drink and I desperately needed something to eat. We go to the bar and I ordered dinner. Then Ann shows up. She’s a university professor who did a presentation on what the data shows about what interventions reduce dropout rates and what interventions don’t work so well. Mark had done a presentation on the importance of relationships in student success. We are having a grand old time when the subject turns to religion. Ann it turns out is from Azusa, CA. Mark comments on the great revival that took place there in the early 20th century. That was a pivotal moment in American church history (I deftly recall) so I tell Mark he must be a Pentacostal because the Azusa Street Revival was the beginning of the Pentacostal Movement in America. He is duly impressed and says, yes, he is a Pentacostal. Then it turns out that Ann has been a Methodist Pastor and knows all about the Azusa street revival. After that the conversation got a bit more personal as we three shared religious faith, experiences, and our journeys. I’ve never had so much fun at a bar. I made two friends.
So that was my afternoon. I am finding that keeping this blog is enriching my experience here enormously. I don’t think I’ll ever attend another conference without doing this. I’ve made some good contacts and represented FLVS well. I’ll sleep well after I take 2 minutes to open a Parature Ticket and log the hours I have spent.
