Honored to be the featured keynote speaker for the Educators' Symposium on Accelerating Learning conference held in Sacramento, CA. The symposium was sponsored by Renaissance Learning, Inc. and brings together educators from all across the nation for a day and a half for professional learning as an educator to gain educational tips and techniques to improve their school district.
Some of sessions included topics on: English Language Learners, Common Core Standards, Struggling Readers to Successful Readers - Getting All Students College and Career Ready, Differientiated Learning, Digital Writing, RTI for English Language Learners, and Closing the Achievement Gap...just to mention a few.
After a great introduction from Dr. Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer with Renaissance Learning, I was honored to deliver my signature keynote address called Homeless 2 Harvard! From the beginning to the end of my presentation the audience stayed with me...some laughed, some cried, but overall I really feel that hearts were turned and the educators in the room felt validated and inspired. I dedicated this presentation to Ms. G, my music teacher in high school. Today Ms. G is 95 years old and I still send her a family Christmas card every year! Always value and give credit to those who mentored you in life and Ms. G made me want to do more with my life and be more than where I grew up.
As I said in my closing comments; "You are a wonderful and worthy person, appreciate that about yourself. No one has ever been or will ever be quite like you. You are an individual, an original, and all those things that make you uniquely you are deserving of love and praise. So rise up and be recognized because today is your day to shine!"