Today's Events
Lehrer speaks today
Broadcaster and author Jim Lehrer will be the featured speaker at today’s General Session, scheduled for 9:30 to 11 a.m.
Lehrer, anchor of PBS’ “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” has moderated many presidential candidate debates over the years. He has written more than 20 fiction and nonfiction books and was awarded the Presidential National Humanities Medal in 1999.
A strong advocate for national services, Lehrer also is a bus enthusiast, stemming from his father’s career as a bus driver and his own stint as a Trailways ticket agent.
Today’s Focus on Education lectures feature author Daniel Pink at 11:15 a.m. and National Teacher of the Year Andrea Peterson at 2 p.m.
The speaker at the final General Session, set for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, will be radio host and author Garrison Keillor, whose show, “A Prairie Home Companion” features stories about the mythical town of Lake Wobegon, Minn.
It’s a busy day at NA Central
Many activities are scheduled today at NA Central (Room W207).
Five concurrent roundtables will be held at 8 a.m. on 21st century skills, after-school programs, linking health to student achievement, the high school diploma, and family involvement.
At 11 a.m., NSBA attorney Thomas Hutton and school attorney Thomas E. Wheeler II will present a “school law lab” for school leaders.
At 2 p.m., NSBA Associate Executive Director Michael A. Resnick and grassroots program manager Kathleen Branch will offer advice on becoming an effective advocate at the federal level.
Editors of American School Board Journal will lead four concurrent roundtables at 3:45 p.m. on topics related to stories covered in ASBJ.
Drop by NA Central any time to record a “Life on a School Board” story or just relax and network with your peers.
Make plans now for 2009
It’s not too early to start planning for next year’s Annual Conference. If your district has an innovative program or you have great advice to share, consider being a presenter next year.
The 2009 Annual Conference will be held April 4-7 in beautiful San Diego.
Proposals for presentations for 75-minute breakout sessions next year must be submitted online by June 6. These include Share the Success, Meet the Experts, and Exhibitor Workshops.
The application will be posted on the NSBA website, www.nsba.org, on April 1.
Book signings
Today’s book signings will take place at the Bookstore unless otherwise noted. For signings at other locations, the book must be purchased first at the Bookstore or authors can sign bookplates. Books will not be sold at events in hotels.
Today
• 2 to 3:30 p.m. -- Focus lecturer Daniel Pink -- A Whole New Mind.
• 2 to 3:30 p.m. -- Share the Success presenter Robert E. Brower -- Empowering Students: Seven Strategies for a Small Start in School and Life, Whose Business Is School Reform: Letting the Experts Drive School Improvement, and Transformational Leadership & Decision Making in Schools.
• 2 to 3:30 p.m. -- Carlos Munoz Jr., National Hispanic Caucus of School Board Members Luncheon -- Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement -- Peabody, Orlando I-II.
• 2 to 3:30 p.m. -- Linda Perlstein, ASBJ Luncheon for School Leaders speaker -- Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade -- Peabody, Plaza A-D.
From 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, General Session speaker Garrison Keillor will sign copies of Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon and A Prairie Home Companion.
Learn more at a TLN site visit
Want to see first-hand how a small school district has raised student achievement by using technology to transform its classrooms into learner-centered environments?
Take part in NSBA’s next Technology Learning Network (TLN) site visit, May 4-6, to Batavia City Schools in upstate New York.
Visitors will see how Batavia has infused technology into every aspect of the district, from an array of classroom tools to online course management; from data mining to staff development.
NSBA encourages districts to send teams of school people to TLN site visits, including technology specialists and school board members.
For more information, visit www.nsba.org/sitevisits.
Also, an excellent program is being planned for NSBA’s Technology + Learning Conference, Oct. 28-30 in Seattle. General session speakers include futurist and “thought leader” Paul Saffo; consultant Joe Caruso, founder of the Caruso Leadership Institute; and Paul Warlick, an expert on 21st century literacy.
For details, visit www.nsba.org/ T+L.
Today’s Program Changes
• Speaker change: 2 p.m. -- Share the Success -- Under One Roof: The Power of Collaboration (page 142) -- This session will be presented by Ben Fierman, executive director of Collaborative Partners.