This morning I joined Kathleen Sciarappa of New Hampshire to hear her information about bullying in the workplace. What I learned was that, in one degree or another, there are many principals with this type of situation at their school. Kathleen guided her session participants through some sharing activities. I exchanged ideas with a colleague from Florida. It’s always amazing to me that even though we are in different parts of the country, some of our issues are identical. Better yet, so are the solutions. I didn’t have time for breakfast today, so I snagged a soft pretzel on the way to the Second General Session. So much for healthy choices! It’s just like school; take a few minutes for the daily walking lunch period during all the “do you have a minute” requests. I guess some things never change.
I headed over to the ballroom with my walking breakfast to hear keynote speaker Marlee Martin. She is a zealous woman with powerful messages advocating not only for the hearing-impaired population, but for all people who have a disability of any type. It was a pleasure to experience Marlee delivering her speech using sign language and an interpreter. She touched every heart in the audience with her passion, courage, and dreams. Her mantra is shared by President Obama: “Yes, We Can!” 
Marlee asked principals to work with children by seeing abilities, not disabilities. She shared statistics that prove that discrimination against disabled citizens occurs with frequency in our culture. Marlee, a mother of four, went on to pledge that every child deserves to be loved, respected, and heard.
This afternoon, I’m looking forward to getting through more of the exhibit hall booths, meeting fellow principals at the state/zone booths, and learning about transformational leadership by some veteran pros!
—Missie
#naesp2010