Celebrating my local reading council

Today, I am participating in the Celebrate Link-Up at ruthayreswrites.com.  This is a great place to share celebrations! Today, I want to celebrate my local reading council and how my membership in this group and my involvement with the board of directors has had such a positive impact on me, both professionally and personally.  I started thinking about celebrating the council during the spring mini-conference on Thursday night, particularly during my drive to the meeting.

This week, it seems like I’ve spent a lot of my time on the interstate.  On Wednesday, I had my hour-long drive to class.  This week’s trip to class was challenging due to the fog on the mountain that I have to cross.  The fog was an issue going and coming.  Then, Thursday was a busy day.  Not only did my school have parent conferences after school on Thursday, but then I an hour’s drive to the school hosting the conference.  Again, travel was interesting, not because of the weather, but because of the traffic.  However, I made it to the conference and didn’t miss anything.  We had a great evening of learning and during my drive home, I had so many ideas to consider and to think about how these ideas could be incorporated into my daily instruction.

I could have skipped the mini-conference.  I’ve participated in other events throughout the year (the Pizza and Pinterest evening, the fall mini-conference, and Mocha and Mingle at the Green Valley Book Fair).  But skipping was not an option because I look forward to each opportunity to be a part of the reading council’s events.  Increasing my participation in this group has enhanced me professionally and personally.  Each meeting and event encourages me to expand my repertoire of strategies and ideas. This group of dedicated educators has become so important to me, particularly over the past year as I’ve been involved as a member of the board.  I’ve had such a great year working with the other members and am so thankful that I’ve had this opportunity.  I enjoy attending our board meetings and working with other educators to be advocates for literacy.  I love bouncing ideas around and listening to the ideas and wisdom that is represented around the table at our meetings.  My local reading council invigorates me and encourages me and I celebrate this amazing group.  I can’t wait to see what the next year brings!