100th Meridian EdCamp = Professional Development + Building Relationships

I am writing this blog just a few short hours after the 100th Meridian EdCamp hosted by the #CozadMakers schools.  Thanks to the efforts of Patty Wolfe (@wolfep) and Dave Evertson (@dave_evertson), the event was an overwhelming success.  The hours of planning and behind the scenes work that led to the countless moments of growth for our staff as well as other educators from across the state can't be summed up accurately in a blog post, so just take my word for it, that it was AWESOME.

For those not familiar with what an EdCamp is, the video to the right shows what the 'un-conference' is like.  The session for the day is not determined until everyone has arrived and had a chance to post on the board what the would like to learn about or what they would like to share about.  Then attendees then vote on the topics they want to attend.  The top 16 sessions then become the breakout sessions for the day.  Here is a link to the session schedule that came about in less than an hour this morning

Today, like so many other conferences I have attended in the last couple of years (on both the local and national levels), the theme of relationships with others and building a positive culture came up numerous times.

In several of the sessions, teachers shared their views and thoughts.  It has been said before that when a group of people gather together, the smartest person in the room, is the room itself, and this was completely true today.  The collective genius that came about through authentic sharing could not have been replicated by any 'sit & get' sessions we could have designed.  Thank you to all the #CozadMakers for their contributions as well as all the other educators from places like Lexington, Kearney, Bayard, ESU10, Minatare, Bayard, Broken Bow and several other communities.  The events of today have opened the door to empower teachers to become the agents of change in our school and improve our educational systems.

Awesome goals for Chris Tvrdy

 Attendees also shared their experiences and thoughts in twitter posts using the hashtag of #EdCamp100M today.  These 140 character expressions reach farther than just 75 attendees.  That reach extended to other prominent educators across the country who replied, retweeted, or favorited thoughts posts by attendees.  The power of being a connected educator was on full display today!  You can find a summary of some of the tweets and conversation on twitter by clicking here.

Beth Carver's very thougtful goals

I am both proud and humbled to be a #CozadMakers team member and be surrounded by so many passionate educators who gave one their last days of summer vacation to share their genius.  As one EdCamp attendee tweeted '#EdCamp100M was a refreshing way to prepare for a new school year'.  Several of our staff members also shared their #TYIW goals (This Year I Will).  It is amazing to see their dreams and goals on display and  witness their journey to achieve their goals.  Our community is lucky to have such an amazing staff.

The always deep thinking Dave Evertson's goals

One of the most impactful for experiences for me today was the idea that if we wish to make things better and experience the change we believe schools today need, we must have the courage to do things we have never done.  Ghandi, in short is credited with the quote of 'Be the change you wish to see in the world'.  I hope to challenge myself to 'Be The Change'.  To start a movement it takes courage on the part of the leader and the followers...so here's to a year of couragous actions to make this year a great experience for our students and community.

Keely Rienert's first goal sums it all up

Thank you again to the Dave Evertson and Patty Wolfe for their leadership and the behind the scenes work of Karen Berreckman, Patty Margritz, Marcie Kostrunek, and the rest of tech team who made today such a resounding success.  Thank you to Cozad Development Corporation and the Cozad Community Health Systems for the lunches and service to make our day come off without a hitch.  A Thank you also goes out to the Cozad Community Schools for allowing our staff to utilize today as one of our contracted flex day.  I can't think of a better way to gear up for the coming school year!  But the final thank you goes out to all of the attendees and the experience of sharing our collective genius to make us all better.