One Educator's Journey: Arizona Trip

My first Teacher of the Year (TOY) trip to Arizona was transformational. Though this paragraph could never do justice to the experience I’ve had, I will share with you some of the highlights. My adventures began in the Boston airport. I was anxiously sitting at the gate, hoping that my husband wouldn’t “misplace” any of our children over the next week. A woman approached me asking, “Excuse me, are you Jessica Waters?” Hesitantly, I said “yes”; she introduced herself as Kathy the Massachusetts TOY. It felt so good to finally meet another TOY. I curiously asked how she knew who I was. She chuckled, “You have all of your papers’ in that manila folder with a neat binder clip. You had to be a teacher.” Several times throughout the conference speakers referred to teachers as being part of a “tribe”. Even though we came from different districts, content areas, and grade levels and backgrounds, we are part of the 3.7 million teacher “tribe” that is dedicated to educating our students. Though there were only 54 teachers at the conference, we represent millions of educators that share the same beliefs. Our tribe is strong in numbers and will stop at nothing to improve public elementary and secondary education in the United States. At the conference we had training on dealing with the media as well as tips on how to write effective speeches. We also worked on finding our platform and how to use our voices to advocate for our passion. We listened to guest speakers from The Council of Chief State School Officers, Target, ING, and previous National Teachers of the Year. Every speech and workshop confirmed what I have always known—we should be proud of our public education system, and should continuously strive to enhance it. I look forward to the upcoming trip to Washington DC with renewed zeal.