Professional Development Sessions

The NCEA 2017 provided four exciting days of professional development sessions to choose from. With so many fabulous choices, I relied on the Holy Spirit to guide me in the way I should go.   What I loved about my two favorite presenters is that they were very down to earth and honest. They just spoke from the heart and their words were wonderful!

Jenni Ellis inspired me with her courage and wisdom during her session entitled Transform Your School Through Prayer. She is currently the Head of School of Sophia Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, but will soon be starting a new adventure traveling around the U.S. speaking to schools. Here are a few of the bright ideas I appreciate from her presentation:

• Her #1 prayer, “Lord, please bring the right people to my school.”

• She had her school consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Jesus and Mary.

• The whole school says the Divine Mercy Prayer at 3:00 every afternoon.

• She provides “time away” faith nourishment for her faculty.

• Prayer doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s not about the execution, but the Spirit.

Katie Prejean McGrady delighted me with her passion and humor during her session entitled Ever Ancient, Ever New: Teaching Truth to an Apathetic Generation. She is a theology teacher, writer and speaker from Louisiana.   Here are a few of the bright ideas I appreciate from her presentation:

• The best part of teaching is the relationships and interactions.

• What’s your mission?

• He who has a “why” can bear any “how.”

• The reason is Jesus.

• Evangelization is the bringing of the Good News of Jesus Christ into every human situation.

• Invite people to encounter Jesus by building relationships.

NCEA Lunch and Learn Event

I enjoyed a tasty lunch while participating in an Edcamp experience. I hadn’t heard of Edcamp before, and now I know that they are “organic, participant-driven professional learning experiences for educators across the country and worldwide!” Teachers shared what they were interested in learning about and several groups were created based on our desires. It was lovely to speak to teachers from Louisiana, Vermont and Chicago about Catholic Identity.   Here is a link to learn more about Edcamp:

http://www.edcamp.org/

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis

Visiting the Basilica reinforced the message that I am part of a family of faith that is extremely beautiful! The incredible design and effort that went into the building of that church is beyond amazing! With God all things are possible!

The last highlight I’ll share is how happy I am to have started a Twitter account at the conference.   This has already helped me to feel connected to some of the amazing people I met at the NCEA.   Thankfully, I can continue to be blessed by the inspiring words of others.  Yay!

Thank you, Jesus for the amazing experience I had at NCEA 2017!