My trip to the White House

Yesterday I was 1 of 100 Superintendents invited to the White House to represent school districts that are advanced in using instructional technology.   Considering there are approximately 16,000 school districts in the United States- this was a great honor for me and the School District. President Obama held a news conference to launch his Future Ready School program.  The Superintendents in attendance (along with 1,200 virtual supt’s) signed the Future ready pledge.  The pledge is a commitment to work with our school community to deliver 7 foundational pillars.  I am happy to report that Mineola is well on the way to actualizing all 7.

Next to the White House is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB).  This building houses all of the offices, work spaces and an auditorium. We started the day debriefing in the auditorium and then walked across the lawn in front of the East entrance of the White House.  This entrance is the iconic image of the front entrance with large white pillars and the giant light fixture.  When you walk in that door you enter a huge ‘hallway’ that is welcoming.  A marine playing a large grand piano welcomed all of the visitors.  Portraits of past presidents adore the walls as we waited in a grand hallway to enter into the press conference.  Once seated you understand the enormity of a presidential news conference; the number of cameras, photographers, teleprompters are things you never see on TV.  The president delivered his speech and I was 3 rows away from the podium, after he exited we returned to the EEOB for panel discussions and presentations.  I learned quite a few things that will help my thinking about guiding Mineola to be future ready.

As always I take great pride in representing our school District and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to do so.

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