C. C’ville. Charlottesville.
I start out many days in Charlottesville (nicknamed “C’ville”), the home of the University of Virginia (Circle installation date – May 28, 1925), where I have family and proximity to an airport and train station. This Wednesday was no different in that I left C’ville in the early morning hours and headed north in this week’s efforts to expand my knowledge of Omicron Delta Kappa, our people, and our programs.
Part of the journey provided me the opportunity to walk the beach in Delaware on Thursday morning, from where I realized that I had literally made it from C (C’ville) to shining sea (Atlantic Ocean) in the course of 24 hours. However, in thinking about the letter C, I was struck by how that’s such an important letter in the life of O∆K. C is for Centennial, Circles, and Care.
Centennial
This time, next year, the volunteers and staff of O∆K will hopefully be celebrating the completion of a successful Centennial Celebration and Biennial Convention. We truly hope to have a representative from every single Circle in attendance as well as many of our distinguished alumni and friends. Please be sure to mark your calendar for June 11 – 15, 2014, and plan to join us in Lexington, Va. to celebrate not only O∆K’s history and heritage, but the forward-looking plans for our second century of leadership.
Circles
Each and every day, I become increasingly impressed with the work of our Circles. They are the lifeblood of our Society.
During the summer months, many of our Circle leaders are taking a break from the demands of the academic year; however, summer is also a great time to start planning for the coming fall semester. Let me encourage both students and faculty officers to review some of the programming suggestions located at https://odk.org/files/CircleProgramming.pdf.
If a Circle would like to have a conversation about programming for the 2013 – 2014 academic year, please feel free to call the O∆K National Headquarters at (877) ODK-NHDQ (635-6437)and ask to speak to me or to Tracy Lyons, director of communications and programs.
Care
While I had a number of other visits on this trip, a primary purpose was to visit the national headquarters of Teach for America (TFA – www.teachforamerica.org) and to work on the details for O∆K’s strategic alliance with this organization for the coming year. My host was Evan Kittrick, director of national alliances for TFA. Evan and I also got on the phone with Tom Milteer, a former Circle president at William and Mary and a recruitment manager for TFA, and Bobby Stanton, our director of development and alumni engagement. Michael Tipton, a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Society Board of Directors, is also a leader in Teach for America.
Teach for America successfully recruited 62 O∆K members into their teaching corps for this year. I sincerely believe that this is a great strategic alliance for our organization because we share such similar values of care (the last C in this posting), service, and leadership. Training for the new teachers is continuing around the country, and our members will have an opportunity to read more about the experience of two O∆K initiates, a husband and wife, who are in their second year of teaching through TFA in the August issue of The Circle.
Teach for America will have a significant presence at our 2014 Centennial Celebration and Biennial Convention including the recognition of two O∆K members who will be entering the teaching corps in Fall 2014. Individuals who have been identified as qualified candidates for TFA will have the opportunity to apply for an award which will provide them with funding to support their teaching initiatives – and their Circles will also receive a financial contribution to provide school supplies in their campus communities.
I’m often fond of borrowing the quote from the movie, The American President, which goes, “Leading is choosing.” Today’s realization, based on the incredible history of Teach for America, is “Leading is teaching.” So, from this day forward, I’m going to think, “If you can lead, thank a teacher.”
So with that – thank you Hugh, Jo, Freda, Nancy, Naomi, Steve, Marjorie, Ed, Don, Bruce, Steve M., Pat, Dale, Harold, Lucy, Alan, and Tom. I am indebted to each of you for lessons in leading and learning, and I thank you for the opportunity lead because each of you taught.
