Blogs

Ari Pinkus: Describe the significance of this year’s conference theme.

Amy Ahart: As we started to discuss the location for this year with NAIS staff and the 2014 Think Tank 15 months ago, we wanted to be sure to pay tribute to the great and varied history of the entire state of Florida.  As school worlds continue to look different with technological advancements, global initiatives, innovative financial models, and community involvement, we want schools and leaders to be able to find the challenges and discoveries that will propel them to new and exciting places.  We want attendees to come together to Dare to Explore and Discover, to find teaching breakthroughs, renewed governance efforts, and learning styles that make our schools the catalysts for daring adventure. 

Ari Pinkus: How did you come to choose the keynote speakers?

Amy Ahart: Researching and selecting the general session and featured workshop speakers is one of the most interesting processes we go through to prepare for the conference.  We receive speaker suggestions all year round from members and speaker agents, in addition to doing our own research. 

Last spring, John Chubb and I spent time looking at speaker possibilities that would fit with the conference theme, discussed themes that NAIS would outline over the next year, and considered topics that would connect with and enhance our schools.  NAIS considers hundreds of speakers each year, and we look for new voices that can help strengthen our learning and leading within independent schools. 

We found this year’s group of explorers (a.k.a. speakers) embraced this year’s theme, would urge leaders to be creative in their planning and problem solving, and push attendees to continue to build their leadership skills and styles.

The conference will kick off with Lyn Heward, former creative director of Cirque du Soleil.  Join Lyn to hear about ways to shake up your daily routine to think and be creative. 

John Quinones, host of “What Would You Do?” on ABC News, will greet teachers on Friday morning.  Quinones will talk to our audience about the importance of education, the impact it’s had on his life, the tough choices he watches people make on a daily basis, and how we can create better global citizens. 

To close the conference, Eric Whitacre will address our audience.  Whitacre is the creator of the virtual choir, and will encourage our audience to think collaboratively and creatively. 

While these are just three of our speakers, you can view others in our program, designed for attendees to think big and provide tools for them to take back to their schools.

Ari Pinkus: What are some new ideas in education being presented in the workshops?

Amy Ahart: With over 160 one-hour workshops, the offerings this year are robust and exciting for attendees.  There is something for everyone!  Attendees can explore technology innovations with schools already trying something new; consider curriculum techniques and ideas; learn new approaches in leadership; and hear practical tips from practitioners, attorneys, and experts on the day-to-day running of schools. 

Ari Pinkus: How will the conference take advantage of its location this year?

Amy Ahart: With the East Coast seeing a cold and snowy winter, I think many of us are looking forward to some warmer weather!  We hope that we will see our attendees taking advantage of the break times to network and meet in some of the Swan and Dolphin’s outside spaces and enjoy the sunshine.  

We are also lucky to be able to offer two new elements on Wednesday during the conference that are specific to Orlando. The first is a half-day Disney Leadership Institute focused on Creativity.  Attendees who pre-registered will be able to join in this half-day experiential learning session that will take place in Epcot with Disney facilitators. We are also pleased that we can offer a Wednesday Welcome Reception at Epcot, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Disney Youth Education Services.

Ari Pinkus: What novel interactive elements – both online and offline – can attendees participate in?

Amy Ahart: We have lots of both formal and informal elements for attendees.  Just to highlight a few:

·         Led by Chris Bigenho of Greenhill School, the Annual Conference Online Community continues to be part of the conference. (This multiplatform site allows attendees to collaborate pre-, during, and post-conference.  We want attendees to take the conversations and ideas deeper and continue to find ways to make them meaningful and impactful for their schools.)

·         The NAIS AC2014 Mobile App

·         Speed Innovating

·         NAIS Gives Back program – donate a book to Bears Who Care

·         Meet with our 180+ exhibitors

·         Thursday evening networking reception

·         2014 NAIS Diversity Leadership Award honoring Johnnie Foreman

·         Participation in 4 general sessions, 4 featured workshops, 18 three-hour workshops on Wednesday and 160+ one-hour workshops Thursday and Friday

Ari Pinkus: What do you hope participants take back to their schools?

Amy Ahart: One of our favorite questions we ask attendees each year is to identify the key takeaways for them.  Last year, we were able to use key words for this Wordle:  http://annualconference.nais.org/about/Pages/Annual-Conference-Takeaways.aspx  

Most important, we hope each attendee will walk away with two things: One is something they can do now … an idea that is simple, and that they can implement as soon as they are back in school to improve their teaching or management. The second is a longer-term goal, something bigger that may take some time to pull together, but will have a long-lasting, positive impact on their school in some way. 

We also hope attendees take away that they are part of a larger community – a community that believes independent school education is incredibly important, a community of support, and one in which we are all working together to create better education opportunities for all students.

Dear Readers, I would look forward to meeting you in Orlando. I hope you’ll swing by the conference bookstore in the exhibit hall when you have a moment.