NELA....thus far

We've completed two out of the three days of NELA and I now know why everyone who's been before loved it so much. It's such a cool experience that I am so honored to have taken part in.  We've heard from all of the big wigs, Michael Brown (the CEO), Sean Hollerin (COO), Steven Spalloss and Michael Brown (two of the coolest people you'll ever meet). We've gotten a chance to meet people from New Hampshire and Rhode Island, the other two sites who are here for this.

I think the best way to do this is to just say the highlights from the past couple of days, so I don't put you all to sleep.  Here they are....

1. Michael Brown's talk- we submitted questions to him when we were accepted and he answered them.  The cool part was after that, we had the opportunity to say one thing we think should stay the same with CY and one thing that should change. He had his assistant (Erica's room mate and former CM at our school, Julie) taking notes the whole time and I don't doubt that he'll actually look at them later. I decided I would bite the bullet and tell him.  So, I said that I think that CY should never lose it's culture and all of the little things that have created this community. It's this same community that has become my family so far away from home. The one thing I think should change is that I hope more parents and students learn about CY and know what it is. I know what I am doing is something awesome, but when I tell people what I'm doing, they have no idea what CY is or the impact it has on inner city schools. Overall, this question answer session was awesome and I think it says something about an organization when the CEO comes and speaks to people at the bottom of the totem pole. 
2. Seeing all of CY New Hampshire, Boston and Rhode Island come together- it's so cool how we are so different and yet are so similar. We all have kids in our classes who we have a love/hate relationship with and we all say "BING!" after PITWs.   It was cool to see how quickly we could assimilate into a united group instead of three separate groups.
3. Getting to know people from Boston better- I feel like we've gotten so stuck in the routine and only really spend time with the people from our school, with the exception of a few others.  I have really gotten to know and respect a lot of new Bostonians. I feel like we will have this bond together for the rest of the year, which is something special.
4. Getting to do this all with Sam- she has become my best friend here in Boston and I honestly don't know what I would do without her. I can't wait to bring all of what we've learned back to the team and I am glad to have her by my side. 

I am so excited for another day of NELA, but am so sad that it has to come to an end.  I will definitely be posting after finishing up tomorrow.