My daughter, Hannah went on a college visit to Ivy Tech. She’s interested in Ivy Tech’s Transfer as a Junior program because she’s set a gaudy goal to become an English teacher without accumulating debt.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical that a community college would be able to meet Hannah’s needs. Thank goodness I let Hannah lead the way. I was quickly in awe at the viable and sensible option of Ivy Tech.

I haven’t been able to stop talking about it with everyone, which means that the topic of this month’s Director’s Desk post will be Ivy Tech.

Ivy Tech knows what they do, and they do it well. They aren’t trying to meet the needs of everyone, but if you’re looking for a job in the area without a bachelor degree, then Ivy Tech will help you with certification and position you for an associate degree. They have connections with companies and business and will help you stack your schooling in a streamlined way to make a competitive wage and keep your options wide open for future education opportunities. They also are an economical route to a bachelor’s degree, plus offer an honors strand for those who are planning to get into a traditional premed or prelaw program.

If this isn’t what you want, then they will happily connect you to other colleges, universities and businesses to help you on your career journey.

It’s comforting working with people who know what they do and do that one thing well.

During the campus tour, my mind wondered to The Lead Learners. I began thinking about what we do well. It is not a slight thing to have a consortium of members who have decided to extend their professional learning experiences outside their district boundaries. One trademark of our professional learning events is the diversity of the audience. Urban and rural educators; new and veteran teachers; administrators and teachers…all can be found learning together because of The Lead Learners consortium.

As we begin planning the 2019-2020 professional learning calendar, we are taking into account the value of a diverse consortium and focusing on how to bring the best professional learning experiences to our members.

We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and let us know what topics or speakers you would like available for professional learning in the 2019-2020 school year.