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Member Memories
Several members have already sent in their memories to be posted here. To share yours, send an email message to Annette Morales (annette.morales@nsdc.org)
 Dennis SparksNSDC At Its BestLike individuals, organizations have "best selves" that represent their most important values and strengths. I offer four snapshots of NSDC at its best culled from many such images I carry in my memory: My first annual conference: In 1979 I traveled to Vail, Colorado where I joined 125 like-minded individuals at what was then the Council’s largest conference. Two important things stand out 30 years later: First, I remember how wonderful it felt to be around so many people who did the kind of work I did and to whom I did not have to explain or justify my work, something I often had to do back home in my relatively new staff development role. Second, during my first day in Vail, NSDC Trustee and Conference Chair Jim Metzdorf approached me, asked about my work, and offered to introduce me to a few people in attendance whose jobs were like my own (I was a teacher center director). I was amazed that this important man with many responsibilities at the conference took the time to have a personal conversation with me and to link me to other participants. Only later did I learn that trustees had divided up the list of first-time attendees, learned a bit about us from our registration forms, and sought us out. (That practice continued for many years until conference size prohibited it.) At its best, NSDC links educators to one another in personal and meaningful ways. Vote to extend full NSDC membership to all educators: In its early days, full membership in NSDC was reserved for individuals who worked in school systems or who were staff members of education agencies that provided services to schools in lieu of district employees. There was a concern on the part of Council founders, who primarily worked in school district central offices, that NSDC could lose its orientation to district work if it were "taken over" by educators employed outside of school systems who often had more resources and incentives to assume organizational leadership. At the same time, many members recognized that staff development could not achieve its full potential in school systems unless all educational role groups felt welcomed and were full participants in Council decision making. After a great deal of Board discussion, the question was put to the membership. A two-thirds majority of ballots cast was required to amend the by-laws. The revision passed. At its best, NSDC is inclusive of all roles and perspectives. Board of Trustees norms and learning: For many years NSDC's Board of Trustees has guided its work through a set of "norms" or group agreements. Trustees and staff members review them at the beginning of every meeting to guide their work and again at the conclusion of the meeting to assess their performance. Each Board meeting also included a significant portion of the agenda invested in trustees' learning related to their Council responsibilities. Such learning guided the implementation of NSDC's strategic plan and Board actions and policies. At its best, NSDC's work is shaped by a learning-oriented culture and by agreements that support high levels of performance. Minimizing status and hierarchy to promote learning and sharing: For most of its existence, NSDC’s annual conference and other events sought to minimize differential status among participants. Trustees and staff members distributed themselves among general session tables and around receptions as a way to increase their interaction with members. "Famous people" sat with participants at meals and attended concurrent sessions, and they seemed to appreciate an environment in which they could be learners as well as teachers. At a NSDC conference in the late 1980s I remember watching Madeline Hunter walk down a hotel hallway on her way to attend a concurrent session and thinking how surprised (and perhaps alarmed) the session leader might be at her appearance. Many first-time conference attendees expressed amazement that they could share a meal with individuals whose work they had long admired. At its best, NSDC enables the sharing of ideas, practices, and resources in every direction without regard to hierarchy or status.  Dale HairAcademy MemoriesNSDC is now advertising for the Academy Class of 2012. When I hear that, I am immediately taken back to my own Academy experience – and how that changed my career and my life. I was a member of the very first Academy, which began in 1991. We were the guinea pigs, so to speak – the grand experiment to see if NSDC could create a community of learners with a deep understanding of professional development. These “experts” would then become what Dennis Sparks used to call “mono-maniacs on a mission.” We would go forth and make the “New Vision for Staff Development” a reality from coast to coast! It was my first opportunity to network with colleagues from New York to California. We assessed our own strengths and learned about models of staff development, adult learning, strategic planning, and organizational development. We played “The Change Game.” We bonded as a team when we romped around Boulder, Colorado with our teammates creating a photojournal with our Polaroid camera (yes…instant pictures were a bit different back then!). At the end of the journey, we reflected on what we had learned and how our assumptions, beliefs, and actions had changed. Some of us became principals or superintendents. Some of us became professional development leaders for our school districts. From my own experience in the Academy, two valuable outcomes resulted. First, with a university-based team, we designed a leadership induction program for every first and second-year principal in Louisiana based greatly on the Academy model. The program ran for eight years and impacted over 1000 new principals. Second, with two of my Louisiana colleagues who were graduates of later NSDC Academies, we launched an NSDC affiliate in our state – the Louisiana Staff Development Council. Our LSDC has thrived and spawned seven statewide Academies. We had learned the value of collaboration to do big things. Today if people ask me whether they should enroll in the NSDC Academy, I tell them what I experienced – that it truly changed my career path and my life! Ultimately we really had become professional development mono-maniacs. Elizabeth (Betty) Dillon-PetersonI just thought perhaps you might be interested in my recollections as an accidental originator and the early maintainer of the National Staff Development Council.When I was named the first director of staff development for the Lincoln, Nebraska, Public Schools in 1969, I joined an extremely limited number (likely less than 20) of public school personnel with that title or responsibility through out the country, I had been an elementary teacher at several different levels, a junior high teacher of a seventh grade English/social studies block; a 7-9 science teacher; a junior high counselor; an elementary school principal; an originator of an infant district program for the gifted – most in the Grand Island, Nebraska, public schools. Perhaps because of that eclectic assortment of experience, and perhaps because there was a growing awareness at that time of the paucity of women in decision-making roles in the public schools, I was offered the newly established staff development directorship in Lincoln, following my receipt of the Ed. D from the University of Nebraska. There being only a very general mission statement, at best fuzzy information about this new administrative role, and a limited job description offering little specific direction, I asked my superintendent, John Prasch, what expectations he had for the position. Obviously, he felt the position to be important since he had made the creation of such an uncommon role at the superintendent’s cabinet level a requirement for his accepting Lincoln’s superintendency. He recommended I attend a meeting soon to be convened by Ron Brandt, then an administrator in Minnesota whose duties included a focus on school district staff and staff development responsibilities. The purpose of the meeting was to enable those present to learn more about the potential possibilities and the sphere of responsibility for such a position. I believe there were seven individuals present at that meeting representing large school districts, of which I recall al least New York City; Compton, California, Hartford Connecticut; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. NSDC may have taken an entirely different turn early on when that group discussed who should be invited to become members of a continuing school-district-based group focused on staff development. At that time, the participants indicated a preference for membership limited to the fifty or so largest school districts in the country, which clearly would have eliminated the 30,000 student Lincoln Public Schools – and me. At that juncture, the New York City representative facetiously but generously offered to loan me 200 schools to insure my future inclusion. Fortunately the meeting was adjourned without such a limiting size restriction. The next year, when Ron Brandt (later an official with ASCD) came to Lincoln as the associate superintendent for instruction, members of the original group contacted him to inquire about the likelihood of there being another such meeting. His response was to tell me that he did not intend to follow up, but he encouraged me to do so. From that time on for several years, with the informal but basically laissez faire support of both the Lincoln Public Schools superintendent and associate superintendent, my secretary and I were the unauthorized pre-NSDC staff. We acquired the initial potential participant names by sending letters of inquiry to the superintendents from a list of the 100 largest school districts in the country, and for the next several years my office provided a communication focus for members of the growing staff development population. Additionally, we provided support for the volunteer district staff development personnel whose district would host the next annual conference. I believe the list of those early meeting sites may still be archived. I named the fledgling organization the National Staff Development Council so that we could identify ourselves and to provide some legitimacy for potential conference attendees seeking support from their districts. Of little additional note, I published an occasional extremely rudimentary newsletter which I unimaginatively dubbed The Developer. Hopefully, no copies of that remarkable document remain. (Had I had sufficient vision to foresee that NSDC would grow so significantly and become international, I should have named it something more expansive, of course.) We had no formal membership list, no dues beyond staff developers’ conference attendance expense, and no elected leadership. There was almost a “family” feeling early on, because there weren’t very many of us and our positions weren’t all that secure. For example, at one of our early meetings in Dallas to plan the next conference, I was introduced as the “The Mother of NSDC by the local staff development director, and my name tag for that conference carried that label just for fun. Since I left the staff development position in 1990, I have watched with pleasure and amazement as NSDC has grown in size and influence – while seeming to retain much of the lively, open-ended, and informal character of the fledgling organization. If that is true, I attribute it to the extraordinarily talented and sensitive leadership with which the organization has been blessed since its formal inception.  Steven WlodarczykIt’s A Small World After All…NSDC changed my life and the life of my family. In 1982 Tom Swenson and I conducted a regional workshop on staff development in Hartford CT. Larry Schaeffer was executive director of one of the CT area services centers and had attended an NSDC conference the year before. He wanted to bring NSDC into the state. Neither Tom nor I knew Larry prior to the workshop. I was still in Illinois but I was getting antsy in my job, so I started looking. I liked what I saw in CT. The state was interested in staff development, they were planning a ten-year educational enhancement act and their state curriculum manuals were being shared all over the world. I loved my home state of Illinois but the east was alluring with its mountains, Boston, New York, and the ocean. Three years later I was offered and accepted a job in South Windsor CT, as assistant superintendent. The state is small, but over the 20+years that I have now been here, Larry and I might have seen each other once a year, if that much, until this year. Larry retired from his job this year. We hired him to work where I now work as an educational consultant for a non for profit. The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time. ~Friedrich Nietzsche When Joellen e-mailed me and asked me to contribute memories about NSDC’s early years, the first flashes that came to my mind were the many meaningful personal contacts and friends that I have made through my involvement with NSDC. The events that I first thought of ranged from downright incredulous, to tragically sad because the incredulous and the sad involved good friends. For the incredulous ones to have meaning,” you really had to be there”. For the sad ones, it was personal loses that took our NSDC colleagues from this planet before their prime! I emailed Jo and told her, I was reluctant to contribute because many of my early memories were riddled with the pronoun “I.” I did this, I did that! Although I remember everyone who worked with me during our formative years, I truly can’t remember the sequence of who served when as a trustee. There were so few of us “staff developers” that, in fact, a lot of the work was done by many different “Is” in many different cities. Most everyone who has been connected to NSDC overtime, as I have, will be able to conjure up those shared memories. In fact, we will all have different versions of the same events. Over the years, I’ve made it a point to ask people at our conferences “So how did you learn about NSDC? What was your first involvement?” What’s In-Service? In 1969, Sam Nicholas, returned from a meeting where Betty Dillon, Ron Brandt and a handful of folks were sitting around a table at an ASCD conference discussing this new thing called in-service. Sam was the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in School District U-46 in Elgin Illinois. Ron and Betty were from Lincoln, Nebraska. Ron was assistant superintendent and Betty was a staff developer/curriculum person. Sam was my supervisor. I was fulltime in-service coordinator and wrestling with the meaning of the new position. When Sam returned from the conference, he called me into his office. I’ll never forget what he said: “Steve, I don’t know what this in0service thing is, but I think it’s going to grow. I think you should contact Betty Dillon in Lincoln, Nebraska.” I did just that and as the saying goes, “The rest is history.”Getting Started Betty and I made the connection and connected! We were both serious about what we thought in service was and how important it was or could be if there was a structure in place to support people like us, if they existed! For the next several years we would steal time away during ASCD conferences and try to gather in-service coordinators, if we could find them! We decided to put out a newsletter called The Developer, which was authored first by Betty and then later by both of us. It was a rubber cement cut-and-paste newsletter that we mailed out to the people who we thought were in-service coordinators.We didn’t have a budget and everything we did either came from the districts that we worked in or in some cases out of our own pockets. I can’t speak for what Betty did, but my district was gracious enough to allow me to send the newsletter using our stamp machine. Betty and I were fortunate in that our job descriptions weren’t riddled with a myriad number of responsibilities other than in-service. Consequently we were able to devote what ever time we could entirely to what was to become the National Staff Development Council. The First Executive Committee Every man's memory is his private literature. ~Aldous HuxleyIt was 1974 and other than that first meeting in 1969 we had four meetings behind us. Wow! The then-Executive Director of ASCD, Gordon Cawelti, attended our meeting and offered moral support to our efforts. How important and prophetic was that will soon be revealed. Our 1974 conference was in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Not only did we appoint an executive committee but I was appointed to chair the committee. Appointed meant you were willing and able to attend our next conference (if we had one), could attend ASCD and plan and also share whatever costs might come up related to copying, telephone calls, and mailing. Appointed meant a few of us decided to work together to begin to formalize the organization. Keep in mind, there were so few of us doing in-service, that if anything had to be done, the few of us who wanted to -- did it. During that year we worked on and crafted a formal recommendation to bring to Austin, Texas in 1975 for a formal structure for the organization. With cautious enthusiasm, the concept was endorsed and the executive committee and I got busy crafting a budget and a draft constitution. I’ve got to follow them: I am their leader. ~Ledru-Rollin 1976 and our budget was projected to be $4000 with funds entirely from conference receipts. So as it happened, during the year that the United States of America celebrated the 200th anniversary of the nation’s Declaration of Independence, 71 conference participants, in historic Williamsburgb Virginia, approved the constitution of what was to become the National Staff Development Council. I was elected chair of the executive committee and we were on our way. The 1977 conference was brutal. We had two conferences within five days. We needed money. I wrote a grant and received funding from IDEA to host a follow-up conference to our annual NSDC conference focusing on the principal as staff developer. It was brutal because one hour after our annual conference we began the second conference-back to back. Both conferences were in Illinois and I was the conference host to boot. What’d I know? It seemed to be a good idea at the time! I honestly don’t remember our executive committee sleeping! If I thought that was bad, I had no clue as to what was to come, but I brought it on myself! We accepted the proposed constitution and I was elected first president of the Council. I was elated. Because we were so far from Chicago and any other major city, we brought in music for participants hoping they would enjoy it and dance. To this day, every annual conference has some type of arrangement to have some type of music for dancing! It was 1978 and we were fat. We had a budget of around $11,000. The Board of Trustees began to identify some critical issues related to formalizing and growing the organization. We hired Patricia Zigarmi part time to be our first Secretary-Treasurer. Pat lived in Oxford, Ohio. Pat and I authored the articles of incorporation for the National Staff Development Council and we planned to incorporate as a non-profit in the state of Ohio, because it didn’t cost us anything. We were so poor, that the board turned down a proposal from Pat to get her a new typewriter. It was $150.00 and too expensive! The Banner Year I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact. ~Diane SawyerI don’t know if Banner Year is the correct way to symbolize what the board accomplished in that year. It was1979 and we were going out to Vail, Colorado. Jim Metzdorf was the conference host. If I thought the two conferences back to back in 1977 was exhausting, was I ever mistaken. Vail was our marathon, don’t leave the room, three-day pre-conference board meeting. However, what came out of our 1979 meeting was the following. Much of what is below still exists.
More Firsts In 1980 we filed and incorporated in the state of Ohio as the National Staff Development Council. Shirley Havens was hired to work with Pat Zigarmi in the business office in Oxford, Ohio. We were the first, and as far as I know, still the only national educational organization with offices “outside the beltway.” This was not by design. The board of trustees lived all across the United States so it seemed natural to have a business office somewhere! We were still nervous about the budget and our dependence on conference receipts as our primary funding source. We had a plan to grow money. Why not offer a workshop before ASCD because it always had huge conference participation? But could we? We contacted Gordon Cawelti, Executive Director and Ron Brandt, Publication Editor, both of whom were now firmly in leadership positions at ASCD and supporters of NSDC. The answer was music to our ears. Yes.Pat and I got busy designing the first ever preconference session for any national organization, not knowing the long term impact. We had 100 participants in Atlanta Georgia prior to the 1980 ASCD conference. The session title was, “Conducting Effective Staff Development Programs.” Pat and I ran the session and we would work with the group during designated times to deliver the content. I had an extra assignment as well. I would work with the group when Lisa, Pat’s first born, was hungry and needed to be nursed. Pat would discreetly go to the back of the room, nurse and coach me as well! We were a smash! Giving up the Reins and Grieving It was 1981, our articles of incorporation clearly called for a structure to build and sustain consistency among the members of the board, and thus the organization. We had done a remarkable job, with few resources, in accomplishing our goals. It was time to create new goals and elect, appoint, convince or recruit new board members as well as a chair. At that time, the board of trustees asked if I would be willing to continue as chair. Although it was tempting, I had a sense that a change would be a good thing for NSDC. I had no idea how much I would actually grieve for the next three years as a result of not “being in the action.” I continued to attend the annual conferences and helped wherever I could. Tom Swenson from Madison, and I conducted the first of what would be many regional conferences. In 1982, Tom and I conducted the first NSDC regional conference. It was in Hartford CT. Denver, St. Louis, California and Georgia followed in subsequent years. I felt productive because I was still able to contribute to the growth of the organization.Interesting and Scary Things to Share 1977: Dick Foster, then superintendent of Berkeley, California, Schools was our keynote speaker at our second conference. As we worked to get things ready for the second conference, making name tags coordinating with the hotel, lining up rooms, and putting conference packets together, Dick sat and read the Wall Street Journal! When I asked him if he would help, he said he would do anything I wanted since we were paying him for the day! He helped and I learned a valuable lesson about how to use consultants. Whenever I brought in a consultant to do a workshop for a day or an afternoon or morning, I would arrange small meetings with groups of teachers, administrators, students or parents at other times of the day. I used the whole day!1979: Although our Vail conference was a board meeting marathon, we did find time for the board to have dinner together. Jim Metzdorf arranged a trout dinner up in one of the mountain passes next to a beautiful mirror-like lake. Spouses of board members, board members and conference hosts enjoyed each other’s company in a postcard setting. 1980: Our keynote speaker was Malcolm Knowles, the renowned expert on adult development. We had about 170 participants anxiously awaiting the word from the expert. Tom Swenson, conference host, introduced Malcolm and turned the podium over to him. As we all reverently sat and waited with our note pads and pens ready to take notes he approached the podium, stood behind it, adjusted the microphone and said, “Does anyone have any questions?” Forget the proverbial “you could have heard a pin drop.” You could have heard a feather drop! You could also hear the heartbeats of the trustees. We were stunned. He waited. We waited. We were still stunned. He waited. We waited. No one said anything and no one was about to. Finally, Tom went over to the podium, put his hand on the microphone and whispered something to Malcolm. When Tom took his seat, Knowles went on to explain that his research indicated that if adults wanted to know something about something, they ask questions. That was his keynote. We must have been a huge disappointment to Malcolm. 1983: Tulsa ,Oklahoma and our gracious host neglected to arrange for a keynote speaker. Something we did not know up until the morning of the keynote. In addition, unfortunately our host reportedly had a nervous breakdown and literally disappeared! Patricia Zigarmi stepped in at the last minute and gave a keynote on “The One Minute Manager.” Phew! 1985: I remember Lynne Chidley carrying two huge suitcases. One was for her things and the other had apples, oranges and pretzels in them for the board and staff to nibble on during their meeting! Still on a strict budget. In 1998, along with the California Staff Development Council, I conducted our first summer workshop titled Affiliate and Network Leaders’ Summer Forum. It took place in San Diego July 17th-19th. Story Telling and Board Dinners I honestly do not remember how story telling and board dinners came about. I think it was a natural outcome of the intimacy that we came to experience as a result of working hard together, worrying about surviving from year to year and sometimes doing some fairly silly things. In the beginning, each of us had a role or multiple roles to play and responsibilities connected to the conferences. We had no staff, so the early trustees did everything. It seemed that after each one of our preconference board meetings, we were all punch-drunk from being locked up together in hotel rooms planning and planning and planning!When we stopped, we were too worn out to really go out anywhere, so we hung out in the hotels and got to know about each others’ kids, husbands, wives, job duties, concerns, successes, favorite vacation places, NSDC quirks, and dreams. The stories ranged from personal to professional. Later, the dinners and the story telling became a venue for the “old timers” to pass along the history. Board members told stories about funny and sometimes embarrassing moments with each other during conferences. The dialogue usually began with either “I remember when…” or “Do you remember when…?” The dinner setting was also a safe place for new trustees to ask those questions they might not have thought of asking. To this day, the story telling and board of trustee dinner tradition continues.  Shirley M. HordOne of my recalls of NSDC (I joined in 1977 and am member # 300 -- does that make me the oldest living active member?) at the time of Betty D Peterson, is the size and culture of NSDC. As I recall, the organization's membership was restricted to the directors of staff development of the 100 largest districts in the US. Gene Hall and I had special admittance privilege because we were doing research on staff development's influence on school change and improvement.Back to story - This small, elite group had a rigorous schedule of study sessions for the period of days of its annual conference and we worked hard during this time. THEN, at night, everyone would go out together dancing for the most of the night - playing hard. This made for a closely knit group, bonding, and sharing our work and new learnings, insights, etc. I always referred to Betty as our Grand Dame Dinosaur, for she was bigger than life. I don't know if she knew of this title, and liked or dislike it, but that is my memory of her. Then , the organization decided to become more influential. To do so meant getting bigger, so an official administrative general was hired to engineer and execute this plan ... and we were off and running.  Pat RoyImagine NSDC so small that it had only two employees: a part-time executive director and office staff who worked out of her home! In the late 70’s, I was part of a national cooperative learning project looking for districts to work with across the country. Our prime sites included ones with strong professional development programs and directors like Betty Dillon-Peterson, Tom Swenson, Jim Metzdorf, and Steve Wlodarczyk—early pioneers of NSDC. The number of members tallied around 300.My favorite story from those days was that the part-time secretary/business manager, Shirley Havens, was using a Selectric typewriter and the rent on it was due. And there was NO money in the budget. The board’s response? “Who can put together a workshop to pay for the typewriter?” They rolled up their sleeves, put together a training session, and made enough money to keep the typewriter. Times have sure changed. P. Spruiell1983 or 1984: Beginning of the "Big 21", a meeting space/time for the 21 largest school districts to discuss the unique issues impacting big district staff developers. Previously, to bring our issues up in a regular session was to disrupt the session because the smaller districts couldn't even imagine how to deal with such numbers. I remember shutting down a presentation (certainly not on purpose) when talking about new teacher orientation; someone asked how many teachers I was planning for. After my response of 1,000, the presenter never got the group back on focus. Most participating districts at that time didn't even have a total staff of 1,000. Two years later, Stephanie started the "Big 21". It was one of the best resources during my years in the Dallas Independent School District!Many of my favorite memories are of board dinners/evenings during the conference when we would hear the famous David Sousa stories. What a wonderful sense of humor he shared with us. I also remember a Washington, DC, story prior to Dallas' first conference. On our plane returning to Dallas from Washington, the mayor of Dallas was on our flight. We thought that perhaps we had 'oversold' Dallas. Her comment to us was, "if you've got it, flaunt it!" And we did! So many rich memories and friendships! Marti RichardsonPast President and Former Board of Trustees Member; Board Member, Impacting the Future Now FoundationI am always pleased to have an opportunity to brag on NSDC so here goes: My first conference with NSDC was in Williamsburg, VA. What a delight! I was looking for a professional home because the Far West Laboratory, that had sponsored Teacher Center Network activities, lost its funding with a change of political parties. My research into authentic leadership in education led me to a fledgling organization, the National Staff Development Council (NSDC), which appeared to have a network of people that had similar professional interests and goals to mine. I went to my first conference full of hope for the future, carrying with me the new knowledge that I had gleaned from cutting-edge educational icons like Pat Zigarmi and Kathleen Devaney through the Teacher Center Exchange. I wanted to continue to build on the values and actions that are important and make a daily difference. The two names that stand out in my mind as I ventured into the first general session in Williamsburg are Dennis Sparks and Shirley Havens. I was greeted at the door by a cute, little blonde dynamo (Shirley) who knew the answers to all my questions without blinking an eye, told me the logistics of the conference in an understandable way, and then gave me the biggest smile as she said, “We're glad that you are here! Let me know, please, how I can help you further.” Dennis stood just inside the double doors warmly greeting each person individually as they entered and I immediately knew from his brief words of greetings to me that I had found another educational mentor to stimulate my thinking in new and creative ways. I instinctively knew that I had found my new professional home! I was one among many but I was treated as a special person, even though none of us had ever met before. To date, every Annual Conference, Summer Conference, committee meeting, Board of Trustee activity, or special event has carried that same element of relevance of the importance of the individual. It matters to me and it matters to all members that return year after year to greet and be greeted carefully and lovingly. Each year I am challenged through scholarly presentations at the Annual Conference and motivated to reach new levels of excellence by the new leaders and educational icons of the organization, Stephanie Hirsh and Joellen Killion. I like the well-defined orientation toward the future and I admire and respect the colleagues with whom I work who are dynamic, uplifting, enthusiastic, positive, and optimistic. I find throughout the membership a competence and expertise in leadership that challenges and inspires me. This organization has a winning track record. It has a bright future, built on an authentic past. The present leadership is working correctly to keep people excited about the difficult road to the future and they have the competence to get us from where we are now as an organization to where we would like to be – impacting the learning of all on a daily basis. I am proud to be a long-standing member and will continue to learn and grow through the services that are offered so that I can, in turn, help to enlarge the lives of others. Thank you NSDC and congratulations on 40 years of excellence!  Sue McAdamisPast-President, 2007As I reflect back over the past ten years, since I became an NSDC member, I am reminded of how NSDC has made an impact on the teaching, learning, and student achievement in Rockwood School District, where I serve as director of professional development. Because of NSDC's influence, evidence of professional development's impact on teacher and student learning in each of Rockwood schools goes beyond standardized achievement test scores into the belief systems and attitudes of the teachers and students themselves toward learning. Ten years ago, professional development in Rockwood was focused on individual teacher development rather than organizational development. Staff learning activities were fragmented. Teachers participated in a variety of unrelated topics the district offered from month to month. Attitudes towards professional development among most teachers were less than positive. Fast forward to 2009. Teachers are working in teams examining student work, planning common units, designing common assessments, and sharing instructional strategies. Principals and teachers have analyzed disaggregated student achievement data to determine school improvement and professional development goals. Professional development is job-embedded, standards-based, and results-driven. Professional development is part of the daily work of the classroom teacher, and is focused on the core tasks of teaching. None of the above would have happened without NSDC's influence. Through NSDC, Rockwood learned how to align our professional development with the NSDC Standards. We learned how to assess the impact of our professional development, using the NSDC Standards Assessment Inventory. We also learned how to set goals for improvement and how to dialogue about those goals using NSDC's Moving Standards into Practice (Innovation Configurations). Ask any educator in Rockwood and they will tell you that professional development is viewed as essential to school improvement and as a critical ingredient to improved student learning. Happy Birthday, NSDC and Best Wishes for Continued Success! Carlene MurphyMy most remembered experience as a former Board of Trustees member comes from serving as the chairperson of the 1986 NSDC Annual Conference in Atlanta. Recent members of NSDC may not know that prior to the early 1990s, the conference committee handled just about all of the logistics regarding the annual conference. The chairperson of an annual conference was a member of the Board of Trustees for three years prior to the conference, ending their term the year of the conference. All decisions made by the committee were presented to the board by the chairperson. Once the board approved a recommendation, the committee was responsible for the planning and execution of approved actions The Georgia Conference Committee successfully engineered several “firsts” that have become routine practices at annual conferences. All committee members were Georgia staff developers. . The conference committee selected the hotel, negotiated with the hotel for rates, selected menus, and handled all communication with the hotel staff. The committee planned the program, both inviting keynote speakers and preconference workshop leaders and receiving/approving proposals for concurrent sessions. The 1986 committee took the responsibility for having the conference program printed, including all concurrent sessions. Today NSDC staff members are responsible for doing or over-seeing the functions once assumed by the conference committee. During the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s, income from the annual conference determined what staff and services NSDC could offer its members. In other words, NSDC’s operating budget depended almost totally on conference income. Today NSDC is more diversified in terms of income sources. As the chairperson for the 1986 Annual Conference in Atlanta, I felt a great responsibility for not only what NSDC could offer as services for the coming year but also for the salaries of its staff members.The ‘firsts” the Georgia committee initiated were:
Kathryn Harwell-KeeNSDC Board 1995-2003, NSDC President 1999-2000Staff Development Director – Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD 1982-1994 Assistant Superintendent-Curriculum, Instruction & Technology, 1994-2002 Executive Professional Coach and Consultant - Coaching School Results, 2002-present As a teacher and soon as a new administrator with responsibilities for staff development and gifted education, my thrill has always been attending state and national gifted conferences. It was always the highlight of my year to attend these fabulous conferences and hear the big names in gifted education. In 1984, a colleague in Richardson, Texas, Stephanie Hirsh really encouraged me to attend the NSDC conference. I could not imagine how a conference on staff development could be more thrilling than gifted education, but I did trust her judgment. So during budget planning I included the NSDC conference in Seattle. I had always wanted to see Seattle and so what a great opportunity. Traveling alone to a conference was different for me. We usually always took lots of teachers to the G/T conferences so this conference was very different. Upon arriving at the hotel in Seattle, I checked in and arrived at my room. I was breathless. I had been given a corner room with glass on three sides……an unbelievable sight of the lights of Seattle. Wow, what a view, a vision …a metaphor for what was to come. The coming days at the conference were days that would linger for years in my mind. I knew no one, really, but every corner I turned was a welcoming face and friendly introduction. Every session I attended was better than the one before and all were amazingly oozing the hottest and most effective strategies for educators. Not just great things for gifted kids but for every child in our school. The focus on teaching and learning was evident and wow, most importantly for me – how to be the very best leader for staff development I could be. Upon my reflection I remember thinking about the power of the pre-conferences where I spent time learning deeply with a national expert. From that year forward for the next 25 years, I never missed a conference. NSDC became my private consultant and coach, guiding my choices and planning as I lead a district to be renowned for the professional development teachers and administrators received. My personal tutors became, Madeline Hunter, Art Costa, Tony Gregorc, Bob Garmston, David and Roger Johnson, Carl Glickman, Shirley Hord, Dennis Sparks, Michael Fullan and hundreds of incredible educators who touched my life forever. Learning up-close and personal was like no other experience in my life and a phone call to any one of the amazing leaders was like calling an old friend for help or advice. NSDC was my home and has become like family for the remainder of my life. I am forever grateful to all the colleagues from every state and country who taught me, shared with me, and laughed with me through three decades of an amazing experience and gift. They are and always will be NSDC.  Stephanie HirshAs we recognize NSDC’s 40th birthday, I want to celebrate the heart of NSDC, the many people who devote their energy to helping others grow. I am lucky that my professional growth was tied to so many leaders in NSDC’s history. I remember and celebrate:Tom Swenson, Lynn Chidley, and Judy Arin Krup: They facilitated my first learning experience with NSDC at a preconference for ASCD in NYC in the early eighties. Unfortunately NSDC has lost two of these amazing individuals. I think of Tom Swenson as my biggest advocate and am eternally grateful for his support. Carlene and Joe Murphy: Standing at an Atlanta 1986 booth in the lobby of a Denver hotel; they convinced me that I had to make plans to attend the next conference. Carlene was my model when it came to demonstrating the impact of our work by staying focused on the one thing you believe to produce the most significant results. Joe was warm and friendly and they both welcomed me into their home on several occasions. Nancy Vance: NSDC Board Member who invited me to join her for dinner one evening during my first NSDC Annual Conference in Denver in 1985 Annual Conference. Shirley Havens: As a naïve staff developer, I accepted NSDC’s invitation to host an institute in my community; I worked with Shirley Havens to ensure everything was in place and she trusted me with making arrangements that met NSDC standards. I know she wondered who I was, and I certainly had no idea that she would become one of the most influential people in my NSDC tenure. Steve Wlodarczyk and Sue Schiff: They came to Richardson (my school district) as NSDC staff to lead a two-day workshop on effective staff development. They were my first true friends in NSDC, but I remained quite intimidated. Susan Loucks-Horsley: Susan delivered a keynote address in Atlanta – at that moment I found confidence in my own abilities. She was authentic, talked to us in a conversational tone, and left us with new understanding. From that point on she was my role model, and I still miss her today. Dennis Sparks: He never flinched or laughed when I told him my three reasons why I could not consider applying for Associate Director of NSDC. He was patient, answered all my questions, and ultimately gave me the opportunity that shaped my career. He was by far the most significant mentor in my years in the number two role. Sybil Yastrow: Sybil is one of the key persons I remember when I attended my first board meeting as a staff member. Sybil was the only person I trusted with the Academy when it was time to pass the reins and the first volunteer I met as a staff person is still the lead volunteer as chair of NSDC Foundation. Joellen Killion: Like so many of you, I looked up to Joellen Killion and her colleague Cindy Harrison. They represented what I wanted to be able to do. When I got in trouble presenting my first ASCD institute and knew I had to make some changes before day 2, I turned to Joellen who coached me on the phone for several hours to redesign a workshop that would meet the needs of the attendees. We remained colleagues and friends forever after that. Steve Barone, Rob and Kathy Bocchino: They hosted my first workshop as an NSDC employee. I will always appreciate them for their patience and support. The support they showed me they also gave to the organization as a whole. Robin Arden and Audrey Hobbs: I was so nervous about crossing my first international border and Robin and Audrey taught me the ropes. In situation after situation they made sure that NSDC would not fail in its ventures into Canada. Diana Williams: Diana stole my heart with her stories about leadership and her commitment to urban children. Who will forget her presidential comments when she spoke to Tinkerbell? Shirley Hord: I don’t remember the exact occasion for our introduction, other than being totally intimidated. What I celebrate now are the many ways in which Shirley has enriched my professional life and the NSDC experience. Deborah Childs Bowen: Deborah introduced NSDC to the federal labs. She stepped on board to provide leadership for pilot school team conference. We developed a special friendship as we shared challenges of parenthood as well as professional development. Hayes Mizell : Hayes is undoubtedly the person who has had the greatest impact on me as executive director. From NSDC’s standards, assessing impact of professional learning, to a national study; Hayes has been the guiding hand that has given us the resources, advice, and encouragement to accomplish everything we set within our sights. Bill Sommers and Sue McAdamis and the NSDC BOT of 2007: You changed the course of my life when you agreed to hear my vision for NSDC and then offered me the position of executive director. This has been an amazing journey. I am fortunate to take it with the incredible NSDC staff and to be supported by selfless board members and 12,000+ supportive members. Pat ZigarmiIf Betty Dillon Peterson was the grandmother of the NSDC, I was probably its "mom" in the early years. I connected with Betty when I was the state director of staff development in San Diego in 1974. When we moved to Oxford, Ohio, I became the executive director of the fledgling organization. My home phone number from that time is still the number for the Council's office! The membership at that point could sit around a few tables -- we shared best practices and became a community of learning. But we yearned to reach out to others to share our thinking and learn from others. Over the next few years while I led the organization we expanded the newsletter, started the journal, organized one annual conference that was the highlight of my year. I recruited Shirley Havens to work with me part-time. In 1981 when I moved to California to start The Ken Blanchard Companies, she and I worked virtually for a few years until Blanchard took off and I resigned and Dennis stepped in to lead the exponential growth of the NSDC. I shepherded its early growth from about 1974 to 1984, from about 100 members to about 1000 members.It is remarkable how in these early days, we modeled the heart of our work in schools – we were resourceful, collaborative, curious, and very democratic in our decision making. We had almost no budget. We invented solutions on the spot. We wrote, edited, convened, collated, mailed, and built a data base all without excel or much technology at all, frankly. The NSDC experience was the foundation of all of my life's work – it is where I learned about change leadership, peer learning and coaching, business development, leadership development, and teacher centers. Two of the most important friends I made through my work in the Council are now gone -- Susan Loucks-Horsley and Carol Newman -- but their friendship and mentorship still guide me. I still hear their voices and benefit from their wise counsel every day. I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time about the power of the NSDC to reenergize a global commitment to education. What started in South Dakota and Texas and Illinois and Colorado and Nebraska will inevitably influence educational policy and practice around the world. The values of the organization in its infancy are still reflected in the spirit of the organization today. And that makes me very proud. PS – The tribute I received for my leadership of the Council still hangs on my office wall. It was the most treasured praising I've ever received from anyone, ever!  Terry Morganti-FisherThank heavens for NSDC! I realize reading our history that I'm second generation; however, when I first became an "official" professional developer in the last 1990's, I learned of NSDC. I had the good fortune to immediately join Academy VIII. Being an Academy member gave me the opportunity to learn to and from experts. Shirley Hord was and still is my revered mentor. What an amazing network to help me begin my professional development learning journey. Several years later I had the good fortune to be named the Director of Professional Development in my large urban school district, Austin (TX). Once again, I turned to NSDC. An NSDC audit gave us data that I leveraged into credible recommendations to guide our work. I called on the expertise of wonderful guides, Joellen Killion, Pat Roy, and Linda Munger to name some. They were always a phone call away to help facilitate our work giving credibility to what needed done to move the work forward.A few years ago it was time for me to repurpose my professional life. Once again I found myself turning to NSDC. I learned that I could continue "the work" of professional development at a different level carrying the message far beyond one district. I have the privilege of working at the state level as the president elect of Texas Staff Development Council, to embody the mission of moving NSDC's definition into my state. Happy Birthday, NSDC! I celebrate this milestone with deep appreciation for the power of our organization. Al BertaniI hold many fond memories of my affiliations with NSDC from over the years - Board Member, Conference Committee Member, Hosting the first Teacher Leadership Conference, NSDC's Customized Services, and work to establish the Illinois Staff Development Council. I have appreciated the opportunities to learn, grow, and serve as a member of the NSDC Community. As I scrolled through the roster of past Board Members, I value all of the contributions each of you have made to the organization. I will always treasure the relationships with friends and colleagues I have developed through the years. Happy B-Day NSDC - May you enjoy healthy and prosperous days in the years ahead!Sandee CrowtherPast President and former member of Board of TrusteesMember of the First Advanced Academy My memories of NSDC go back to the late 70's when I first met Dennis Sparks and was in charge of a federal grant that involved staff development. I joined to get the information and even got published in the original journal on a topic about effectively using technology and microcomputers. As Kansas started moving toward focusing on staff development and recertification I had my first opportunity to attend the 1987 conference in Seattle. I remember my preconference with Bruce Joyce and Bev Showers and the unique ideas of tying staff development to student achievement and the concept of coaching. At the time Lawrence had a new superintendant and wanted a program that would make a difference for new teachers that involved coaching. I have not missed a conference since that first one and NSDC truly impacted my work as the person responsible for professional development in our district. At the same time Kansas was interested in forming an affiliate and we were recognized as such in 1988 at the Chicago conference. Since then our affiliate has benefitted from NSDC's support with their annual meetings for affiliate leaders. Our first such event was in Breckinridge, CO in 1989 and there were only 7 of us present, but Ann Delehant did a great job of helping us look at the big picture. Eventually Stephanie Hirsh helped us with our first strategic plan and we have been flourishing ever since and actively involved. When the academy first got started some of us asked about those of us who had been working with staff development for awhile. Dennis invited interested person to form an NSDC Advanced Academy and we met in Ann Arbor in the summer of 1992. It was truly a group that created its own purposes and processes and I am proud to say 7 of us still meet regularly each year to share and learn together. All of the resources and conferences added to my knowledge base, skills and beliefs but what probably impacted me the most was serving on the Board of Trustees from 1994-98. I was at my orientation when we looked at possibly changing the name of the organization but trying to figure out how to keep all the things we valued. We continued to grow in numbers and our resources kept getting better. Joan Richardson became our editor and we saw changes in publications. A group was working on a process for people to become certified or be designated at Distinguished Staff Developers. A very proud moment while I was on the board was Lawrence, KS being named one of the 5 model professional development programs by the US Department of Education in 1996. The awards honored the NSDC value of tying professional development to student achievement. I loved the year in Nashville during my presidency with all the things Marty Richardson had done to make the conference so meaningful for everyone. My only regret was having laryngitis during my speech as president. After serving on the board of trustees my efforts went into helping the Kansas affiliate have an impact in our state. We were a part of the first Staff Development Leadership Councils which in Kansas eventually became the first affiliate for the Learning First Alliance. Over the years we have been fortunate to have NSDC staff or board members at our events in Kansas: Dennis Sparks, Stephanie Hirsh, Joellen Killion, and Bill Sommers. Our most recent success in Kansas was being a part of the NSDC Coaches Academy in 2007 and then establishing a KS Coaches Academy the following year patterned much like that of NSDC. Probably my proudest moment was when I received the Distinguished Staff Development Award in 2003. Yes, I had done a number of things that impacted professional learning, but I had gained all of that from NSDC to begin with and it was just a way of passing it on and building capacity in others. Happy Birthday NSDC and thanks for all you do and provide that impacts educators and students. Looking to the future! |
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