Dear Colleagues,

Every day of the year I am grateful for the opportunity to work with educators and staff who care deeply about young people and open doors for them to pursue their dreams and find success through multiple pathways to learning. Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful that we work in school communities that value young people and make decisions responsive to student needs. Just this past week, I had the privilege of sharing with two state legislative committees and at the White House, your extraordinary contributions to our students. The impact of education on our next generation of leaders is a subject that continues to generate high interest at all policy levels of government. Thanks to your efforts, Albemarle County Public Schools has a great deal to add to this discussion.

Unleashing student potential is an oft-stated leadership goal of our division, and that was the central theme of my comments this past week. In fact, I talk about this every chance I get. Our students are amazing, from the high school student who recently was selected to deliver a TED talk, to the middle school student whose invention was selected as the most promising new business idea at Startup Weekend EDU, to the elementary school students who learned about Newton’s Law through their experience with a hovercraft brought to their classroom by a UVA professor.

What you do well is empower students to become leaders … in how they think, create, apply knowledge, work together, communicate, and treat one another.

Tools indeed are important. The learning pathways unlocked by technology in our division are impressive: high speed Internet empowers drama students to Skype with and learn from award-winning Broadway actors; gain eyewitness accounts about the Arab Spring from a participant in Cairo’s central square; replicate Civil War battlefields using 3D printing; engage in online discussions with university scientists; and collaborate around the clock with their peers on student-designed projects.

Even more impressive, though, is process. It takes all of us to make our division a place where young people can be successful. This is as true on our buses as it is in our cafeterias, classrooms, and support spaces. It is true in our libraries as well. Many of our libraries have become the hub of activity in our schools, offering a broad variety of programs for students, from music studios to maker spaces, from “genius bars” to hacker spaces, from quiet corners where poems are written to active studios where 3D projects are designed and printed. This is as true in our elementary schools as it is in our middle and high schools.

The thrust of my message to state and federal officials was that the men and women of Albemarle County Public Schools—educators, classified staff, and volunteers—understand education today and understand, as well, that the future of our communities can no longer depend upon the factory school model of the 20th century.

I love the passion, determination and boldness each one of you brings to learning.

Have a happy Thanksgiving,

Pam