Working...
October 3, 2022
Dear Community,
I began preparing to be the Pleasant Hill school Superintendent months prior to the first day of my contract. One part of preparing for a career as a Superintendent was attending conferences targeted at new Superintendents.
On June 29, I became a proud alumni of the Aspiring Superintendent's Academy (ASA). I was accepted to the seventh cohort of the ASA which is an annual academy hosted by the Illinois Association of School Administrators and led by Dr. Michael Lubelfeld, superintendent of North Shore SD #112; Dr. Courtney Orzel, IASA Associate Director of Professional Development; and Dr. Nick Polyak, Leyden Community High School District #212.
The cost of the academy is $1,750 per participant. I was chosen as a recipient of a scholarship that covers the full cost of the tution and is awarded to a candidate who shows ambition and promise as an aspiring Superintendent. During the five-day academy, I worked with aspiring Superintendents from around the state and participated in immersive learning experiences that will assist me in my work as a Superintendent. I participated in daily networking dinners and was able to grow my professional learning network and build relationships that will hopefully last the rest of my career and lifetime.
After attending the ASA, I jumped straight into the life of a Superintendent where I spent 3 busy weeks before attending the New Superintendent's Conference in Springfield, Illinois at the Abe Lincoln Hotel. There is no cost for new Superintendents to attend this conference. The two-day conference covered a variety of topics including board relations, board meeting preparation, school finance, technology, media relations, school law and personal health.
At the end of September I attended my last conference for the school year, The Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) Conference in Springfield, Illinois at the Bank of Springfield Center. I attended this conference with a large group of Superintendents from the Two Rivers Region including Winchester, Triopia, Quincy, Pikeland, and Griggsville-Perry among others. The Winchester and Triopia Superintendents were each featured on the main stage, and I enjoyed listening to their perspectives on current trends in their districts and the state. The most useful breakout session I attended was facilitated by a district in Lake County and covered preparation for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness which is administered to grades 3-8.
Attending three multi-day conferences in twelve weeks was exhausting, but I am grateful for the experiences and knowledge from these conferences and the professional network I built by attending. I look forward to learning more from the people and the conferences next year.
Sincerely,
Kylee Orr