A new learning opportunity . . .

I am in New York with a team from our high school and representatives from PEI and E3Washington for a conference developed by SOL and Peter Senge. The focus of the conference is on sustainability and systems thinking. I was able to attend last year and am excited that we are able to bring our high school principal, Terry Duty, two teachers developing a new tenth grade integrated program Matt Tucker and Clare Nance, and four students, Amy Althauser, Michael Miller, Cort Hammond, and Jordyn Sifferman. These young people will be engaging with other students from across the country, forming partnerships, and guiding the adults in looking at ways to have a positive influence on our communities and our world.

We are staying at the Garrison Institute, an old monastery about an hour outside of New York City. In line with the theme of the conference it is strictly vegetarian and the facility has maintained the meditation rooms. It is certainly a place to get away with no TV, radio, vending machines, or places close by to shop for a diet coke. The rooms are small with communal bathrooms/showers, but there is a hot tub on our floor in the men’s room.

It is about 9:20 pm here and I am in the 3rd floor lounge where they have wireless access. Outside the window there are fire flies doing their thing. I have seen them before, but not in these numbers (I think it was last year in Vermont) and spread out like this. Over the next few days I will share our learning and experiences as we are guided by Peter, SOL representatives, and representatives from the Cloud Institute.