Anyone who doubts that public school educators want to provide
the best education they can for students should have attended the
first meeting of the River Region Principals and Teachers Leadership
Academy on Saturday morning.
The new academy, sponsored by Envision 2020, plans to provide
ongoing leadership training for principals and lead teachers in the
five-county area that the organization serves -- Autauga, Elmore,
Lowndes, Macon and Montgomery.
The initial meeting was hosted by the Montgomery Advertiser
Saturday morning, and 60 principals and teachers and two
superintendents Carlinda Purcell from Montgomery County and Jeff
Langham from Elmore County heard a consultant discuss ways to
improve student writing as well as scores on the state writing
assessment given each spring. The first program was coordinated by
the Montgomery Public School System, which brought in a dynamic
reading consultant and author to lead the workshop.
When more than 60 educators give up a Saturday morning without
compensation to drive to Montgomery to learn about ways to improve
student learning, it says volumes about their dedication to their
craft.
We applaud the Envision 2020 organization for helping to organize
the academy, as well as the superintendents and curriculum directors
in the school systems in the River Region who support it. But most
of all, we salute those participants who took this opportunity to
learn new ways to help their students.