PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

The Tri Association’s Annual Educators Conference was a spectacular success with over 800 participants once again this year, thanks to our a group of eloquent, creative speakers and workshop presenters, and the hard work of the Carol Morgan staff and parents.

Ms. Carol Carter, a national and international college and career success author and speaker, opened the Tri Association Conference with an informative and inspiring keynote address entitled “The Global Competition for Talent: Workshop Force Readiness in a Restricted Economy.”

Pat Bassett, President of the National Association of Independent Schools, keynoted on the theme of right-brained creativity, rooted in concepts developed by Daniel Pink in A Whole New Mind, Exploring Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century.

In her keynote, Dr. Carolyn McKanders presented the Polarity Management framework. The underlying principles of this concept provide a practical set of resources for dealing with all polarities in life.

The Association of American Schools of Central America, Colombia, Caribbean & Mexico presented The Paul G. Orr Award to Mr. Jack Delman, Director of the Carol Morgan School and former president of AASCA, ACCAS and the Tri-Association, to express our deep appreciation for his outstanding leadership, work and commitment to the Tri-Association and the region’s schools, exemplified by myriad contributions. These include his roles as:

• educational mentor for many throughout the region,
• leadership of the Central American and the Colombian-Caribbean regions and the Tri-Association during his career,
• support offered to many schools in the area of technology and school improvement for the benefit of the students,
• assistance in hosting the Tri-Association’s Annual Educators’ Conference on three occasions.

The Tri-Association 2009 Community Service Award was presented to the American School of Puerto Vallarta for its outstanding Community Service Project, Leer y Crecer. The School began the project under the leadership of Jerry Selitzer, Director, and the leadership of Ms. Lisa Schalla-Salgado and Elise Langley.

Our conference provided participants with an outstanding array of hands-on sessions supporting the conference theme and our vision. Fourteen pre-conference institutes were designed to provide in-depth treatment of Cognitive Coaching, the Adaptive School, Developing the Reading Brain,
Increasing Language Proficiency and Academic Achievement of English Learners, Assessment, NWEA Training, AP Science and AP English and English Literature, NEAS&C Accreditation Training, the SACS/CASI AdvancED Institute and 8th CIS/Tri-Association Counselors’ Institute.

Our deepest appreciation goes to all of our fine consultants who assisted us in the Conference:

Our sincere thanks go also to our corporate members and exhibitors, as well as to sponsoring members, ATD-American, Buffalo State, SUNY, Cengage Learning, Council of International Schools, College Board, EBSCO, FCD Educational Service, Follet, Framingham State College, George Mason University, Houghton Mifflin, Insurance Services International, ISS Financial Services and Insurance Network, ISS, Jennifer Nelson LLC/Children’s plus Inc. K12, Lakeshore Learning Materials, Lifelong Learning, Inc., McGraw Hill, mimio, NEAS&C, Pearson Education, Pearson Educational Assessment Group, Perma-Bound, Rand McNally, Rediker, Scholastic, TIE Care, SACS/CASI, University of Alabama and VIF.

We thank Mr. Chris Lambert, Chargé de Affaires and Mrs. Lambert , his staff at the Embassy of the United States of American for the hospitality and support received.

We thank the Aemrican School Foundation of Quito for lending us Martha Lucia Almeida to help with registrationa and mnay other conference arrangements.

We thank the MC School for their support with special gifts.

A group of local businesses supported our Dominican Night celebration, and to them we offer our deep gratitude:

We also thank the Carol Morgan mothers who contributed to making the Conference a success:

Ana María Marranzini
Cynthia Cunillera
Dinorah de Selman
Elizabeth Hazim
Karen Cardona
Karina Camasta
Mary Montás
Natalie Selman de Debes
Orly de Toribio
Patsy Mejía
Sylvia Selman
Tania Gautreaux
Yolanda Mangieri

A very special thanks to our outstanding hosts: Mr. Jack Delman, Director of the Carol Morgan School, and Sr. Jorge Besosa, President, and the Carol Morgan School Board, staff, parents and students. We also salute the Carol Morgan School Steering Committee for their outstanding work:

Hospitality Committee - Ligia Puello
Music/Entertainment - Antonia Ticona
Transportation - Patricia O’Rourke
Spouse Program - Nancy Urbaez
Registration - Neyda Marti
Audiovisual - Laura Tolone
Decoration - Elizabeth Pedemonte
Name Tags & Certificates - Ivette Rodrigo
Bags Committee - Aida Delgado
Dominican Night - Carmen Espinal

Finally, thanks to the Tri-Association community for Preparing for the Future.

Dr. Jeff Keller, Director of the American School Foundation of Monterrey, Mexico, has invited the Tri-Association community to Monterrey next year for our Annual Educators’ Conference, October 11-15, 2010.