LM May 2023

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Reimagining

In April, IASA launched a new cohort for rural educators, Reimagining Rural Leadership. On the IASA Podcast, Dr. Courtney Orzel, Todd Dugan, Dr. Jennifer Garrison and Larry Lovel discussed what participants can expect in the new cohort. The following is a condensed and edited version of that conversation.

Click here for the entire podcast.

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Why was it important for IASA to launch a new cohort for rural educators? Dr. Orzel —Our association is all about serving our superintendents. I think the reason it is important is because Illinois is an extremely diverse state. We have 850-plus school districts, and everyone is very, very different. Dugan —I wouldn’t say rural schools are overlooked, but it’s definitely a needed area of focus for professional development. All to often in smaller rural districts, with smaller staffs, we have a hard time getting away for quality PD. I thought this hybrid format was a good way to bring a high level of PD to rural educators who need it. Dr. Garrison —We often wear many hats as rural educators. I’ll use finance as an example. Maybe the area of finance is keeping somebody from taking that next step to applying to be a superintendent. I think what we have to do in rural communities is understand that we’re

What was the process for getting an IASA cohort approved? Dr. Orzel —Todd has got a lot of really great ideas and a ton of energy, and so he came forward with the idea of thinking about what this could look like in Illinois. We were able to engage people like Larry, Jennifer and other thought partners across the state. I then took it to the Professional Development Committee. What I thought was really interesting is that people here to support one another and that we can help build those capacities. While we expect ourselves to be experts in every single category in the area of education, that’s often unrealistic. We need to learn to focus on our strengths and then build a wonderful team around us to support our areas of growth or weaknesses.

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LM May 2023