Love. Love. Love. Education. Education. Education. Community. Community. Community.

Last night, the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield sponsored the Connect with Kids Network and the Community of Fairfield for a special screening of Defining Us: Children at the Crossroads of Change, with special guests, Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Columbia University, Dr. Shannon King, Fairfield University, Maurice Nelson, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Sacred Heart University, Robert Johnson, Multicultural Center, Sacred Heart University, and Digna Marte, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Fairfield Public Schools.

The film was part of the diversity, equity, and inclusivity project envisioned for Fairfield Warde High School, to host a community conversation about education in Connecticut: opportunity, curriculum, and the future of U.S. schooling.

Much applause to Stacey Dewitt for her artistry and leadership, and to Tammie Workman for representing Kentucky and for being the educator in Chief with heart and mind.

I told Yolanda that I needed to recreate an iconic photo  (a picture my mother has always loved) as part of the evening. And it happened. 

That is Yolanda. Love. Love. Love. 

Education, Education, Education. Out respect for Abu and Lossine (3 things one needs to make it in this world). Community. Community. Community (three things that help any individual to achieve). 

The Fairfield Community theater was a gorgeous location to host the screening and conversation, and the best part of it for me was to see so many of the Connecticut Writing Project teacher-leaders in the audience, many of whom brought their students. 

This morning, I'm off to the Vicki Soto 5K, after picking up my brilliant friend from the Marriot and getting her to the Amtrak on time -- back to NYC she goes to do her inspirational work.

Many thanks to Dr. Rich Novack who had the vision for bringing all of us together for an evening with several community members. He's a fast, slick, and quick mover and when he gets an idea in his head, he doesn't cease until it moves into reality.

I'm much grayer than I was when a photographer first captured a similar picture of Yolanda and me hugging. Perhaps there isn't a better hugger on the planet.

I am a better human being because of her. Yolanda's scholarship is immeasurable and her aura around the beauty of teaching children is monumental. The influence she's had on my mind is ongoing and forever.

The event is definitely one of my greatest moments and I'm thrilled to have been a part of it. 

For years, the Bridgeport Higher Education Alliance worked together in support of K-12 schools and what is possible. That dismantled as retirements occurred, Presidents change, and Covid hit. Perhaps that is something that needs to be on my radar once again - a unification of powerful institutions in the region to have similar conversations with one another....removing competition, isolation, advancement, and privilege for the benefit of the homes, people, and youth around us.

But now, I'm off to the Vicki Soto 5K, with last night's event fueling my haphazard attempt to get back into the swing of things. I know I will walk, but also night I had a dream that my injuries subsided and I could fly. How nice that would be.