Message from the President
Happy Summer SCAEOP. The sultry southern heat has found us. I know that some of you work through the summer and some are at home basking in the sun or sunbathing on the beach. Wherever you may find yourself, I do hope that you are in a place of peace. If not, make the effort to use this time to find your “place of peace”. I work throughout the year and have found that I am always glad when the summer break is here. I love being around my colleagues but I also love having the quiet summer months to recoup from one year and re energize for the next. This is my “place of peace”. I took off for a few weeks just after our teachers were dismissed. My family and I traveled to Texas to visit family and then I spent a week at home doing absolutely nothing. While doing absolutely nothing can be very appealing at times (like a couple of days) I was very happy to be back at work this week. Driving home yesterday evening, I just felt different after returning to work. I felt rested and ready to give my all for the remainder of the summer.
I say all of this to say take time to invest in YOU during this break. YOU are important. We are taught to put others first and I do wholeheartedly agree with that; however, sometimes you need to stop and take the time to invest in yourself to be sure you are in a place to be able to give your all to others when the need calls. Re energize yourself and get ready to face the new school year with a fresh feeling. SCAEOP will continue to give you opportunities for growth in the coming months. I hope that you will take full advantage of these opportunities and invest in yourself to grow to your full potential. Please also take the time to share your SCAEOP experience with someone else and ask them to join with you and share the SCAEOP journey together.
I say all of this to say take time to invest in YOU during this break. YOU are important. We are taught to put others first and I do wholeheartedly agree with that; however, sometimes you need to stop and take the time to invest in yourself to be sure you are in a place to be able to give your all to others when the need calls. Re energize yourself and get ready to face the new school year with a fresh feeling. SCAEOP will continue to give you opportunities for growth in the coming months. I hope that you will take full advantage of these opportunities and invest in yourself to grow to your full potential. Please also take the time to share your SCAEOP experience with someone else and ask them to join with you and share the SCAEOP journey together.
Welcome Spring….I’m so glad you are here. Just a few weeks ago my husband and I along with a few other couples went on an outdoor JOurneY. Our hobby is riding side by sides in the great outdoors. I am very passionate about it and am always planning our next adventure before one ends. Our most recent adventure took us to the coal mining mountains of West Virginia. It was amazing to me on our first day of riding how quickly I felt myself just begin to relax as we began our ride that day. Most of our adventures mean we are going to be riding through some rough but beautiful terrain at a fairly quick pace and climbing some fairly tall mountains only to have to come back down them. We are usually among the few that opt for taking the tougher trails rather than taking the easier route. We are most assuredly going to get fairly dirty and downright muddy on some days - maybe even upside down. But you see this is what I am passionate about. I love the feeling of being in that environment. I find true JOy when I am in this element. I share this to encourage you to be sure to make time for yourself - do something just for fun and be passionate about it. You can see a few pictures of my passion HERE.
One of my other passions is YOU. I can’t believe it has only been two months since we started a new year at our annual conference in February. The term “time flies when you’re having fun” is definitely true. I have had the most fun serving you these past two months. Goals were set to make SCAEOP the best it can be for our members and we are seeing those efforts come to fruition. We have held our first book club and have already announced the start of our second one. We introduced not only one webinar series for you - but two. We promised an opportunity to hold a mid year professional development day and it has now taken shape as our SCAEOP Technology Fair set to be held September 25. But don’t worry - we won’t stop there. We are continuing to develop more opportunities for you to grow. Stay tuned!!!
One of my other passions is YOU. I can’t believe it has only been two months since we started a new year at our annual conference in February. The term “time flies when you’re having fun” is definitely true. I have had the most fun serving you these past two months. Goals were set to make SCAEOP the best it can be for our members and we are seeing those efforts come to fruition. We have held our first book club and have already announced the start of our second one. We introduced not only one webinar series for you - but two. We promised an opportunity to hold a mid year professional development day and it has now taken shape as our SCAEOP Technology Fair set to be held September 25. But don’t worry - we won’t stop there. We are continuing to develop more opportunities for you to grow. Stay tuned!!!
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the 2021-2022 SCAEOP President. I am excited and energized to go through this year with each one of you. Our theme this year is “The JOY is in the JOurneY”. I challenge each one of you to find joy in each day this year. Some days may be tougher than others but I challenge you to make the choice to find the joy. Be on the lookout this year for a virtual book club, a webinar series, as well as a mid year professional development day. My ultimate goal this year is to help make SCAEOP the best it can be for each one of our members. I am committed to you and will be here to support you all along the way.
Mary Beth Bowers, CEOE
2021-2022 President
