Annual Meeting Kicks Off with a Flurry
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Photo by Kevin Lock for RA Today
The 147th Annual Meeting of the National Education Association continues today with a flurry of meetings at the Convention Center around the theme: A Day of Hope and Change.
U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan starts the day’s events at 10:00 am on the RA floor (Hall G) with a Town Hall meeting with educators, hosted by NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. Duncan will share his views on quality education. Those attending will have the opportunity to present their ideas to him.
Next, in meeting room 8A, Alan Blankstein, founder and president of the HOPE Foundation and author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option™: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, will discuss hands-on approaches to school improvement. The HOPE Foundation promotes school cultures where failure is not considered an option for any student. That’s from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
In the afternoon, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in meeting room 6A, NEA Vice President Lily Eskelsen headlines Crossroads of Change: Communities on the Brink, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, scholar and author Michael Eric Dyson, film producer Moctesuma Esparaza, U.S. Representative Mike Honda (CA), and Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills.
