I will begin with a quick thank you to those who have helped and encouraged me over the years – my family, my friends, and my DKG sisters. In particular my thanks to Janet for her mentoring during the last two years, in preparation for this moment.
2019 – For Ninety years this organization has been promoting personal and professional growth in women educators, and “ excellence in education.” Consider for a few moments our Delta Kappa Gamma founders and the times they lived in. They experienced world wars, The Great Depression, and all sorts of progress in transportation from horses to air travel.
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International was formed because these events were causing profound changes in families and education. Women teachers were needed to fill available positions and they wanted to have input on the policies that controlled their professional lives. The organization developed its mission and purposes and those ideas remain vibrant today.
But as life changed they adapted, they grew more leaders, they debated, they found more members, they persisted, and they have become International. And YES, they changed.
With the recent reworking of our International Constitution, many of us are saying, Stop, NO, Uh Uh, No Way, Not Doing It. And frankly, I feel that way too.
But wait, “Reality Check”, life is all about change and even more important -
how we manage change. Our founders experienced profound changes throughout their lives and while they built traditions, they also foresaw the need for flexibility.
With Praise and Possibilities, President Janet led us through the struggle of the last International Convention and worked with her Colorado Teams to make sense of the changes that were voted on. I thank Janet for the scholarship and leadership that she displayed. With her encouragement the Teams are evaluating how we can accomplish our alignment with the new rules while keeping our values intact.
Let’s thank her once again for all her efforts on our behalf.
I am honored to be your 2019-2021 Colorado DKG President. I feel a great deal of responsibility to carry on the legacy of the founders while navigating the current educational challenges and continuing to exert leadership on into the future. With that in mind, my theme for the next two years will be
Pursuing the Treasures of DKG – Past, Present, and Future!
Speaking of Searching for Treasure. Did you do your Spring Cleaning this year? Been to the back of your closets recently? I must say that I am a reluctant house cleaner, which is another way of saying, “I don’t like change.” But when I do venture in to clean a closet or drawer or garage, I am tired when I get done.; but I am also surprisingly energized, because I am able to pass on things to others that I no longer need; I clean out the dust bunnies or dust elephants in some cases. And that makes space; it lets the light in. I am stimulated to see new possibilities. A weight is lifted, and I find treasures that I had forgotten..
How long has it been since your DKG chapter did a good “Spring Cleaning”? Have you ‘gone deep’ to look at which members have hidden talents that would be treasured by others if they were only shared? Have you updated your archives and cleaned out the duplication and irrelevant? Is your chapter archive stored in a safe place to preserve your chapter history? Do you “bring out” your scrap books from time to time and have your older members share about the good times and the good old days. Do you reuse the good ideas and recycle the ones that no longer fit?
There are a lot of valuable treasures in our DKG past, and just possibly a map to future good fortune.
DKG International is challenging us. – By working together now, we will be ready for any new amendments forthcoming from the International Convention in 2020.
It’s easy to procrastinate, and to hope by putting it off, we just won’t have to deal with it. But we really don’t have that luxury to wait. If we care about Delta Kappa Gamma, we have to be a part of the process.
I urge you to join me in Pursuing the Treasures of DKG – Past, Present, and Future!
As we set our course for the next biennium --
We will Honor the legacy of our heritage --
We will share the treasure of our members our leadership and our friendships --
We will embrace the responsibility of promoting excellence at all levels of education --
And Foremost, we will recognize change as the “Wind behind our Sails” that provides the opportunities to explore and promote the Treasures of Delta Kappa Gamma!
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to grow, but please know that I cannot do this job without all of you!
2019 – For Ninety years this organization has been promoting personal and professional growth in women educators, and “ excellence in education.” Consider for a few moments our Delta Kappa Gamma founders and the times they lived in. They experienced world wars, The Great Depression, and all sorts of progress in transportation from horses to air travel.
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International was formed because these events were causing profound changes in families and education. Women teachers were needed to fill available positions and they wanted to have input on the policies that controlled their professional lives. The organization developed its mission and purposes and those ideas remain vibrant today.
But as life changed they adapted, they grew more leaders, they debated, they found more members, they persisted, and they have become International. And YES, they changed.
With the recent reworking of our International Constitution, many of us are saying, Stop, NO, Uh Uh, No Way, Not Doing It. And frankly, I feel that way too.
But wait, “Reality Check”, life is all about change and even more important -
how we manage change. Our founders experienced profound changes throughout their lives and while they built traditions, they also foresaw the need for flexibility.
With Praise and Possibilities, President Janet led us through the struggle of the last International Convention and worked with her Colorado Teams to make sense of the changes that were voted on. I thank Janet for the scholarship and leadership that she displayed. With her encouragement the Teams are evaluating how we can accomplish our alignment with the new rules while keeping our values intact.
Let’s thank her once again for all her efforts on our behalf.
I am honored to be your 2019-2021 Colorado DKG President. I feel a great deal of responsibility to carry on the legacy of the founders while navigating the current educational challenges and continuing to exert leadership on into the future. With that in mind, my theme for the next two years will be
Pursuing the Treasures of DKG – Past, Present, and Future!
Speaking of Searching for Treasure. Did you do your Spring Cleaning this year? Been to the back of your closets recently? I must say that I am a reluctant house cleaner, which is another way of saying, “I don’t like change.” But when I do venture in to clean a closet or drawer or garage, I am tired when I get done.; but I am also surprisingly energized, because I am able to pass on things to others that I no longer need; I clean out the dust bunnies or dust elephants in some cases. And that makes space; it lets the light in. I am stimulated to see new possibilities. A weight is lifted, and I find treasures that I had forgotten..
How long has it been since your DKG chapter did a good “Spring Cleaning”? Have you ‘gone deep’ to look at which members have hidden talents that would be treasured by others if they were only shared? Have you updated your archives and cleaned out the duplication and irrelevant? Is your chapter archive stored in a safe place to preserve your chapter history? Do you “bring out” your scrap books from time to time and have your older members share about the good times and the good old days. Do you reuse the good ideas and recycle the ones that no longer fit?
There are a lot of valuable treasures in our DKG past, and just possibly a map to future good fortune.
DKG International is challenging us. – By working together now, we will be ready for any new amendments forthcoming from the International Convention in 2020.
It’s easy to procrastinate, and to hope by putting it off, we just won’t have to deal with it. But we really don’t have that luxury to wait. If we care about Delta Kappa Gamma, we have to be a part of the process.
I urge you to join me in Pursuing the Treasures of DKG – Past, Present, and Future!
As we set our course for the next biennium --
We will Honor the legacy of our heritage --
We will share the treasure of our members our leadership and our friendships --
We will embrace the responsibility of promoting excellence at all levels of education --
And Foremost, we will recognize change as the “Wind behind our Sails” that provides the opportunities to explore and promote the Treasures of Delta Kappa Gamma!
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to grow, but please know that I cannot do this job without all of you!