Lori's Blog

For educators, summer means many things: catching up on all the TV and books one missed during the school year; taking vacations; sleeping in; engaging in enriching and rejuvenating professional development . In addition to preparing for CATDC's Teaching Foundations program, I'm participating in an activity my coach and I call a "summer pilgrimage." Sometimes good professional development--the kind that helps augment one's practice in the classroom, in leadership, in schools as a whole--also needs to be good personal development. As research about mindfulness and wellness  floods online media sources, we know that if we don't engage in good habits of self care, we can't give to our schools (students, faculty, staff) in the ways we would most like. After completing my first year in administration, I needed a way to recharge this summer that allowed me the energy to prepare for what comes next. I love the work I do, and I am thrilled to be working with teac

I first became interested in road cycling about four years ago. I always had an affinity for the bike and the freedom that comes with it, but I never felt inclined to ride a bike for anything other than a mode of transport from one place to the next--as I made my way to the mall, the movies, classes on my college campus, friends' houses. When I first bought my road bike, I hadn't accounted for riding on anything more than a series of flat surfaces or small inclines, and I never imagined riding much beyond Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Admittedly, I was pretty freaked out by the small hill in my mostly "flat" neighborhood, and I wasn't convinced my brakes would save me from an impending fall. Given all the fears that arose for me, I never imagined that just nine months after buying my first road bike, I'd be signing up for AIDS/LifeCycle--and preparing to ride 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Enter Mary Vencill. For those who have b