As the school year winds down (a world-wide phenomenon for teachers and administrators, whether they speak English or Spanish), La Junta de Educacion held a retreat for Rectores y administradores at La Oficina Diocesana. The topic involved strategies for bringing the school year to a positive close and featured a representative from a educational publishing company with experience as a motivational speaker, as well as Diocesan staff members with responsibility for budget and finance.
Much of the day, though, was spent with the nuts-and-bolts of bringing el ano escolar to a successful conclusion. The Bishop spoke at length about new directions for the Episcopal schools and highlighted the creation of a Diocesan Departamento de Educacion. He also took many questions and attended closely to comments by participants. Miguelina Jorge served as facilitator and Melvina Dinsey closed the day with comments about the values that Episcopal schools must espouse. I spoke briefly (I was advised to take 5 minutes . . . I took 7 . . . about as brief as I can get!) about my work as consultant to La Junta de Education.
A terrific day. An example of the sorts of things that the Diocese (on its own initiative) is doing to improve its school system. The pictures tell the story.
My time here is drawing to a close. I will leave como un chico feliz because of events like this one. A Big Day Tuesday indeed!
An Educational Missionary in the Dominican Republic 