NASSP Luncheons

Food for Thought

Enjoy entertaining, thought-provoking presentations while networking with colleagues over lunch at the Circus Circus Reno Hotel on Friday, March 17, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. NASSP luncheons require a ticket to attend and are open to all registered attendees and guests. Tickets can be purchased using the Registration and Ticketed Events Payment form found inside, and will be included in your preregistration packet mailed in early March, 2006. (Though NASSP School Luncheons are distinguished by separate school leaders’ roles, all Convention registrants are welcome to sign-up for any one of the three luncheon programs offered.)

High School Leaders Luncheon

NASSP in Cooperation with The Horace Mann Companies

Then What? A Story About the Past, Present, and Future of Technology and Learning

After gobs of glitzy digital gear, endless excruciating software upgrades, computers that teach math, and robots that clean houses, Then What? Listen to the story of William Tell, hero of Jason Ohler’s novel about living and learning in the Digital Age. Then What? is a fun, serious, rollercoaster of a story about the personal transformation of a computer savant who goes from geeker to seeker to teacher to innovative designer of new schools for new times. It is a story about why art is now the fourth R, education is now a buyer’s market, the attitude is the aptitude, and storytelling is our primary pedagogy. Above all, it is a story about how we absolutely must rethink our schools if we are going to prepare our kids for the lives they will live, rather than the lives we are used to.

Presenter
Jason Ohler, President’s Professor,
Educational Technology and Distance
Learning, University of Alaska, and President,
, Juneau, AK

Assistant Principals Luncheon

NASSP in Cooperation with Virco Inc.

Connecting, Solving, Succeeding: Developing the Passion to Close the Gap

Connecting with today’s youths requires understanding the challenges that students face, especially “at promise” youths. Solving this mystery begins with believing that every student can succeed and live their dreams, in spite of those challenges. Succeeding at this way of operating requires passion at every level. Developing the “passion to close the gap” reveals the motivational infrastructure necessary to help students connect today’s education with tomorrow’s dream, thereby closing the achievement gap.

Presenter
Darrell “Coach D” Andrews,
Educational Consultant, Speaker, and Author,
New Castle, DE

Middle Level Leaders Luncheon

NASSP in Cooperation with Scholastic Inc.

You Can Do the Job, But Why Go at It Alone?

In this inspiring call-to arms, Jamie Vollmer presents a powerful case for the need to change. While uplifting his audience and praising their success, he also exposes a growing gap between what schools provide and what children need.

Vollmer examines the threats arising from multiplying mandates, shifting demographics, media hype, and a changing economy and argues that public trust is public education’s most precious resource and the foundation for continuous improvement.

Vollmer’s presentation includes the popular “blueberry story” and a discussion of the mental affliction known as “nostesia” — an ailment composed of 50% nostalgia and 50% amnesia — that prevents Americans from appreciating their schools’ achievements. With humor, logic, and statistics, administrators are urged to begin a new conversation to increase community support for the nation’s schools.

Presenter
Jamie Vollmer, Nationally Renowned Speaker,
Author, Attorney, Businessman, and Public
School Ally, Fairfield, IA