My First Ed.Board

I am a bit reluctant to talk about today. After all, I don't want to come across as some juvenile recounting his first kiss, but the truth is that until I become old hat at this, there is a newness about the "firsts" of anything related to the official role I have in this new world of conference administration.
Today I had the opportunity to experience my first Education Board as a superintendent. I have served on Education Boards before, as a teacher representative and as a minister, back in a previous life in Southern California. But this is different. I am the person responsible for the meeting.
First of all, I put the agenda together. Putting agendas together is not a new experience, by any means. But I have my own ideas, learned over the years, regarding how a board should function. But here I was referring back to agenda samples of my predecessor to see how things were done here. That was uncomfortable, but I managed to put together a working agenda that would not raise many eyebrows. I succeeded to that extent, but I was not satisfied.
Secondly, there was the matter of a Superintendent's Report. The previous occupant of the office I now work in had a personal way of making his report. They were scripted-- from the "good afternoon" at the beginning to the "thank you" at the end of the report. I am not a script person. I am more an outline sort of person. But I understand the need for a tangible report that provides salient information that the Education Board members can digest. I think I created an outline that provided more information than needed. The good news is that I was able to begin to lift the veil to the plans for the future of Adventist Education in Arizona.
If the fact that a report elicits questions and inquiries is a good indicator that the presentation was effective, then I was successful to that extent as well. It was exciting to see people begin to ask questions regarding possible future initiatives. There is a lot to do. No one person can accomplish what needs to take place. Perhaps in time we will look back at this meeting as the one that began the march towards a new day in Adventist Education. Maybe all new administrators feel this way. How long before I blend back into the gray backdrop of compliance and accommodation?

Having those words come out of my mouth gives me a sense of excitement mixed with hefty dose of reality. I want to be an agent of change, but I cannot help but wonder what will become of the dreams and goals over time. No question there is a certain amount of self-doubt. That can be an asset, I suppose, since it will keep me from becoming full of myself. This is, after all, not about me. I still believe it is a God thing. I am just honored to be along for the ride.
My nephew, AJ, flew in this afternoon. He is taking his boards in town tomorrow morning. I have a 5:30 a.m. wake up call (and my blogging session was interrupted by an hour and a half phone discussion with my son Robert, regarding the balance between being a Scripture-led and Spirit-led Christian). Good morning! Time for bed!