May 28, 2015
Dear IMSA Community,
As we roll through May, I wonder how this month with the shortest spelling can be one of our busiest and most exciting. I am reminded of how many special events, traditions and commemorations the IMSA community enjoys in May.
I spent Friday morning attending our faculty’s CADRE Presentations. CAreer Development Reinforcing Excellence “combines performance assessment and professional growth, empowering the IMSA faculty to define itself, hold itself accountable, and become leaders in educational transformation.” I was impressed with how our presenters de-privatized their teaching practices, and I appreciated their willingness to share what they’re learning and experimenting with in their classrooms with our students. I must say that Friday’s CADRE Presentations provided strong evidence of IMSA as an emerging learning laboratory and I feel that by building on CADRE, we will become a mature learning laboratory. Kudos to all of our CADRE presenters—my only regret was that I could not attend all the presentations!
Today I visited our sophomore class’s second annual Student Leadership Exchange (SLX) and was impressed with their presentations that showcased their Social Entrepreneurial Ventures (SEVs) and EnACT legislative bills. The 2014-2015 LEAD Co-Coordinators, Priya Trivedi and Lajvanthi Sudhakar, provided coordination of the event and our sophomores’ hard work was seen in their posters, projects and presentations that demonstrated their leadership skills in social change. The EnACT presentations were focused on the creation of a state-level piece of legislation that each EnACT class developed, and the Social Entrepreneurship presentations were group pitches of an SEV developed by differing focus groups. Well done!
Following the Student Leadership Exchange, I joined the IMSA community in the Auditorium for the annual Hollister Lecture. This year’s presenter was Dwan Prude (’97), who was the 2012 Convocation speaker and recipient of the 2013 Alumni Titan Award—an award that honors alumni, who through outstanding service to IMSA, advance the institution’s mission and work.
Tomorrow I’m flying to San Francisco to join our alumni for a Networking Reception at Jillian’s SF at the Metreon. It’s hosted by Charter Class of ‘89—Dan Frakes, Ray Dames, Marc Booth, Kevin Schraith, Eleanore Kim-Moon and Derek Wolfgram. I’d like to thank our West Coast alum in advance for joining me in the City by the Bay for what is sure to be an enjoyable evening! And when you have a moment, please take a look at our IMSA Alumni Association website. Here you’ll find ways to deepen your connection to the IMSA community, whether you live in Illinois or anywhere in the world.
There’s more to come over the next couple of weeks, so please stay tuned for more happenings during this mighty month of May!
José M. Torres