In 2024, women may not need other women to help them get a job in educational leadership, but they certainly can use the coaching and mentorship of their colleagues to prepare for and to perform in those jobs and to cope with the challenges or leading and learning. Several years ago, the TOSS ALI agenda added a Women in Educational Leadership event to our schedule each year. From those one-day events, we evolved into a three-part annual series of events that we call the Three Cs of Leadership. I am happy to introduce part one of our three-part series: Women and Leadership Cohort 2023-2024: Coaching, Creating, and Coping. All TOSS ALI members and SLI members are invited to join us as we learn more about coaching others, mentoring for success, and leading to support learning in Tennessee’s schools.
We will hear presentations from Mischelle Simcox, Lori Sexton, and Yolanda Dandridge. Dr. Yolanda Dandridge currently serves as the founding principal of Capstone Educational Group’s (CEG) fourth school, Cornerstone Prep School serving communities in the Memphis area. She recently served the Achievement School District as Chief of School Accountability and Compliance and has had a variety of roles in education, including time as a classroom teacher and principal. We have asked Dr. Dandridge to share with us how she sees coping, coaching, and mentoring supporting her own work and the work of teachers and student learning under her leadership. Each presenter will share their experiences with coaching both in schools, in their careers, and in the community. Dr. Simcox is the current Superintendent of Johnson County Schools, serves on the TOSS Board, and will help us learn how her work in the office, as a mother, an athlete, and an advocate for public education helps her cope with the rigors of the job in 2024. We will also learn from Lori Sexton from Bedford County Schools. Lori currently serves as her system’s Director of Career and Technical Education. Since one of our top five focus topics this year has been on ‘The World of Work’ and student readiness, I asked Ms. Sexton to present today and share her work in what was once a non-traditional field. These three presenters come to use from very different geographic locations, literally representing far west, far east, and middle Tennessee. They also come to us from varied roles and with a variety of challenges. I think this will be an event that ALL ALI members will want to attend on February 7, 2024.
This is part one of our three-part series. We focused on Coaching and Mentoring in the fall, and we are following up with some overlap requested on that area, plus our work with “coping” in this winter 2024 event. This spring, for our final 'Women in Leadership Cohort' series in May, we will dive more deeply into the concept of creating in leadership. I hope you can attend any or all these events and learn how to coach, cope, and create as a woman in leadership or with the women you have on your leadership teams.
***4 TASL CREDITS APPROVED***
