For the past 2 summers, I've been able to participate in a couple of camps put on by our friends at Jostens. In 2017, I attended a conference where teachers and students came together to talk about school culture. As a principal, that was risk-taking stuff because traveling with kids is hard. It takes a lot supervision and adult planning. Add to it, however, that it is summer AND you are traveling across the country, well you are out on a limb. Thank God that Jostens has a bigger vision than I. In this environment, amazing work was accomplished by adults and students working together. Being in a new surrounding added to the ambiance and I watched our young leaders rise to the level of expectation in maturity. It also helped establish the tone of student leadership for the upcoming year.
I traveled to Florida in 2018 and participated in a teacher camp where Yearbook advisors traveled from around the country to receive tips and training on how to put together a new student yearbook. I really enjoyed my limited moments with these folks and was genuinely appreciative of the idea that this pretty large of educators gave up a week of their time for the sake of the team. The real hero here, though, is Jostens. They sell a bunch of class rings, graduation announcements, and yearbooks for sure. But they also invest a lot back in the name of school culture. I don't begrudge any business the ability to make money in or around our school in a legitimate way. Many do. Not too many invest it back, though. So, thank you Jostens for making community partnerships a real thing.