by Lindsey Edwards
Senior Director, Community Schools Partnerships
On Tuesday, July 21, United Way Salt Lake hosted the third annual Summer Convening for principals. Over the summer months, It has become tradition to bring all of the principals of Community Schools together to thank them for their hard work and dedication, celebrate our victories over the past school year, and lay the framework for the upcoming year.
We started the day by sharing the awards and honors we have received over the last year as a result of our partnerships. Kandie Barber, principal at Kearns Junior High, presented on the National Award for excellence that our community school initiative received from the Coalition for Community Schools. Then, Amber Clayton, principal of Granger Elementary, presented on our participation in the Young American Leaders Program through the Harvard Business School.
Caroline Moreno, Partnership Director, gave an overview of our systems-level work, and how it supports community schools. We then heard from Elizabeth Garbe on our upcoming legislative efforts to further support community school work. Just after lunch, we toured the United Way office so that principals could meet everyone in each department, and learn a little more about all of the work taking place to support our schools.
The afternoon sessions consisted of Community School Directors and principals working closely together to plan for the upcoming school year. It was such a great opportunity to bring everyone together to celebrate our work, and to think about our commitment to improvement for the next school year.
Thank you principals, community school directors, and all who made this day possible for LIVING UNITED!
