Archive

June 2012

I am reading a book by David Allen called “Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” and it is resonating with me on many levels. As I read this book – trying to figure out how to better organize my life so that I can respond to the right things at the right time and not let minor or major interruptions control my life, my balance, and my plans – I think about how we prepare students for the constant new demands and insufficient resources they...
May 2012

Happy Spring! It is such a wonderful time of the year for those of us who experience all four seasons. This is a time of renewal - birds are chirping, trees are budding and the grass is turning green before our eyes. The sandals come out, the winter coats come off and we all drink in the wonderful Vitamin D that we have been lacking for so many months. Collectively, we feel a sense of renewal - we have cocooned by our fireplaces with our hot toddies and are ready for outdoor sports, boats...
March 2012

Greetings! When it comes to customer service, at times we need to be reminded not only of who our customers are but ask ourselves, "Are we serving those customers?" I was very excited to receive a student survey conducted by the Volusia County Ford NGL Community. Volusia County, well-known for Daytona, its beaches - and of course, the famous Daytona International Speedway - is also becoming well known within our network of Ford NGL communities for its innovative approaches to...
February 2012

File this story under: Timely! I was struck by a point the president made in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. He suggested it was time that all states required high school students to stay in school until they graduate or turn 18 years old. It made me think: even if states require it, and evidently 21 states do, would that alone keep students in school? Are dropout rates significantly lower in states with this requirement? The New York Times ran an...
January 2012

Greetings! Happy New Year on behalf of Ford Motor Company Fund and the Ford Next Generation Learning team! I hope you are filled with wonderful memories from 2011 and that 2012 is filled with health and happiness. It is the 27th of December, and my husband and I are doing the 21-hour drive from Michigan to Florida for a little respite from the breathtaking chaos of the holidays. As my thoughts move from the incredible work and accomplishments of Ford NGL in 2011 to my hopes for...
December 2011

Happy Holidays! WAIT, did I really just type "Happy Holidays?" As I sit here on this gloomy day, covered in my grandmother's handmade afghan with the Detroit Lions football game on TV as the leaves swirl outside, I guess it is not hard to believe that it is December already. Funny, when you were young and "older" people would tell you that time flies when you get older, you thought they were crazy. Suddenly, you are older, and you realize they were right...
November 2011

FIRST, WE LEARN As I sat down to write this article for the inaugural Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL) newsletter, I thought about what we have learned in the journey that Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS) has taken over the past ten years as it has morphed into Ford Next Generation Learning. It started in 2001 when Ford Motor Company Fund made a commitment to focus on how to help educators bring relevance and 21st century skill building to the classroom as a way to...