On January 27 and 28, Mississippi educators held the very first Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET2) event in Jackson. You can read more about this event here.

Attendee, Alicia Conerly, reflects on the event below.

After my recent return from the ECET2 conference, I felt refreshed, fired up, and  ready to work.

The conference was so inspiring to the teacher who attended with me.  She has even begun to formulate a plan for submitting a proposal to Donors Choose.

However, the educational system was recently dealt a blow that caused my fire to begin to feel smothered.  Then, on the drive home I felt my fire rekindled due to some inspiring words that came from our Superintendent of Education Dr. Wright during the conference.

We must fight for our children!

Now, we must fight even harder.  We must rally the troops, organize ECET2 and other educational organizations and plant our “BOOTS ON THE GROUND”!

Protecting our ideals and values of the educational system is at hand.  Working together with the same end goal in mind is the only thing that will save it.

Alicia Conerly taught Elementary, Middle, and High school science for seven and a half years.  She is the current Science Specialist for Hazlehurst City School District in Hazlehurst, MS.  She is the first Science Specialist in the history of the school district.  Conerly is married with three handsome young men.  “Intelligence Plus Character that is the Goal of True Education” is the famous quote that she lives by for education.