Special Olympics plans Columbia training center

Proud to work with Special Olympics Missouri on this special announcement by University of Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel and the head of Centene, Michael Neidorff. They announced a practice facility for athletes - the first of its kind in the nation at a press conference yesterday at Mizzou!

Special Olympics plans Columbia training center

Making the Most of Athlete Philanthropy

For a number of years, I've had the opportunity to work in sports, particularly in the areas of communications and philanthropy. Here I profile Van Le, the new head of The Sports Philanthropy Project!

Making the Most of Athlete Philanthropy

Skandalaris workshop to showcase innovation support resources July 25 | Newsroom | Washington University in St. Louis

This will be a great program for women and minorities to link them with entrepreneurial and innovation resources! I have served as a judge for the center's Youthbridge Social Entrepreneur Competition and their efforts are top notch!

Skandalaris workshop to showcase innovation support resources July 25 | Newsroom | Washington University in St. Louis

Case for Social Media in Developing Thought Leadership

I often have the opportunity to contribute content to a variety of blogs. This post was developed specifically for 501Connect to provide guidance to non-profits on how to use social media to build thought leadership.

http://www.501connect.com/non-profit-news/the-case-for-social-media-in-developing-thought-leadership

A Whole New World

You cannot listen to the news without hearing about China! With friends living in Beijing and Hong Kong, we took the opportunity to see China this fall. Our opportunity to stay with ex-pats, but also to stay with a Chinese family in Beijing gave us a sense of this country. An incredible modernization is underway with more large buildings and cranes than I have ever seen. The emergence of the middle class, building boom, a feeling of bustle and purpose... all qualities I can imagine must have been here in the United States following World War II.

From the ancient to the modern, we got a chance to see it first hand with our children. A whole new world stage that they will need to be comfortable on.... An eye opener and game changer for all of us!

Blessing of Bus Budget Cuts!

Our district, like so many, needed to find savings in the annual school budget this year. So this summer, they took a hard look at the bus routes and determined they could make some changes and cut several hundred thousand dollars from the operating budget. Patrons took it hard -- kids would have to walk farther to their stops, there would be fewer stops, schedules would change... change is always hard on people.

We all weighed in, and a few changes were made that helped ensure safety for our students. In our case, the middle school stop is still at the top of the subdivision, up a large hill and the elementary stop is around the corner rather than within shouting distance of our home.

But our middle schoolers gave it some thought, cased out the area and asked if they could purchase a lock and ride their bikes to and from the stop each day. We thought it was a great idea and got a few lock choices. (Nevermind that they lock up to a large bush!) This change started with them thinking about the situation, coming up with a creative solution, and now has given them extra exercise and an invigorating ride down the hill in the afternoon, which is beneficial in many ways. We walk our elementary student to and from the stop up and around the corner, and enjoy extra time to visit with her along with some of our neighbors.

Change usually offers an opportunity if you look at it that way... the blessing of bus budget cuts has provided us with additional exercise, chances for conversation and more resources that can be used in the classroom -- and everyone wins!

Global Impact Daily!

I am often reminded of what a global world we live in. Our suburban elementary school has more than 30 countries represented, many are even first generation Americans. We hosted an exchange student from Madrid this summer and had the benefit of learning from her.

A colleague of mine now lives in Beijing, China and is encouraging us to visit. And now our niece is off to Namibia, Africa for a semester abroad. I, too, studied in London for a semester.

I love learning from those who are having those experiences now... all made possible through technology-- our niece will blog http://caitlins-abroad.blogspot.com/, we'll stay connected to our student via Facebook, and I'll continue to learn from the various people all over the world who I follow on Twitter!