VT Nonprofit Day

The annual Nonprofit Day at the VT Legislature yesterday was a little like a family reunion without the occasional tensions inherent to holiday gatherings. One of the charms of Vermont is that those of us who have lived and worked here for years (decades in my case) periodically reconnect, revive, and recommit to our relationships, our passions, and our life’s work. Yesterday was another such opportunity. Between the Legislators and other elected officials, the nonprofit attendees, and other guests from the End Childhood Hunger campaign, it felt a bit like “This is Your Life.” Blending with conversations about my current role at the Stern Center for Language and Learning were accounts from my earliest days teaching English at Richford High School, my first stint as school principal at Berkshire Elementary School, the six years I worked for the US Department of Education, and my more recent years as principal of the Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School in Essex Junction. In a mere five hours at the State House nearly every phase of my adult, professional life was represented by at least one person! Perhaps this is not as unique as it seems, but I’d like to claim it as “Made in Vermont.” It was truly an example of the State House being the People’s House.