February 2022 President's Message from Dr. Danielle Kovach
It's February, a month for kindness and love! Sometimes inspiration hits you when you least expect it. To celebrate Week of Kindness and Valentine's Day, our school counselor asked every student to make a heart for another student to spread kindness. I was blown away by the heart that my one little student made. In it, he wrote, "That one heart would light up many more." When I asked him what that means, he told me that he wants to be a light in someone's life that makes others happy. What an inspiration from a nine-year-old! Let us all strive to be lights in the lives of others.
Because of the light shown by members and friends of CEC, we had a record 59 donors to our CEC Endowments during January, totaling $5,065! To date, our endowments total $16,230. These donations support our organization's future and expand its impact on the field.
As we enter the second month of the year, CEC had another successful convention—but this time, it was virtual! We had over 1,500 virtual participants taking advantage of hundreds of on-demand and live workshops. Combined with our in-person convention, we had over 3,800 participants! Whew! Special kudos to the CEC staff. They worked around the clock to make both CEC 2022 events happen. Feel free to pop into the Whova app and give a special thanks to our event organizers in "Ask Organizers Anything" under the community forum. They rocked it!
February is also an observance of Black History Month. Let's find ways to promote and support diversity, equity, and inclusion in all that we do. It's incredible how a pack of multicultural crayons made a huge difference with my students. They love matching the crayons to their skin tone and drawing people who look like them. Love this!
Dr. Danielle Kovach 2022 CEC President
CEC members—check your inbox for the full issue!