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The crisp, cool, clear air of fall blows into Southeast Texas, striking a stark difference from the crippling winds of change that have sprung on us this year. Here, on top of COVID-19, we have faced two hurricanes and minutia of other changes and challenges that have indelibly imprinted us. This newsletter carries personal significance. It marks the end of my term on the ANPC and my final ANPC newsletter. I am proud to have been able to work with numerous affiliate leaders from across the globe, three TESOL presidents, TESOL's excellent staff, and an incredible team of ANPC committee members. These past several years have been an incredible opportunity for me; I have been privileged to have served TESOL affiliate leaders internationally.
As this newsletter publication is a bit behind schedule, reading these letters, articles, and reports offer a unique view in the recent past that the other newsletter has not allowed. If you are anything like me, you have been inundated with hundreds of hours of online meetings. We have plunged in to put out fires, deal with challenges, and address issues that stem from the present reality. Processing all of this can be challenging; however, these articles are laced with hope, tenacity, and resilience. Top-down, from TESOL leadership to affiliate leadership, from researchers and practitioners, the questions have been the same: how do we adapt, refocus, realign - dynamically - to continue to serve, stay true to our vision, fill the gaps, and lead when we are all in crisis.
Many of these stories will be similar to what our many conferences had already shown. Still, here, for me, in writing, the permanence of the words demonstrates a stable record of how as an organization, as a discipline, we have striven, been shaped and reformed, and are emerging stronger, wiser, and better connected. |
