This past Saturday, Mark and I participated in LinkEd’s Spring Education Expo at the Harlem Armory. It was the first 85 degree day New York City has seen this year and although, most likely, the participants would have rather gone to Central Park they instead came and spent some time getting to know Tanenbaum and some of the 40 or so other vendors. We didn’t expect to see such a big crowd and meet so many people.
We were fortunate enough to meet with a number of school principals, teachers, parents, and grandparents. We were also able to connect with other educational organizations, which is the basis of LinkEducation’s philosophy. It is remarkable to learn about the kinds of educational services each organization provides and how no matter what your mission is, you can come together for a day with a shared vision. I felt a real sense of solidarity for my educational colleagues on Saturday.
We spoke with parents who were concerned their children weren’t being represented in the classroom because of their beliefs, to an adult education teacher looking for ways to address the multicultural education needs of her adult students, and to graduate students studying peace education and conflict resolution. We certainly wear a lot of hats! A highlight of the day was when a school principal stopped by our booth and after reading some of our literature asked, “I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about religion in the classroom?” Good question. And stay tuned for the answer, as it is the inspiration for another blog entry.
LinkEducation’s mission is to connect children with education opportunities by making it possible for them to find education-related resources in their communities. If you aren’t familiar with LinkEd please check them out for yourself at www.linkeducation.org. Rachel and Anna, the two co-founders, along with their volunteers, threw a successful event and we look forward to working with them again and using the LinkEducation as a resource in the future.