April 3,2017. The lunch bell rings and my students hurry to their lockers to grab their lunches and head to the lunch room. Some of the girls are hanging back because we are eating together today. I grab my phone and quickly check emails before heading down to grab my lunch. I stand there, shocked, tears start welling up in my eyes. One of my students notices and asks me, “Mrs. Gadzala, what is wrong?”. I reply, “Nothing is wrong, I can’t believe it! Remember our video for Apple? I got it!!”. The girls hug me and congratulate me. As I head down to grab my lunch, I am numb with disbelief. I will never forget that moment.

Apple Academy, Class of 2017 (Best class ever 😉) what an honor to spend meaningful time to collaborate, learn, share, and connect with this group of talented and innovative educators. The connections I made and stories I heard confirmed for me that we have a long way to go in education to get us moving forward. Here we are, The Class of 2017 and all the alumni before us, leading the way by being advocates, authors, ambassadors, and advisors. The group is growing, yet there are still so many educators resistant to the change that needs to take place in our classrooms. I am excited to be in a new position this school year that will allow me to focus on creating that change in many classrooms. I am going to start with my own, which is the library.

This fall I will be the new MRC Director and the facilitator of our new weCreate Studio. This new role will allow me to change the purpose of the library and the role in which I play. The library will be the new hub of the school community. It will be a space not only for students to come and check out books, but a place where THEY can be advocates, authors, ambassadors, and advisors with their peers. As I lead the way with my students, I will also be traveling through my journey with the staff and hopefully gaining passengers along the way.

The Academy gave me the tools, like minded peers, and inspiration to follow my heart and passion for what I believe is necessary in education today. Thank you Apple Education Team for believing in me and giving me the BEST 4 days of professional development I have ever experienced!

Now that…Is Positively Techie!