Folding Polos and New Chapters

Well September 2024 a lot of things wrapped up for me... weirdly for years now September has been a big transition month. This year was no exception, let's walk through them all. Little reflection on change and transition at the end. 

Empowerment Zone
Five years ago I embarked on the path of getting more involved in our public schools. I was asked to serve on the board of an independent non-profit board to oversee five schools that surrounded La Casa de Amistad in our district. I was honored to be asked by leadership in the Indiana Department of Education to take the role. We had lots of ups and downs, our first two years were heavily impacted by the pandemic, hard to create organizational and transformative change during a pandemic... but we innovated, we tried new things, we had successes, and of course some set backs and ultimately we even got an extension of our MOU with the district and state. 

I was appointed the chair at the onset, and served in that role until we recently voted to fold back into our school corporation. I honestly was sad to see it end, we had momentum rolling, dynamic leadership and initiatives... but changes to budgets and operational transitions just made it better for us to merge back with the corporation (News Article). Public schools in Indiana, and nationally, are at a major crossroads and I am not done being an advocate for change and improvement in our public schools. 

Street Survival
In 2008 I moved to South Bend and volunteered with the SCCA for a Tire Rack Street Survival school... I got to coach a student at my first one, and the following year they asked if I would become the chair of the local schools run by my club. I agreed, and it brought me a ton of satisfaction. I didn't get to coach anymore, but I loved running the program, talking to parents, recruiting coaches, and helping students. I was the 2017 Volunteer of the Year for the national program, and in 2018 was inducted into the BMW Car Club of America (they were the major sponsor) Circle of Excellence. I am one of few non-BMW owners in that circle. 

I got to meet the one and only Pete Veldman through the program. It was before I did fundraising, and he was truly a special man. I wrote a blog about it, The American Dream, and I got to work with his family on philanthropy for La Casa and through the Tire Rack on this program. Interestingly I had been wanting someone else from the club to take over being the chair in 2019... I had done it for ten years and thought time to pass on the baton. Well then pandemic hit, and until this year nothing pressured me, or the club to change leaders. My OWI a few years I know makes people question if I can/should be running a driving school... so I am stepping back and going to take a full break from the program for a while. 

IU South Bend
I moved to South Bend to work at IUSB in 2008. I worked there for four pretty transformative years in my life and fell in love with the community. I especially enjoyed the connection to the Latino Student Union, Sr. Cynthia, and those who got me roped in with the local Latino community. I developed my "Abuelitas Hands" lecture there, which I got to do a couple small tours speaking and presenting that around the country.. might dust that off again soon. It ultimately ended up leading to the job at La Casa de Amistad that changed my career trajectory. 

I was asked by the previous Chancellor to serve on the campus advisory board, AKA like their board of directors. It was a huge honor, as it was mostly major elected officials, mayors, and CEOs of large local companies. I blogged about that first meeting (Pumpkin Pie Titan). I served diligently, chaired a few committees, and in September I was at my max term limit for board members. So without much fan fair I rolled off the board. 

FOLDING POLOS
Shirts and things I use often are on hangers and ready to go. I had a couple SBEZ shirts/polos that I work for every meeting. Our meetings were public and we were often on TV. The Street Survival polo was the uniform we wore when volunteering so that will get folded and stored up. I will still wear my IUSB Fleece... that was a gift from the chancellor and as the fall weather sets in I'll wear that again soon. Always repping the Titans! 

So why am I writing all this... not sure, maybe just journalling my life. Also maybe sharing for others going through change that I feel you, its hard, doing something for ten years, you can't just walk away. You can't just fold up the polo and forget about it. Maybe I should donate the polos, but its nice once a while when go through bins to find an old shirt that reminds me an event, a program, and reminisce. 

I think having a ceremonial way to transition is important, create some closure. So maybe folding the polos and putting them away will help me move to the new chapter in life. 

While I will enjoying have three less things to worry about scheduling into my life, I will cherish the times I spent working on those and cheer others in those roles to future success. 

So here is to new opportunity, new adventures, and maybe a new polo shirt for the shelf.