Speaker: Nadine Reeves, Prosper ISD
Nadine Reeves: Hey, being nominated for this retreat is so meaningful to me because I've had the opportunity to connect with other educators that are across the diaspora. I'm talking high school special education, some elementary, some middle school, to hear their various experience, how they're feeling about education, the state of education. And how we can positively impact the state of education. But I want to say the most meaningful part of my experience has really been hearing about self-care, hearing about the fact that we cannot pour from an empty cup, and so it's so incredibly important that we as educators come, take the time and really retreat. Take a nap if you need to. Read a book you've been meaning to read. Listen to a podcast, whatever that is, just take some time and do it for you. And I mean, what's making my my experience like is super meaningful is because y'all. I planted something today and I'm like— I kill everything and I feel so empowered right now to go home and replant some of the plants that I have in my house that are kind of struggling, but then also to make sure that this one thrives. I think that learning something new is just so incredibly important and I'm like, oh. As soon as I learned it, I'm like, yeah, that's why it's not thriving. That's why I'm struggling in that area. So I can think about that with our lives sometimes as teachers. We're struggling in some areas and we need somebody to come alongside us and say, Hey, this might be why you're struggling, and that's what this opportunity has given us.
