INSIDE THIS ISSUE: A Message From the President

Jason Kinsey, for once again doing such an exceptional job in putting together the PDS National Conference. This year’s conference in Daytona Beach is certainly one to be remembered – for the energy and excitement of sharing our work as well as the gorgeous setting and wonderful weather. The conference started off with a series of workshops that immediately set the tone for the rest of the conference. The participants from last summer’s Leadership Forum proved that they had been busy since last August, sharing ways in which they had begun to implement and analyze the Nine Essentials at home. They, like the Director’s Group that followed, were eager to discuss ways to network and develop shared resources. Another group met with Kristien Zenkov to suggest ways portraits could be drawn to highlight the individual essentials and publish the good work in this newsletter. Roger Brindley met with an aspiring group of journal authors who would like to contribute to the journal’s growing reputation. Donna Cullan spoke with district personnel about their growing involvement and Karen Schafer gathered a group interested in policy development. Then the fun began—we got to learn from each other over the next three days, choosing from more than 300 sessions. One of the most pleasant surprises was the large number of students presenting both with their professors and P-12 teachers and together at the poster sessions. These future teacher