Week Two of the Three Week Tour!

I was unable to blog about the last day in Dallas at the National Teacher of the Year Conference because after all of the sessions - and a beautiful closing dinner - we had to pack and quickly get to the airport! Then I hopped in a car and began my travels all over the state of North Carolina for the Principal of the Year selection process. As a way of wrapping up, here are a few last pictures from the life-changing experience in Dallas:

Former National Teacher of the Year Mary Beth Blegen led a passionate discussion about teaching.

She started with a little "activity" - we were feeling kind of goofy.

We had some important media training (and practice) - here's Rebecca, the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, working on her interview skills with presenter Joe Lowenthal.

Here's Margaret Williams, Missouri Teacher of the Year.

Edney Freeman, the Teacher of the Year from the U.S. Virgin Islands, makes some comments.

My friend, fellow Carolina girl Jenna Hallman (South Carolina Teacher of the Year), is a very eloquent speaker.

Here we are at the Saturday night reception: Teachers of the Year from Colorado, Washington, D.C., Florida, and North Carolina.

Here I am with Dan Holloman, Coordinator for the Teacher of the Year Program in North Carolina, and a great source of support for me.

And finally, during one of the most emotional moments in my life: Mike Geisen, the current National Teacher of the Year, talked about me by reading from my portfolio and then introduced me as a finalist for the 2009 National Teacher of the Year. There are no words to express the way that I felt when I looked at that screen and saw "North Carolina" and "Gravelly Hill Middle School, Efland, NC." I just hope to make everyone proud by representing the teachers in my state and in my school in a way that honors them.