Can it be true?? We are Yale bound??

Who can that be? Calling me during a staff collaboration? Doesn't this person realize my principal does not like distractions?  I decided this call must be important and stepped out of the room.  When I answered the phone the last thing I expected to hear was Don's voice. "Tracey I just thought you would want to know but I just got word your cohort was accepted to Yale”.  

Wow!!! I could not imagine what these four young men were feeling right now.  To know that they had finally been accepted and that their summer journey would begin had to be truly amazing.  It couldn't have been any more fitting of a day as we were getting ready to go before the WCCUSD school board to be presented as the Yale ILCers and it would have been a little less excited if we were still waiting to know if they were truly going to have this opportunity this year.  

After having way too many meetings at school, I began my journey to DeJean Middle School to attend and be part of the School Board meeting and present to the Board my cohort.  

Upon arrival we all hooked up and talked about the mood of hearing today’s news.  We talked about the colleges they would visit before their program (Harvard, Brown and Wesleyan) and what we will do for the first few days before they would go into the hall of Yale.  

My cohort is excited despite knowing how much work is ahead of them, they have taken on the challenge and are ready to show the folks at Yale that they were worth every bit of their admittance into the program this summer.  

Being at the meeting tonight and seeing so many bright and motivated students makes me both proud and optimistic.  I am proud that I have the opportunity to work in a district that produces a fine group of young men and women with such bright futures.  But most of all I am optimistic that each and every one of these young men and women will make a difference in not only our world but their community.  As we continue forward we have so much to do but we accept the challenge with great pride.