Director's View: Charting New Paths

Dr. Vic Wilson, CLAS Executive Director

Can you believe we are starting a new school year? Summer has flown by, and the 2024-2025 school year has begun. It seems like only yesterday that we were attending graduations for the class of 2024. My, how time flies when you are having fun!

Since our last issue of the CLAS School Leader, much has occurred in our schools and state. In June, we held our annual Convention in Mobile, Alabama. It was a great event with 874 attendees learning with and from each other. Thanks to Dr. Demica Sanders and the professional learning staff, we had excellent speakers and presenters from Alabama and the nation. Join me in thanking Demica, Leslie, Linda, and everyone who worked hard to gather such a great group of presenters. We hope to see you in June 2025 for the next CLAS Convention. Stay tuned throughout the year for more details.

I am also glad that we were able to use some of the content at the convention for credit hours toward the Alabama Principal Leadership Development System (APLDS). This would not have been possible without the work of Telena Madison and Anna Shepherd-Jones from the SDE and Demica Sanders from CLAS. We have many more events on our 2024-2025 CLAS Professional Learning Calendar that will count towards the APLDS. You can check our website for more information or visit the APLDS website at alabamaprincipals.org. You can also contact Dr. Sanders or anyone in the professional learning department at CLAS for information about the APLDS. However, questions to us will be directed to the SDE website for answers.

As I start my eighth year at CLAS, I am thankful for the amazing work that has been done by the staff at CLAS. Debbie Lee, Tammy Coker, Anita Reid, DeAnna Swindle, Alyssa Godfrey, Leslie Dennis, Linda Campanotta, Starr Wilson, Whitney MillerNichols, Demica Sanders, and Katrina Akers are the reason CLAS is successful in meeting the needs of our members. Join me in thanking all these wonderful people for the great work they do on your behalf.

I have great faith that 2024-2025 will be a wonderful year for school leaders in our great state, and CLAS stands ready to help you in your leadership journey and endeavors. We strive to provide the best professional learning, communication, networking, legal help, advocacy, and awards and recognition possible to our members. To that end, we seek your guidance on how to better serve our members. If you have ideas on how to better meet your needs, please let us know.

Thank you for all you do for those under your care. You are all rock stars in my book! Good luck on a great year, and don’t hesitate to let us know how we can help you on your journey.

Sincerely,

Vic Wilson