Our EAST: Leadership Perspective

Hear from EAST leaders Jerry Prince, Matt Dozier, & Melanie Ridlon

One of the most watched sessions on the Mainstage, Our EAST: From the Perspective of EAST Staff, gave the EAST network an opportunity to ask three prominent leaders with over 50 combined years of experience their thoughts on EAST. We ran short on time but not on questions! Here are a few questions from the chat that our leaders didn’t get to answer on screen. This group had so many stories to tell that we couldn’t fit them all here either! Who knows? They may appear on an episode of the EAST Update podcast or social media. Check out these answers for now!

EQ: Do you think EAST students were more equipped to respond to the pandemic? What impressed you the most?

MD: I absolutely believe that EAST students were better equipped to respond to the pandemic.

I’m impressed that this is how the question is framed; if it were “Did the EAST students ‘handle’ the pandemic better?” then it would be disingenuous to say that they did any better or worse than others. This has been a difficult situation—in so many ways—and everyone has had to handle it based on so many factors that no one else could easily understand. From that perspective, like I tell people all the time, EAST students are real students…normal students with everything that goes along with it. When a massive, world-changing event sweeps

Instead, when I think back on the service projects that EAST students were doing as early as March of 2020, it is humbling to be a part of a network that was eager to spring into action to serve their communities and be a force for good in a dark time. When we were first contacted about a coordinated effort to try to mass produce some 3D printed PPE, it was because the state group that was trying to respond to this knew that the number, capacity, a dispersion of EAST students meant that they had resources in so many communities that could turbocharge a project of significant need. From there to hear about all the things EAST students were doing with their projects to serve specific needs (and people) in their communities, well, it just fills you with pride to know such committed people.

Beyond service projects, though, EAST students are steeped in an environment where self-directed learning is the expectation, where responding to the challenges of Plan A not working means backing up and taking a run to Plan B (which may be being created on the fly) where working together is about making sure everyone is learning. Well, if that doesn’t look like the reality of the school day in 2020 and 2021, I don’t know what does.

EQ: Has there been anything from this virtual conference that you think will still be a part of a live conference?

MD: There are so many things that we were able to explore with Homecoming that I think will find their way into the “regular” Conference experience. I particularly loved the Mainstage concept that allowed anyone anywhere the opportunity to experience significant pieces of the Conference. I never thought we’d be “broadcasting” from a TV studio of our own creation (actually it was Avad3’s creation and we are so grateful for their expertise and willingness to collaborate in a way that took our crazy ideas and turned them into a fabulous reality). That’s just one example, but I can’t imagine not using some of the new approaches moving forward. That’s as EAST as it comes.

MR: I loved so many things about this virtual conference. If I get to choose, I would keep the Mainstage around. This option reached more people that couldn’t fully attend the event and extended the livestream option that we used to provide for people who were unable to travel to Hot Springs. Recording sessions and making those available after the event is another great asset we have gained from virtual events.

JP: We have learned the value of sharing like never before. And likely have taken greater advantage of some of the opportunities though we have had similar in the past. I believe celebration is a key component, and we have seen that it can happen on a grander scale without all of the logistics that the typical conference can require. Having the capacity to capture, preserve, and share again and again is not necessarily new, but it is something that has made its mark of importance.

EQ: How do you plan to get alumni more involved with EAST beyond conference?

MR: There are so many ways EAST alumni can get involved and in fact ARE involved beyond EAST conference. We have and have had alumni student trainers, community partners for EAST programs, volunteers, speakers at EAST events/activities, EAST board members and more! We definitely advocate for alumni to stay in touch with us so we can continue to celebrate their accomplishments and provide support to them throughout their careers. Our Friends of EAST network is a great way to stay connected.

JP: Everyone has a story. Everyone loves to tell their story. And we love to hear their story. With so much going online in the past months, I believe we have an opportunity to collect these stories like never before. A mic and camera are all that is needed. Highly scripted masterpieces-of-film are great but are not always required to get your story accessible. I hope we continue the online capacities in our various support efforts to include a place to sit around the fire and chat. Our alumni are spread around the world. They each carry a very special part of their education that we helped create. It might not be that t-shirt, or medal, or photo-album of memories. But there is a mark of some kind in each one that vested in what EAST could help them achieve. I would like to hear some of the storiesthat have never been aired. They exist which is a reason to go after them, and the pandemic has created an avenue of comfort in sharing that opens some doors of opportunity.

EQ: What can we do to get more students access to EAST?

MR: Continue to share your experiences in EAST with others and make a positive impact with your community partners. Word of mouth is a huge way we grow EAST. We hear from individuals who have had such a great experience with EAST students and they want to see how they can get their child involved.

MD: Someone loves to ask really simple questions that have really complex answers ...As a staff member for EAST, it’s imperative that I always advocate for more access to EAST. It’s important that I challenge those inside and outside our network to give EAST opportunities to ALL learners not just the ones they think best fit their understanding of what EAST does (technology, community projects, curricular and vocational enrichment, etc.). It’s also important that we cultivate the relationships that can allow us to expand these opportunities beyond a few basic funding/credit/ enrollment areas. That’s where the real challenges lie.

JP: I believe access is one challenge but not the greatest. To me, getting students engaged is the greater challenge. And if we can get more engaged, the footprint would be larger, the impact would be greater, and strength would come from the numbers impacted. Access is logistical and can be worked out. Getting the opportunity for experiences into the existing education parameters, schedules, and busy, busy lives stands before us. Access is the easy part. Keeping it highly valued and from becoming just one more thing is the key.

Did you miss the original panel?

Check out the recording in the EAST Conference 2021 digital library.