Honored is the word that comes to mind when I think of Alpha Delta Kappa. Membership in Alpha Delta Kappa is an honor. Our pursuits of educational excellence, altruism, world understanding, and inclusion are honorable goals. Our sisterhood exists to support and strengthen each other as teachers and as women. I believe this organization is the most supportive of women of any I have ever belonged to.

In setting a theme for my biennium as president, I have thought much about the connections we share through our profession and our students. As a teacher in higher education, I know how much my work builds on the work of my students’ previous teachers. I am, frankly, in awe of you who teach little ones to read and to do arithmetic.

I have contemplated our calling as teachers. Lots of people in the workforce don’t feel especially called to their jobs—but teachers, we don’t last very long without a sense of calling. In fact, for many of us, our calling has kept us in our jobs in spite of all the efforts that seem determined to squelch the joy in our calling.

I understand the burden of being busy. And note that busy is not a virtue but a condition. Every woman in this room has multiple responsibilities and roles—as daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, friends, teachers, mentors, professionals in our fields. We are also Alpha Delta Kappa sisters.

So my challenge is to encourage all of us to harness our efforts to accomplish our organization’s goals even as we are busy and sometimes distracted. I propose to you that our purposeful participation in Alpha Delta Kappa is not just another task but a means to accomplish the goals we all share.

What do we do as teachers and as women? We plan. Lesson plans, field trip plans; we make lists and graphic organizers, we map curriculum and scaffold skills, we plan meals and parties. I thought of International President Ann Marie Brown’s logo that features the theme “Bridge to the Future” and inspires us to look ahead at our organization’s next 75 years. And so I arrived at my theme and logo: Sisters Charting a Path Together.

My logo features the following elements:

First, we are Sisters—the four female figures represent our four founders who with hearts of love and with joined hands fulfilled their plan to create an organization to honor and encourage women educators. We have common achievements and aspirations. We are related to each other in ways we aren’t related to our natural families. This sisterhood is the source of our strength.

Second, we are Charting a Path—we make plans to succeed. We work for pearls and violets, ideally seven of each, to measure our progress. We keep track of where we have been and where we are headed.

Third, we are Together—the circle is a symbol of inclusion, being together. We are a collective that benefits from synergy. We see how this works when we hear the Altruistic report for this biennium—nearly 32,000 hours of time and over $684,000 in contributions. Our overall altruistic impact is just simply stunning. Our individual efforts combine in ways that are far greater than the sum of those efforts.

Fourth, we live and work in the context of South Carolina. The elements of the logo are on the background of the SC map. The three colors on the map show the areas of the three districts in SC, specifically the counties where we have chapters. Notice, though, the blank areas of the map. Those areas don’t have Alpha Delta Kappa chapters. What can we do to spread the benefits of Alpha Delta Kappa—of your expertise and caring—to these areas of our state?

I want this logo to remind us of the goals I have for SC over the next two years. Yes, I have membership goals—to add members to our existing chapters, to look for opportunities to establish new chapters, to explore and establish a collegiate club, and to support our current membership.

I also have altruistic goals that are tied to our organization’s purpose and to our calling. I am asking chapters to embrace altruistic projects that address two concerns. First, we need to support efforts that prepare children and families for school. School readiness is a persistent concern in our state, and we know that young children do better in school when they and their parents are prepared before they go to school. Second, we need to support teachers in the classroom. Every Alpha Delta Kappa chapter in this state should be able to reach out to at least one school during each year of the biennium with support. Alpha Delta Kappa can and will make a difference in South Carolina.

Do you know how beautiful and powerful you are? I see before me the tip of the Alpha Delta Kappa iceberg. I see women who lead, plan, execute, succeed, and make a difference every day. I honor you. Let’s go forward this biennium as Sisters Charting a Path Together.

Note: Kate Schoolfield, my daughter, designed my logo with input from me. She made images of my ideas.