Please Support the 2010 Summer Leadership Institute
By Janey Kaufmann, NSELA President

As summer grows near, we are busy making preparations for the SLI in Flagstaff, Arizona.  I hope that many of you will be joining us as we come together as an organization to explore Science Learning as a Sociocultural and Cognitive Process.  It has been such a difficult time both economically and politically across our country and I am sure that most of you have heard about the immigration law which recently passed in Arizona.  As I write this article, I am receiving emails asking if NSELA is planning to move the Summer Leadership Institute to a new location.  I hope that people will look beyond the immediate political turmoil over this issue and focus on the purpose of this year’s SLI, to address the science literacy needs of diverse learners.

Most of you know how difficult and complex it is to plan a conference of this size and scope.  At NSELA, just as at NSTA, we must do the initial work years out and sign contracts with hotels more than a year in advance, as is the case with our SLI in Flagstaff.  Many people who have registered have already purchased non-refundable airline tickets, and most are looking forward to spending time and relaxing in Flagstaff which is in the middle of the largest Ponderosa pine forest in the world and a short drive from the Grand Canyon.

We at NSELA strategically move the annual SLI to different geographic locations so as to meet the needs of our members.  The Arizona location for this year’s SLI has unfortunately coincided with a political controversy which we could not possibly have anticipated.  Those of us who live in Arizona are troubled by the negative attention this controversy has brought to our beautiful state.  We hope you will separate the issue from the high quality professional development being offered through our Summer Leadership Institute.  We need your support, and we sincerely hope you will join us for yet another amazing SLI.

On another note, I want to share with you that we are actively working on increasing services to our membership.  If you haven’t yet explored our website, please log in and give us your feedback.  We are now on Facebook, so join in and help make our organization even stronger.  We are interested in your needs and are also working hard to identify emerging leaders.  Please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 602-206-7438 to share and discuss ideas.  I sincerely hope you will consider attending our outstanding SLI as we continue to offer the very best in science professional development to our members and other science leaders across the country and even the world.

My best to you all!
Janey Kaufmann