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A spirit of boundless joy and exuberant celebration entices you to come to Louisiana! Can you hear the jazz and smell the delicious aroma of Cajun food as you consider joining us in New Orleans for the 35th NSDC Annual Conference? For 18 months, we have been helping to plan a “parade of learning” just for you. We want this conference to be unforgettable!

As we Celebrate! A Rich Culture of Learning and Leading, you will hear dynamic and thoughtful keynote addresses, prominent distinguished lecturers, and a multitude of concurrent session presentations designed to meet the needs of every conference participant. The focused preconference sessions will provide deep levels of knowledge and skills that translate directly into action. You are the future for thousands of students in our schools today, and it is your learning that will lead the way to a brighter future for them.

Schools today face unprecedented challenges of educating a wide diversity of students, so perhaps it is most appropriate that New Orleans, with its own unique history of diverse cultural influences, should be the setting for your learning. Imagine yourself meeting colleagues and sharing ideas as you enjoy beignets at an outdoor café, gazing across the green grass of Jackson Square at St. Joseph’s Cathedral. Take a horse and buggy ride around the Vieux Carre, the old city, noticing the balconies with Spanish ironwork and the restaurants with French-Creole cuisine. Listen to the zydeco music with its Cajun and African influence. You are in the most European of American cities!

New Orleans is a melting pot, not just of many cultures, but also of old and new. You can ride the trolley car down St. Charles Avenue to see stately old mansions in the Garden District, tour ante-bellum plantations along the Mississippi River, pop into a state-of-the-art aquarium and look up at menacing sharks swimming above you, or take in a larger-than-life movie on the giant screen at the I-Max Theater. New Orleans is a city of amazing contrasts!

Welcome to our state. We hope you will leave with wonderful memories, but more importantly, with ideas and plans that will link professional development for educators to powerful results for students. We have much to celebrate! The charm of the city and the opportunities for learning are beckoning you. Do you hear them?

Sincerely,

Dale Hair, Chairperson
Louisiana Host Committee