I’m the wife of a teacher, the mother of a 4th grader and a kindergartener, the daughter of an 8th grade history teacher and school nurse and the aunt of several school-aged nieces and nephews. I am also the Finance Director for Portales Municipal Schools. If it happens in education, it affects my family somehow. Education is a passion I have had all my life and I have been very blessed to be a part of it like all of you.
I have been to every NMASBO conference and Spring Budget Workshop for nine years (except one fall conference I missed when I gave birth to my daughter). For years, I have heard the NMASBO board talk about ASBO International and how each and every one of us should attend. Like most of us, I thought, “How in the world can I justify the expense?” As tight as all of our budgets are, how can we justify spending over $2,000 for a conference when that would pay for part of an educational assistant or teacher salary (it’s funny how we fit every expense into a salary justification)? I was unable to make that leap until I heard about the ASBO International scholarship for business managers who had been in the position for less than five years. First thing I did was pull out my license to see if I qualified. Low and behold, I just fell in the under five-year window. I filled out the application, created my letter, answered the survey questions and talked to my superintendent about a recommendation letter. I turned everything in by the deadline and thought, “I doubt anyone from New Mexico will get it.” I then went on with doing what I love to do every day; school business.
Two months later, I received a phone call from Patrick O’Conner, Manager of Leadership Development from ASBO International. I was one of 18 winners from all over the world to receive the scholarship. Everyone in the building heard me yell, “Yes!” from down the hall. I finally had a way to pay for the conference that I could feel good about.
I drove seven and a half hours to Grapevine, Texas to the Gaylord Texas Resort. (Don’t tell my superintendent, but I went through backroads for the drive and for reduced cell service.) Driving in the rain, I finally arrived at the largest hotel I have ever seen in my life. I bet you could fit all six of our campuses into that hotel and convention center. It was a little overwhelming, but I’m in school business. I can make miracles out of anything. I took a deep breath and stepped through the doors.
The conference was fantastic. I was in the first Emerging School Business Leaders class and was able to meet the other 17 scholarship winners and our mentors. We hit the ground running, learning about each other, our different states (and countries) and tackled topics that each one of us were facing in our own school districts. It was a fast bonding experience.
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