President's Address

A Complete Comeback!!! Here I sit, preparing for the end of the school year while decompressing from the return to inperson WSST conference. What a great time with some great colleagues! I want to give a big shout out to Amy Fassler, Tracy Swedlund, and the entire conference committee for bringing back our annual conference in a grand fashion! Aside from some WiFi issues (who would’ve thought that would be the case after all the digital learning we’ve all been exposed to in the past 2+ years?), it was a fantastic time, with many great learning opportunities, as well smiles and laughs for all! It was fantastic to get back to a successful, in-person conference! As cool as it was for me to meet and learn from Paul Andersen, I selfishly found myself most enjoying the conference experience by connecting with all of you! Over the four days I was able to connect with old WSST friends, make new connections with members from around the state, reconnect with a couple of former students (a teacher and a vendor/presenter), as well as meet the future of science education with our Exploratorium and Science Olympiad participants (yeah, getting ahead of myself, but these are the scientists of the future that we NEED to steer into the direction of science education)! Such great people with a shared passion for teaching and learning all things science. I was truly blessed to have such an integral role at the conference. As I transition into my own personal “summer mode”, I encourage you all to take part in one or more of the initiatives of WSST continuing over the next few months and years. This upcoming summer we are celebrating and developing Wisconsin science educators at our WINGS professional retreat, working together to look at our organization and its future path through the lens of equity, and we are always looking for interested members to join standing and conference committees to help our organization be both strong, diverse, and successful. Please contact any of the WSST board members for opportunities to help! In closing, I’d like to share a heartfelt “Thank You!” for everything you’ve done over the past couple of challenging years in the classroom. What you’ve done is incredible, and our students will never forget this time in their lives. As you finish your year, reflect, refine, and get ready to recharge for the return next fall! This time next spring, we plan to be “Capitolizing On Innovation” in Madison, March 9-11, 2023. Start talking with your administration to save the date, and plan to join us in Madison next spring for our annual conference!