A leader has emerged in Warren County School District.
Jennifer Dilks was selected as one of 30 emerging leaders by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) from nationwide submissions.
"Emerging leaders are educators who have been in the profession approximately five to 15 years, hold promise as leaders, and are committed to ASCD's beliefs and to fulfilling leadership opportunities," Dilks said.
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Jennifer Dilks
"I am honored to be recognized as an Emerging Leader," she said. "I was nominated by Amanda Hetrick, director of secondary education."
Dilks, who is an academic teacher coach with the district, is enthusiastic about the program.
"After attending the Leader to Leader Conference in July, I am thrilled to be part of this program," she said. "The three days I spent at this conference was very beneficial to me, professionally. I was surrounded by incredibly intelligent educators looking to implement change in the field of education."
"There are an abundant number of resources provided to me to enhance education for our students," Dilks said.
One of the resources she'll have around is a leadership coach.
Each coach and emerging leader pair develops a learning and leadership agreement that establishes a plan for leadership development.
There are five component areas in the agreement: leadership focus, action steps, resources, communication, and evaluation.
"As part of my learning and leadership agreement, I will begin working as an education advocate to communicate the needs of the educators of the Warren County School District to officials in Harrisburg," Dilks said. "I will also be working closely with the superintendent and the directors to develop a plan of action for my leadership development as it relates to the Warren County School District."
"Emerging leaders and coaches have access to an online community that provides program support and serves as a vehicle for learning and reflections," she said.
Dilks said she has already begun networking with colleagues nationwide.
That contact allows teachers to "discuss educational issues that will benefit the students, teachers and administrators," she said.
"It was interesting to hear about the exciting things happening in school districts across the nation," she said. "We were also able to share and reflect on some of the common challenges we all face within our schools."
"ASCD relies on the strong leadership of our members to ensure that we continue to be an effective, meaningful force for education," ASCD Executive Director Gene Carter said. "We developed the Emerging Leaders program to connect the inspired, driven leaders of today with resources and opportunities that will enable them to influence and contribute to the greater field of education, as well as ASCD leadership, at the highest capacity."