Inspiration, Affirmation, & Motivation from Educational Publishing Hall of Fame
Each year in the week following Thanksgiving, K-12 educational publishers gather in New York for annual events sponsored by three different organizations scheduled together for convenience. And who doesn't love seeing New York City decked out for Christmas?
The Educational Publishing Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). It honors those industry leaders and visionaries whose integrity and achievements have inspired us and whose work leaves a lasting legacy. Past inductees have included Mr. (Fred) Rogers of PBS fame and Dick Robinson who heads Scholastic Publishing.
This event is one of the highlights of the year for me, and I particularly like the short videos that are created by colleagues and family to celebrate the honoree's career and contributions. But these videos serve a larger purpose than just to honor the inductees. They are inspirational validation of the work that we do in educational publishing.
Because we get hyper focused on the day-to-day demands of our jobs, we occasionally lose sight of the commitment to making a difference in student learning that unites us as colleagues across company borders and is the reason we all entered this industry in the first place.
Coming together to honor the work of our colleagues affirms our career choices; renews our commitments to the jobs and tasks we have chosen in support of public education; and motivates us to work even harder to make a difference in the lives of students and teachers across the country.
Teaching is a noble and difficult profession. Supporting teachers and students with learning programs and products is a rewarding career. And it is a remarkable and collegial industry. When we gather together to honor educational publishing leaders, we honor their individual achievements certainly, but we also celebrate and inspire ourselves and our colleagues and the work we do together.
At this annual Hall of Fame event, we are inspired, affirmed, and motivated to continue the work we do in the best ways that we can in our own companies for our own customers because what we do makes a difference.
