Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

-- Mary Oliver, The Summer Day

September! When our schools are up and running, and the year stretches out before us, full of possibility. Even in California, the subtle change in the light and the turning of at least some leaves brings the promise of a new season. Still, we are buffeted by news of natural calamities and the ongoing repercussions of man-made disasters. Life feels very precious indeed.

Temporal landmarks such as the the beginning of the school year invite us to "strive with enhanced fervor to achieve our aspirations," as Daniel Pink reminds us in his latest book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. This is a good time for us as educators to align ourselves once again with our most deeply held values, set intentions, and make a thoughtful plan on how to achieve our own learning goals.

The articles in this month's Buzz offer ways to make the very most of the time we have with the young people and adults in our school communities and beyond: encouraging us to both expand our scope of what is possible, and get to the hard work of making it real. 

In Breaking Down Barriers and Building Relationships: Four Strategies for Schools , Lori Cohen, Dean of Faculty at the Bay School and CATDC Facilitator Coach, enjoins us to "make intentional space for deepening relationships" with all of our colleagues in order to build trust and create the healthiest of school cultures.

Liza Raynal, Middle School Division Head at The Nueva School, writes powerfully in Educating As If We Are Already There about supporting our students to draft their own "clear and brilliant blueprints"  for lives full of meaning and purpose.

When it comes to changing school cultures, perhaps no CATDC facilitator has been as impactful as David Barkan, whose Mastering Group Facilitation workshops have empowered hundreds of educators to facilitate effective and inclusive decision-making processes. We are delighted to share this piece from The New York Times, Can Ultimate Frisbee Save the World?, about his organization Ultimate Peace and the work that he does to build relationships between Israeli and Palestinian youth.

In From Feel Good to Real Good, Kathleen Kelly Janus, lecturer at the Stanford Program on Social Entrepreneurship and board member at the San Francisco Friends School, writes about how we can better equip our students to more effectively do something about the problems they see. Janus highlights the The Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship at the Hillbrook School, which you can learn more about if you attend our Impact Lab Series Launch and Networking Event next week, or attend The Impact of Finance and Entrepreneurship, led by Annie Makela, Founding Director of The Scott Center.

Opportunities abound with the CATDC this year, and certainly time is of the essence. Our ongoing groups are filling up fast, and there are a greater than ever variety of intensives to choose from. So, take out your calendars and check out the website . We hope the CATDC will be part of the plan you make for your own rich and rewarding year of learning.