Welcome Letter from the Editor

Dear KATE family, 

​It is with great excitement that I welcome you to our revitalized and revamped KATE Blog. Five months have come and gone since our 2019 annual conference, and I’ve found myself craving the connection, inspiration, and collegiality that the conference always seems to generate. I’ve especially found myself craving these things now more than ever as both my personal world and teaching world have been turned upside down due to COVID-19. Combining that craving with an outstanding KATE Board meeting this past Saturday made me realize that now is the perfect time to roll out this blog. Currently, we could all use a little more connection and inspiration, and it is my hope that this blog can provide just that. 

Zoom meetings/web chats have been the name of the game lately, and while I’m a little worn out on having to collaborate via computer screens, I am certainly grateful for the ideas that I have been able to create because of them. Thanks to Zoom, I was able to collaborate with the KATE website committee on a format for how we would like this blog to operate and function. I’m so excited with what we’ve come up with, and I think you are going to enjoy it too.  

For April, our blog’s theme and focus is going to be National Poetry Month. Poetry can generate strong feelings amongst readers, both positive and negative, which is why I’m so excited to explore it further with our KATE community. I personally have a love/hate relationship with poetry, and know that I have so much to learn by reading what other members have to share. 

​To begin the blog’s poetry exploration, KATE member April Pameticky will be kick-starting our blog posts with her personal connection to poetry. She will be sharing what poetry means to her during hard times such as these, and also providing readers with prompts and suggestions for engaging with poetry and creating their own. The remainder of April will highlight different aspects of poetry and how it fits into our lives both as teachers and as consumers/creators of the craft. Readers will be given the opportunity to share resources and activities that they use in their classrooms to engage students with poetry, as well as ways they incorporate and interact with poetry in their personal lives. 

I’m ecstatic about what this month will bring for you, our readers, as well as this blog as a whole. KATE has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that our website provides content for all educators who visit our site, with this blog being one of those perks. While we are starting small, I have high hopes for how this platform will continue to grow and evolve. I am constantly inspired by the ideas and passion that are generated by this group of people, and I know that this positive energy will continue to manifest itself as people engage with both our posts and each other. 

I want to leave you with a quote by one of the most renowned poets, Emily Dickinson. May it provide you with hope as you navigate the next few months, and also encapsulate the hope that I have for this new blogging endeavor.

“Hope is the thing with feathers 
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all”

Until next time, 
Michaela Liebst