We. love. teachers.
Carlie Frye, an English and Religious Studies teacher at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, CA is joining us this summer at our Fourth Estate Leadership Summit. She is one of several hundred educators that are attending the four-day event to discuss the future of learning, hear from leaders in the field, and help Invisible Children shape our educational initiatives. We recently asked Carlie to do a little Q & A with us about why she’s excited to attend the Summit. Read on.
Hi Ms. Frye!
“I am coming to the Fourth Estate because I am addicted to being inspired by Invisible Children and their generous, kindhearted, globally-conscious, dynamic supporters, and I am seeking ways to viably change the world into a more compassionate, peaceful place.”
Why is attending the Fourth Estate Summit valuable for educators?
The Fourth Estate Summit enables educators to better serve their students and their needs. It provides ample resources, inspiration, testimonies, ideas, and encouragement in a fun-filled, energetic, honest, life-changing forum. By being conduits for students to champion a cause and engage in authentic compassionate activism, Invisible Children assists teachers in educating the whole person and lighting the fire for students to become future leaders in our world.
How did attending the 2011 Fourth Estate Summit develop you as leader in education?
I felt so inspired by the people at the conference, from speakers to IC leaders to fellow teachers and all the attendees! In a world–and more specifically a profession– where apathy often reigns, it was so refreshing and encouraging to see others out there like me, who aim to live extraordinary lives by serving others and spreading justice and peace. It fueled me up by making me believe in young people more strongly and in myself, to see that I can effect change if I have “tenacious hope, sacrificial courage, refreshing joy, moral clarity, extravagant compassion” (what I wrote down from a Fourth Estate speaker that I still keep on my desk at work, on a post-it). It made me feel a sense of camaraderie and provided solutions to issues I have had with administrative reluctance at times. It made me hopeful for the future and made me see the inherent value in taking a stand for a movement you believe in, which I hope serves as a precedent for my students. In my classes I often give anecdotes from this conference and from my IC experience as a whole, in order to tell students that they can all find a cause to be an exponent for, which they believe in wholeheartedly. Thus a ripple effect of positive change gets started.
How have you seen your classroom change by what you experienced at the 2011 Fourth Estate Summit?
The Fourth Estate Summit was a crowning moment in my Invisible Children relationship/history; IC as a whole has immeasurably affected my teaching experience. I see every year, when I show a new set of students the Rough Cut film, how affected they are and how inspired they are by learning about IC’s growth since its inception. They are profoundly moved by the tragic situation in Africa, but also moved to take action, both for IC and for their own causes of choice. The Summit crystallized my faith in what IC stands for and spurred me to implement various fundraising and awareness-raising ideas that I gleaned from the conference.
What was your favorite moment at the 2011 Fourth Estate Summit?
That’s a tough one! 🙂 I would have to say two things: listening to all the speakers, especially Gary Haugen, who inspired me profoundly with their lives dedicated to justice, and meeting Jolly, Jedidiah, and Jason–three of my heroes!
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