Image from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (Warner Bros.) When my daughter first started preschool, I posted this iconic movie scene on Facebook with a quip: “First days at school should always feel like this.” I want her school experiences to be as magical as arriving at Hogwarts for the first time. I’m hoping our students feel like this when they come to Virginia Western. When they arrive on campus, and walk into our classrooms, or log onto their online portal. Over the summer, I read a Harvard Business Review article that argued that all organizations should prioritize joy … to put joy at the center of their missions. This HBR article clicked with me like no other in quite some time, and it inspired me to read an armload of books on the topic, all of which revolve around the importance of joy, especially in our jobs. Joy shouldn’t be seen as a frivolous side project … but at the heart of what we do. It can improve engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction with our work. Our enrollment struggles and gloom and doom in news headlines do not inspire joy. Quite the opposite. We will never thrive if… Continue Reading What does joy look like for our students?Read More
Perhaps you saw the headlines last week, like this one: “Free tuition coming to Virginia community colleges under service program” ( Read the story ) Gov. Ralph Northam said a formal announcement would be coming in a few weeks, but he was talking about the G3 program that community colleges across the state — including ours — have been working on since February. Virginia Western’s popular Community College Access Program (CCAP) is mentioned in the article, as an example of a free-tuition model. As part of the G3 (Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back) planning grant, VWCC is developing at least one stackable pathway for healthcare, our region’s most demanding high-growth job sector. We also wanted to learn the design-thinking mindset to help us replicate the process for additional pathways, so we hired the Education Design Lab to lead a series of design sessions for the college. REWIND << You can catch up on our G3 journey with my previous blog posts: 1: Introduction: Why I’m so excited about our G3 grant project 2: Design session #1 recap: What’s the ‘secret sauce’ for student success? Design session #2: Prototypes created Dr. Robert Sandel, president of Virginia Western Community College,… Continue Reading G3 update: We’re seeking feedback on 4 prototypesRead More
I love to read … and my rising first-grader is learning how to read … so lately I’ve been reading books about sharing the love of reading with kids. *Cue the “Inception” music* Before she was even born, I was designing my daughter’s life around books. For her baby shower, I didn’t want registry gifts … I just asked guests to bring their favorite childhood book. I knew a future library would have more long-term impact than newborn clothes and toys. But showcasing cherished books throughout the house just isn’t enough. So I’ve been testing some small habits to help instill a love of reading. When I was a kid, my stay-at-home mom required I spend some quiet time in my room reading while my younger sisters napped. I devoured Ramona Quimby books and “The Baby-Sitter’s Club” series (which inspired my very real neighborhood babysitting business). These regular quiet times were effective, but enforcing this habit is a little harder for our family, so I found another trick to pilot this summer. In “The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life” author Julie Bogart mentions the bedtime rule she credits with a lifelong passion for reading. Each… Continue Reading Have you tried this magical trick in your classroom?Read More
About Shelley
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.
Recent Posts
- Have you heard? October 28, 2024
- The Game of Life – Innovation Edition! August 29, 2024
- Why Try An LOI? May 10, 2024
- Grant Nerds Unite! March 12, 2024
- The Power of Collaboration November 17, 2023