Houston, We Have a Problem – NCEA 2013 Day One

Shuttle crash

On my first day in Houston for the 2013 NCEA convention, I expected to tell you all about the city, the conference center, and meeting Barb Gilman and Nancy Caramanico for the first time. But life seldom goes as we expect.

Leaving Seattle
The scene from the airplane as I left Seattle…

Barb and Nancy were involved in an automobile accident on their way from the Houston airport to the hotel. The shuttle van they were riding in struck a barrier in the road and flipped, crushing the roof and shattering the windshield. Their injuries weren’t life threatening, but they were shook up all the same.

Shuttle Crash
The scene of Barb and Nancy’s shuttle accident as I arrived in Houston…

The entire story is theirs to tell, so I won’t go into all the details. But after spending about four hours in the emergency room, they finally made it to the hotel where I got to meet them in person–bruises, blood, and all.

Thankfully their injuries weren’t worse. Suddenly the NCEA convention doesn’t seem as important as it did a few hours ago.

On My Way to NCEA 2013 in Houston

I Heart Catholic Schools
I Love Catholic Schools
ACE Advocates “I Love Catholic Schools” T-Shirt

My bags are packed and I’m getting ready to leave today for the 2013 NCEA convention in Houston, Texas. Thousands of Catholic educators will be converging on the George R. Brown Convention Center on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week for keynote speeches, professional development sessions, liturgies, and camaraderie.

Barb Gilman and I will be presenting Catholic Classrooms Without Walls: Interactive Projects Connecting Classrooms Around the World, and I can’t wait to finally meet so many of my online teacher friends, especially those who participate in #CatholicEdChat each weekend.

For the next few days I hope to be posting audio and video podcasts of the convention. If you’re interested in what happens when thousands of Catholic educators gather, you can follow the podcasts here, on iTunes, or on Twitter.

I’ll also be cross-posting on One Catholic Life, so pardon the duplication if you follow both feeds.