By LORI HEIMDAHL GIBSONDo great conversations matter? How about civility? Does having the best possible local schools matter? I say, “You betcha!”
Sunday marked the 4th Annual Great Conversations fundraiser hosted by the Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation; a delicious afternoon of sharing ideas with a diverse group of Los Alamos-ites, who enjoy critical thinking, problem-solving, listening intently with an open mind to new ideas and worldly experiences of some neighbors we hadn’t had a chance to know until Sunday’s “meeting of the minds.”
I loved every minute of our round-table exploration of the future of higher education led by Cindy Rooney, Associate Dean and Chair of Business at UNM-LA.
Other fully engaged round tables discussed a wide variety of topics on fire science, resilient children, earthquakes, fashion, “Curiosity” on Mars, healthcare, school shootings, auroras, basketball, aging mightily, the environment and iPhones, all led by an expert in the field. (We have many experts in Los Alamos, fortunately.)
This event was low-tech. I saw no visible smart phones, iPads, or computers; just eyeball to eyeball, heart to heart conversations. A refreshing and frankly, badly needed opportunity to explore ideas that just may make this world a little bit better. Did I mention, the abundance of scrumptious, mouth-watering, Mediterranean, Southern and seafood hors d’oeuvres?
All money raised by this annual event goes to our schools, teachers and students to continue to raise the bar of excellence in our community. Great schools matter to our community.
Kudos to Joanna Gillespie and the LAPS Foundation Board for sponsoring this stimulating, enjoyable event, which included an auction of gargantuan desserts; a chocolate cake castle, the deepest, largest apple pie I’ve ever seen, and a puffy banana cream pie that I wanted to stick my finger into for a taste, to mention a few. The lively bidding created hearty laughs, but no wars. (I heard later that one winner cut his pie in half and delivered the other half to the woman bidding against him, who thought she lost.)
See what great outcomes can come out of Great Conversations! Did I mention great local public schools? Mark you calendar for next year’s event!
