Dear Reader,

💛 Happy September!

How are you in the swirl of this season?

In my home, and in the schools I support, there is so much hope tucked into this time of year—things we want to try, things we want to do differently, possibilities we can already imagine with students. And then there’s the other side of September: the long to-do lists, new initiatives, meetings, logistics, and the work of welcoming students and families back from a long pause, each carrying dreams and realities of their own. It’s a lot to hold alongside all that hope.

For the first time in five years, I got to experience the September swirl while sitting in a living room full of educators I know well. We were celebrating a longtime administrator from the school where I spent many years teaching and leading. Some were old colleagues I hadn’t seen since last year; others I was meeting for the first time. As we caught up, I could feel us all dancing between hope and anxiety about what’s to come. We're already spinning plates and we know a fresh stack is coming out hot, and faster than we'd like!

Driving home, I kept seeing the faces of my colleagues and wondering: Who's gonna help you spin all those plates? I found myself wishing I could split into many pieces and walk alongside each of them as they journey through this year.

As someone who spins a lot of plates—and kinda thrives on it—I want to share my secret to juggling. It's a simple question that has made a huge difference in my life. It's one that comes from my doctoral supervisor, Professor Lynn Fels. She asks all her students this simple question: Who will you walk with?

We spend so much time deciding what we’re going to take on, but perhaps not enough thinking about who will help us connect the dots, work through what’s tricky, and stay close to the things that matter once the year gets really busy. Sometimes the best professional support doesn’t give us more to do. It helps us make more of what we’re already doing.

That’s one of the hopes behind the Flourishing Teachers Collective. It isn’t intended to be another plate to spin, but a dedicated professional community where experienced educators can bring the work already occupying their heads and hearts and have thoughtful companions alongside them. Across an arc of 10 gatherings, there’s enough continuity to know one another’s work, connect ideas, troubleshoot what’s tricky, and keep meaningful work moving. If some good professional company would help you hold what matters this year, Early Bird individual membership is $290 CAD / $210 USD until September 15, and enrolment for both individuals and cohorts closes September 30.

I’d love to welcome you.

Here’s wishing you wonderful professional companions for the journey ahead. And if an educator you know comes to mind who you think I could walk alongside this year, I hope you’ll forward this email their way.

With love,

Misty xo