Page 4 - The EDGE Winter 2024 WEB

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

BY RUSSELL DENEAULT
Happy New Year, AASBO, and Welcome to 2024!

Russell Deneault

At our January Bi-Monthly meeting, I touched on the of our purpose in serving students. For several
topic of sharing our Winter Break experiences with years now, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down
our colleagues upon our return to work and our first at a session or over lunch during a conference to
AASBO gathering for the year. We share stories of speak with such a colleague. We’ve connected over
glorious rest, thrilling/stressful trips with family, or our common goals and discussed how different our
the challenges of the holiday season, all of which do environments can be (I work in an urban setting,
little to directly reduce the ever-present list of to-dos she in a deeply rural school district). She invited
and urgent matters waiting for us back at the office. me up for the long drive to northeastern Arizona
These stories do something equally as important: to share in a school fundraising and social event
remind us of the relationships and our shared over the break and so we packed up the kids and
connections that build the strong social infrastructure drove up to experience a new part of the state. So
that makes such work possible. much was familiar – dances and kids fundraising
behind the concession stand. So much was new,
Through AASBO we establish relationships that especially the rural setting and people we had never
expand our network of contacts, challenge us to met before. That opportunity to experience more of
push our thinking into new horizons, and build long- our state re-invigorated my inspiration in working
lasting relationships that sustain us and remind us with school districts, but it also reminded me

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4 THE EDGE WINTER 2024