There may be no prettier setting than where we found ourselves last weekend – the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, a stretch of California State coastline just a stone’s throw from the tony Pebble Beach golf course and 17-mile drive. While the rest of the country sweated through record heat, we enjoyed three days of leadership training amid chilly breezes and fog that would burn off just in time to reveal dazzling sunsets.

Joining our Pop Ed team were 29 educators preparing to become new workshop facilitators. While half hailed from parts near and far in the Golden State, the others traveled from the East, Midwest and Southwest. One dedicated professor even made the trip from Khartoum, Sudan. As in past Institutes, the attendees represented all levels of education (K-12, university and nonformal).

Over the course of the weekend, the group engaged in a variety of teaching activities, learned about current population issues, and got schooled in the “nuts and bolts” of Pop Ed’s workshop model.  The setting also lent itself to some laidback socializing around the fire pit in the evening with s’mores.

The final portion of the weekend had participants working on agendas for future workshops they hope to present – at conferences, in pre-service classes and for school districts in their area.

“A very lovely weekend! I look forward to an exciting future with Population Ed,” wrote one attendee at the end. My colleagues and I delighted in making these 29 new friends and can’t wait to get them started presenting workshops this fall.

More information about our Trainers’ Network and Leadership Institutes is available here.