Tarrant County Courage to Teach gives heart back to teachers and community...
We began our first retreat in the spring of 1999, inviting educators and other leaders to experience the principles and practices that ground the renewal work of the Courage movement. Since that beginning, we have provided combinations of half-day, one-day, and weekend retreats to teachers, principals and other leaders in the community.

• 92 renewal opportunities have been provided for 1,301 leaders in education and community for a total of 21,465 service hours, averaging 17 hours per person.

by introducing courage to teachers and other leaders across the community...

Introductory experiences for educators have been provided using many formats. Some have been offered by TCCTT; others have been requested by individual schools and other groups of educators. As generous community leaders have stepped forward to support our work with teachers, they have expressed a similar desire to approach their work more wholeheartedly. In response to this expressed need and to create opportunities for leaders in education to interact with leaders from other areas of the community, we have provided cross-professional experiences.

• 12 introductory experiences have been provided for 194 educators for an average of more than 16 service hours per person.
• 12 site-based retreats serving 585 educators averaged 3 hours of service per person.
• 25 introductory experiences have been provided to 215 leaders across education and other professions, averaging 9 hours of renewal experience per person.
• 20 area attorneys have participated in 3 introductory offerings for the legal profession in anticipation of a seasonal program.

and inviting leaders in education and community to find new ways to integrate life and work through participation in a series of quarterly retreats with a group of colleagues...

Participants have spent these weekends, most of them on their own time, engaging in activities that strengthen their commitment to their profession, and developing the internal resources that give them courage to teach from the heart over the long haul.

They develop lasting relationships with colleagues who also are deeply committed to giving their best to the people they serve. Research has demonstrated that effective adult learning happens when it is voluntary, happens over time, and is cohort based. Our retreats are based upon this model and upon the time-honored practices of story telling, deep listening, solitude, and journaling as ways to examine one's life and work.

• 73 educators have participated in one of the 4 seasonal series offered to date. Each participant has attended 5 to 8 weekend retreats, averaging 127 hours per person.
• 20 leaders from law, medicine, government and the nonprofit sectors began a 5 retreat seasonal series in the fall of 2003.
• 40 neighborhood leaders are participating in the Community of Leaders program co-sponsored by the City of Fort Worth and the League of Neighborhoods. The City contracted with TCCTT to provide a 4-retreat series as the program for 2003-2004.

while our community has come together to celebrate educators and reconnect with our own sense of purpose at community events with Parker J. Palmer, founder, Courage to Teach.

• 1000 citizens have participated in 9 of these community events.

Note: these numbers reflect totals through May 2004.