NARSOL Board of Directors member Richard Earl sent a message to conference planning teams, “the conference is going ahead as planned.” While some members of the planning groups appeared concerned with the growing uncertainty of how the pandemic could potentially alter the conference, NARSOL leadership is optimistic that the conference will be held.

A positive mention is that airfare could not be more of a bargain at this particular time. The cost of a roundtrip airfare ticket has significantly dropped because of struggling airlines and the plummeting price of jet fuel. As of the time of this reporting roundtrip airfare during the conference time frame from Houston, Texas, to Raleigh-Durham starts at $79. Additionally, other services such as rental cars and hotel rooms are attempting to pull out all the stops to capture any customer it can acquire.

For more information about the NARSOL 2020 Conference, please click here.

As a parent, I am appalled that our kids do not understand grammar.  Autocorrect and Spellcheck have taken over.  Anyone remember Mad Libs?  (Come on and comment, I know you do!).  I used to love these.  One person would ask you for different parts of speech. “Give me proper noun.  Give me a pronoun.  Give me an adjective.”  How about those adverbs? (Hint: My 8^th grade teacher taught me a trick about identifying adverbs.  She said they usually ended in -ly.  Examples: quickly, swiftly, aggressively, quietly.)  These random words would then be filled into a story that often made little sense and generated lots of laughs.  This is how we occupied ourselves on long car rides (yes, sometimes in the back of station wagons with pillows and blankets – and no seat belts).

I bring up Mad Libs because I recently tried these with a group of kids.  They struggled as a result of their lack of grammar proficiency.  So, here is my lesson to all my readers.  If there is one part of speech for you to understand, understand the VERB.

Verbs are action words.  They aren’t things you talk about.  They are things you DO.  We have grave concerns and frustrations about the registry, but will it ever change if we fail to put action to it?

We want change, but we want someone else to do the work.  We want someone else to be the voice.  Are you a noun or are you a verb?  I am a VERB and I am encouraging you to be a verb.

Now listen, I fully know we all have different skills, gifts, and resources.  It is time to find a way to put those to use.  Are you an influencer?  Can you convince people to join NCRSOL to help fund the group’s work?  Are you financially stable to a point where you can donate yourself?   Are you persuasive and good at talking with lawmakers?  Are you gifted at writing?  Maybe your call to action is to GO…go to the NC conference this summer.  There are so many ways to use your talents.  So do it.  Be a VERB.  Put action to it.

Be the change you wish to see in the world.  Be a Change Agent.  Be a Verb…
–Phoebe