School Board Conferences

Murray’s presentations for school board and school administrator conventions have included the opening keynote for the National Association for Secondary School Principals and the Canadian National School Principals Association and state conventions across the country.

As a former educator who has inspired and challenged fellow educators for 23 years, he designs each presentation around the conference theme and to the unique circumstances of school leaders in the world of No Child Left Behind and increased teacher accountability.

School board members and administrators need laughter and Murray’s presentations are hilarious... filled with stories and images only educators and board members can appreciate! And, your audience will return to their school districts with specific skills for passionate leadership in times of change while maintaining balance in their lives.

Murray’s fee includes a keynote address and, if timing allows, a breakout session. The following descriptions can be adapted for either a keynote or a breakout session.

	“Your keynote presentation was the highlight of the conference! Attendees repeatedly told us the keynote was not only informative, but inspirational. You certainly helped make this conference professionally rewarding for all of us!” - Director of Professional Development, School Administrators of New York State

PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE
Leading With Passion And Style!

School boards are between the proverbial “rock and a hard place” with NCLB one side and a challenged and frustrated faculty on the other. It is an important time to be charismatic leaders to help our teachers to push their students to new standards of success!

Murray’s keynote highlights the leadership skills that foster a climate of success for our faculty, staff and students.... enthusiasm, focus, positive problem solving and optimism. The challenge: these are the very attributes that disappear under constant pressure and stress! “Who we are, may be as important as what we know!” will be a focal point for this presentation as Murray blends humor, incredible visuals and wonderful school stories to highlight the point that our style of leadership is critical to faculty and student performance, as well as our own. Murray will help us hone our skills for balancing hard work with wellbeing, focus with fun, fatigue with rest and pressure with performance.

After a hilarious look at the stress and joys of education today, Murray will zero in on how to ensure a passionate leadership style when things get crazy; keep our lives in balance so we can perform well under pressure; use the 10/90 Rule to keep our meetings focused; and to bring optimism and enthusiasm to every board meeting!

	“Bam! Bam! Bam! That is the recent sound of the hammer hitting the nail on the head! What a great start to our summer conference! There were so many complimentary remarks passed along to me and the sponsor of the keynote had many people stop by their both to thank them.” - Washington Principals Association

THE TROUBLE WITH THE FUTURE IS... IT'S NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE!
Spirit, morale and teamwork in times of change!

In a world of change, educators generally like stability and consistency. Teachers work in a most rhythmical environment... nearly every day the same schedule, even going to the bathroom! With changing demographics, higher expectations, restructuring in our schools and NCLB, our teachers are being moved out of their comfort zone and we must both challenge and support them.

In these times of change, leadership is critical to morale, spirit and teamwork. As our baby boom teachers work their way toward retirement and young, new teachers fill our classrooms, we have a terrific opportunity for innovation, team teaching, mentoring and sharing an enthusiasm for teaching. All levels of school leadership will be instrumental in setting the climate for continuous improvement and inspiring our colleagues to be wonderful models for our students... but our school board members will be front and center in the move to continuous improvement.

We will dig into school change, why it is so difficult for teachers and how we can motivate them to continually innovate rather than react to mandates. Murray will teach his “LAVA LAMP” philosophy, share four tips for successful meetings, help us prevent “PSYCHOSCLEROSIS” and “GROUP GRIPING” and humorously drive home the point that our optimism, adaptability and proactive mindset are the models for our building principals and teachers.

Your school board members will go back to their districts with skills for creating a culture for innovation, motivating comfortable employees, recognizing successful staff members and dealing with change resistant faculty.

	“I want to thank you for getting our annual conference off to such a terrific start! When this happens, it carries the remainder of the event. Our members were very happy with this year’s conference, as a matter of fact, I had to use cold packs on my back for two days to get the swelling down from being patted so often!!!” - Executive Director, Oregon School Administrators

Murray Banks is a long time educator...first with children in the public schools, then with university students and now with fellow educators. His presentations focus on teaching style and its impact on student performance. And, he knows something about performance... he is a world-class athlete and honored educator.

This man is a passionate teacher! Armed with a Masters Degree and abundant enthusiasm, Murray was an educator at every level from grade school to graduate school in the ‘70’s & early ‘80’s. He was honored for his teaching and coaching, culminating with Vermont’s Teacher of the Year and the national Outstanding Educator awards. He has coached teams that won state championships and teams that never won a game. He has directed extracurricular activities, been a class advisor, led field trips, created innovative teaching techniques and learned to eat school lunch in 14 minutes!

At the same time he was achieving educational honors, he was winning his first of four national championships in the triathlon. Two times he has been one of the top finishers in the Ironman Triathlon World Championship. Recently, racing the finest skiers from Europe and Scandinavia, Murray won the masters World Championship in cross-country skiing.

Murray took a sabbatical in 1984 to train and race internationally, work on his advanced degree in school leadership and co-author a textbook. The opportunity to inspire and challenge educators, from his unique perspective as a honored teacher and world-class athlete, lured him from his own classroom into schools and education conferences throughout North America.

	“... Thank you for your outstanding keynote presentation at our fall conference! You helped make our conference a huge success! In addition, your breakout session was extremely popular. Your evaluations were excellent and as the conference planner, I appreciated the fact that you were fun and easy to work with. Thank you again for your wonderful presentations!” - Vice President, North Central Association for Accreditation and School Improvement

MURRAY HAS KEYNOTED FOR MANY STATE CONVENTIONS LIKE THESE…

   • Minnesota School Boards Association
   • NY School Boards Association
   • Illinois School Boards Association
   • Iowa School Boards Association
   • Nebraska School Boards Association
   • West Virginia School Boards Association
   • Maine School Boards Association
   • Pennsylvania School Boards Association
   • Georgia School Boards Association
   • Missouri School Boards Association