The goal of our school district - our dream - is that all students succeed. For this to happen, we must accept the inevitability of and embrace change as a positive force in the classroom.

Change can be chaotic and painful, or it can be orderly, managed and positive. The difference comes from leadership. Few things are changing faster in Idaho than how our children are educated. New technologies offer exciting possibilities - and intimidating challenges. Teachers will always remain the heart of the educational experience, but the classrooms they teach in and the tools they use will soon be incredibly different from what they are today.

The beneficiaries will be students. Increasing student achievement will always be both our goal and the justification for embracing change.Fortunately a unique effort to meet this challenge has begun. Managed by Boise State University's Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies (and funded with a grant from the JA & Kathryn Albertson Foundation) the "Idaho Leads Project" is a statewide effort to, as one co-director puts it, "create networking on steroids."

The formal goals are to increase school effectiveness and student preparedness by building relationships, boosting leadership capacity and sharing best practices. That means bringing together educators from across the state to learn, share and help each other.Forty-three of Idaho's 115 school districts and six of the state's 43 charter schools signed up for Idaho Leads, which covers the schools' cost of participating, including travel and hiring substitute teachers. Each district or school was asked to form a 10-member team that includes the superintendent and at least one principal, teacher, school board trustee and student.

The effort kicked off in February with more than 500 school teachers, administrators, board members, parents and students coming together in Coeur d'Alene, Boise and Sun Valley to hear experts and draw energy and ideas from each other.As a participant in the Coeur d'Alene event, I found it refreshing that we were not told what to do. The "what" was left to us. The issues were presented, problems identified, and potential solutions discussed. But what we do in our community is for us to decide - with the help and assistance of the vastly expanded network of resources provided by Idaho Leads.The help is appreciated. Our community and schools face exciting futures. The beneficiaries will be our students - better prepared to succeed in the world after school - whatever that world looks like for them.

The Idaho Leads Project will continue for the next year and half. We will keep the community informed of both our progress and ways in which the community can help in this important endeavor.

Dr. Mary Ann Ranells is Superintendent of Schools for Lakeland Joint School District No. 272.