"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." —Albert Einstein

"Students, today I will be utilizing approaches from the crypt of dry curricula I am mandated to implement in the classroom and you are going to write about something you don't feel connected to, can't see any point in, and which will live in 'the cloud' forever after I grade it to assess skills you've never actually been taught." —Said out loud by no teacher ever

When I share about my experience growing up in New York (or New "Yawk" as I've been known to say) and attending public school, I'm always struck by how rich and layered my education was and how much afterschool hours shaped my life—profoundly.

This is a photo of me, today, on my 47th birthday, holding my very first journal—written when I was 10 years old. My fifth grade teacher asked us to buy a notebook that inspired us and, every few days, she gave us a topic to write about.

A life is made of memories. When I was 20 years old, I traveled the world for two months with my best friend Kristin. It was a safer time then. Airport security was a breeze. Shoes stayed on. Everyone smiled. I had just acted in my first television show. My television was the only screen I owned.

What's your NAA17 Convention strategy? How are you going to get the most out of your Convention experience? We asked some of our long-time NAA Convention participants to share their best Convention advice. Here is what they said:

Handwriting is being replaced by typing and talking replaced by texting ... and some kids don't know the difference.

Young people are learning that communicating in 140 characters or less is acceptable.