Education and students – and how one transforms the other – were discussed by McDaniel President Joan Develin Coley during her talk March 26 as a featured speaker in the Baltimore County League of Women Voters (BCLWV) lecture series, “Focus on Contemporary Issues.”

Students must learn how to think critically and creatively, Coley said during her remarks  “Transforming Today’s Students into Tomorrow’s Leaders for a Democratic Society.”

“We must teach them how to think, not what to think,” she explained. “If they know how to think they’ll be able to figure things out. That sounds simple and perhaps trite, but our leaders have to be able to analyze situations, resolve conflicts, and solve problems. They’ll need to discover, invent and create. 

“Our leaders – indeed, our nation – will need ingenuity, creativity and intelligence to shape the future on a planet that is perpetually changing.”

Coley again takes the podium on April 4 as the keynote speaker at the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Teacher Awards and April 19 as an honoree at the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland Distinguished Women 2007 ceremony.