Summertime and the living is easy – or at least it used to be, right? In the world of education, summertime used to be a greatly anticipated break, with the majority of educators taking off a few months to unwind. Even the administrators and support professionals who were left behind were able to take advantage of the opportunity to work at a more leisurely pace, providing the space needed for thoughtful planning and preparation.

Those lazy days of summer are long gone, of course, and that’s true not only for educators and administrators but also for the companies like NC3T that serve them. These past several months have been chaotic here, and it feels as if the storm is only growing as we barrel far too quickly towards the start of the school year. There are tremendous changes afoot for our organization: everything feels unmoored, in a state of flux, and it’s very easy to lose your bearings when there’s so little sense of permanence. (Let me issue a disclaimer here: The changes I’m talking about are VERY positive, and we’ll soon be able to share details. So, stay tuned!)

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind during times like this, so it’s more important than ever to find some grounding: Something stable, reliable, and unchanging that you can tether yourself to. No one enjoys change for the sake of change. Good change happens for a reason, and it’s critically important that you keep that reason in mind and use the change to move forward in important ways.

For us, we continue to center around our mission: “Every learner with a dream and a plan, and every community with a capable and ready workforce.” If we subject ourselves to the winds of change, it must be so that we can better support young people connecting to their futures, and simultaneously to help communities build a vibrant pool of qualified, capable, and engaged workers.

The changes we’re working through will allow us to do both of those things. For our consulting and professional development clients, the expertise, and connections we’ve developed over the past ten years are coming together in ways that will allow us to provide you with much greater support going forward. And for our Seamless subscribers, buckle up: Our capabilities, resources, and level of support are about to go through the roof. You’re going to be surprised and amazed at the things you see coming out in the fall.

As you struggle with change in your own school (or district, or region, or state…), remember what your anchor is – growing the next generation of workers, citizens, and neighbors – and make sure that all of those changes feed into that goal. Change can be crazy but changing with purpose allows you to harness the chaos and fuel the future.

Brett Pawlowski is Executive Vice President of the National Center for College and Career Transitions (NC3T). NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance, and tools. These strategies help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education. Discover more at www.nc3t.com.