On Dec. 1, Nick Penning, a longtime fixture on the advocacy team at the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), retired as the association's senior legislative analyst. In his 26 years with the association, Penning played many roles relating to advocacy, but the one he relished the most was serving as the principal communicator with AASA members and Capitol Hill. He honed his skills as a writer as a statehouse reporter and television reporter in Springfield, Illinois. He has a passion for social justice and equality of opportunity for public education. His deep-seated belief that education was the bedrock of democracy lit up his writing. As the driving force behind the AASA Legislative Corps, Penning spent countless hours organizing this active group of grassroots superintendents--not a simple task in the days before modern technology reached AASA headquarters. In the late 1990s, undiagnosed Lyme disease robbed Penning of his physical strength, yet the passion for public education remained strong, so he poured his efforts into communicating with AASA members through his weekly advocacy messages and his research into the background of policy issues. Penning's on-the-scene tenacity for policy issues--which once kept him on Capitol Hill at all hours--was replaced by a strong desire to share information to maximize participation by AASA members in federal policy decisions.