Conference Gains National Reach in Concord for “Design + Create + Inspire”

Four new partner states will join with 1,000 educators and administrators from more than 75 innovative North Carolina school districts June 23-25 in Concord for NC New Schools’ annual Summer Institute, a three-day, educator-led professional development conference designed to advance the most effective approaches to teaching, learning and leading. Over the past decade, the event has grown from four tables in a conference room to fill one of the largest meeting venues in North Carolina.

Among the schools and districts attending from across the state are more than a dozen schools from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and surrounding counties, with teams of teachers and administrators from each school and district. For the first time, the event also includes participants from Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi and South Carolina, as partners in the Rural Innovative Schools initiative to scale North Carolina’s proven college- and career-readiness strategies to other states.

The conference will be held at the Concord Embassy Suites and Convention Center, 5400 John Q. Hammons Dr. NW, Concord. Concurrent and general sessions will run Tuesday, June 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

With the conference theme of “Design + Create + Inspire,” NC New Schools is highlighting the importance of designing education experiences that inspire students and encourage creativity.

Two education design leaders focused on success for all students will headline the conference. Dr. Daniel P. King, superintendent of the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District (PSJA ISD) will speak on Tuesday, June 23, between noon and 1:30 p.m. Sam Seidel, author of Hip Hop Genius and student lab director of the Business Innovation Factory, will speak on Wednesday, June 24, between 12:30 and 2:00 p.m.

King will address his experience in rural Texas designing districts that ensure college access for all students. PSJA ISD has become a state and national model for dropout prevention and recovery. Under King’s leadership, the number of annual high school graduates has almost doubled and the four-year graduation rate has increased from 62.4 percent to 90.1 percent.

Seidel will discuss the importance of district design and student engagement in ensuring all students graduate ready for successful lives. Seidel has worked with leading national education organizations, including the Black Alliance for Educational Options, Big Picture Learning, Jobs for the Future, and the Association for High School Innovation.

Unlike many professional conferences where participants roam and sample, Summer Institute is designed with the goal of helping educators return to their schools with clear goals for improving teaching and learning, linked directly to their school’s particular needs and strategic plan.

Throughout the conference, participants will attend interactive sessions focused on education innovation in classrooms, schools, and districts as well as take part in school-based team planning times. The emphasis is on educators learning from each others’ experience with innovative approaches to secondary education.

The conference will be preceded, on Monday, by “pre-institute” sessions for several NC New Schools-led initiatives, including rural innovative schools, Coach University and NC STEP, a teacher development program for mid-career professionals in science, technology, engineering and math subjects (STEM). Monday’s events also include STEM Industry Day, when more than 150 educators from across the state will gain work-based exposure at 13 area companies to help teachers bring real-world relevance to the classroom.

Most of the 76 individual sessions during the three days of Summer Institute will be led by teachers and administrators, who have collaborated with NC New Schools staff to develop workshops focusing on a range of issues, from use of data and creating a college-going culture to strengthening math instruction and developing interdisciplinary lessons. In keeping with theme of the conference, many sessions will focus on designing creative approaches to inspiring students. Among them:

Ready to go on a Quest? Transforming your classroom through gamification
Growing pains for a virtual early college high school: The Good, bad and ugly
1 + 1 = Fun: Building a Schoolwide math culture
Get off your island! Enhancing achievement through connected classrooms
3-2-1: Three teachers, two subjects, one class
Interact, revisit and succeed: Designing interactive math and science lessons
Experiencing the unfamiliar: Simulations in the humanities classroom

Please view the conference program and app for more detailed information.

North Carolina New Schools is a professional services agency focused on developing high-performing schools and school districts by providing innovative approaches to teacher and administrator professional learning. Since 2003, NC New Schools has partnered with districts, higher education, businesses and communities in every region of the state to ensure that all students graduate ready for college, careers and life. For more information, visit ncnewschools.org and follow us on social media @ncnewschools.

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