| MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022 | 4:45 – 6:30 PM |
| Opening Session / Keynote |
|
Trianon A/B/C
Tom Vander Ark
Author & CEO, Getting Smart
Tom Vander Ark is an advocate for innovations in learning. As CEO of Getting Smart, he advises school districts and networks, education foundations and funders and impact organizations on the path forward. A prolific writer and speaker, Tom is author of Getting Smart; Smart Cities That Work for Everyone; Smart Parents; and Better Together. He has published thousands of articles, co-authored and contributed to more than 50 books and white papers. He writes regularly on GettingSmart.com, LinkedIn, and contributes to Forbes.
Previously, Tom served as the first Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He also served as a public school superintendent in Washington state and has extensive private sector experience. Tom co-founded the first education venture fund, Learn Capital. Tom is a board member for Education Board Partners, Director for 4.0 Schools, Digital Learning Institute, Latinx Education Collaborative, and eduInnovation and Advisor for One Stone, Teton Science Schools and Whittle School & Studios.
Tom has presented at a variety of national conferences, including SXSWEdu, iNACOL’s Blended & Online Learning Symposium, ASU/GSV, National Charter Schools Conference and AACN Annual Meeting. He has also presented at international conferences including The World Bank, The Digital Education Show Middle East and Bett Show.
Tom received the Distinguished Achievement Medal and graduated from the Colorado School of Mines. He earned an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Denver, and continues his education online.
Designing the Future of Learning
In three design sprints, participants will articulate learning goals for the new innovation economy, explore the nature of real world learning, and design learning experiences and environments for the future. A4LE is thrilled to welcome Tom to Kansas City to help reinforce our conference focus of Instruction Before Construction.
|
| MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022 | 3:30 – 4:30 PM |
| The Scaling of Active Learning Environments: Building a Taxonomy of Teaching & Learning Spaces |
|
Trianon D
Education leaders & school board members continue to navigate numerous challenges to promote student success, faculty development, facilities, and infrastructure. Steelcase Learning offers a targeted collection of sprints that provide a holistic and comprehensive approach to the adoption of environments that support active learning methodologies and thoughtfully curated technology integration. Participants will explore measurement tools to support the ongoing development of spaces in response to critical needs and gaps over time, and refresh spaces as new and evolving trends, norms and upskilling initiatives deem necessary.
Learning Objectives:
- Develop consensus of an active learning (learner centered learning) vision that may be articulated by all constituents.
- Identify the type and number of different teaching and learning spaces in their buildings, the activities they accommodate, and the behaviors they nurture.
- Review, understand and plan to apply the research highlighting 11 factors to effectively scale active learning.
- Use data-driven metrics to develop a personalized taxonomy of teaching and learning spaces to scale across an institution.
Marisa Sergnese, M Ed, Principal Consultant, Steelcase
Marisa has over 25 years working as a teacher, consultant, adjunct faculty member and school administrator. Her understanding and practice of the change management process, coupled with a focus on developing growth mindsets that influence school culture, are key attributes to her practice as a principal consultant with the Steelcase Learning group. Working with faculty and leaders to effectively shift to more learner-centered teaching and learning environments promoting higher-order thinking skills, Marisa brings awareness to how physical space impacts behaviors that support both students and educators with their wellbeing and emerging skillsets.
Stacy Roth, Scott Rice Office Works
|
| Putting ‘Unity’ in Community |
|
Trianon A/B/C
View presentation »
The number of public school districts in Iowa has shrunk by nearly 13 percent in the last 20 years and the annual rate of district closures/consolidations between 2010-2020 doubled over the rate seen in the preceding decade. Districts like East Mills—itself the product of one of these recent consolidations—are increasingly common across the state. This makes it critical for facilities project teams to be prepared to proceed with an acute sensitivity to inter-community dynamics that can sway bond elections. For example, a primary concern within East Mills was an elementary facility in Hastings, which for 50 years was the seat of the former Nishna Valley CSD. A consensus solution option that would result in vacating the Hastings facility galvanized a small but vocal group of opponents to the bond campaign.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the strategies that prepared the project team to successfully work with district and community stakeholders in the face of pandemic-imposed limitations to engagement and a vocal minority of project opponents.
- Identify the most appropriate strategic messaging for the right subset(s) of community members & organizations and disseminate that information through various channels.
- Understand how multiple modes of communication with voters combined with the impact of the satellite voting location to influence a successful outcome.
- Acknowledge the importance of the CTE center as the point of unity for the former Nisha Valley CSD voters.
Emily Bannick, Senior Director of Education Services, Boyd Jones Construction
Emily spearheads Boyd Jones’ dedicated education team, ensuring that the educational goals of partner districts are woven into every aspect of our team’s work. She draws on a background in engineering, project management, and educational programming to assemble a team that fits client needs, and then ensures proactive and thorough communication among all stakeholders and team members.
Meagan Schnoor, Environmental Scientist, HDR
Meagan served as Chair of the East Mills CSD Vote Yes campaign committee in 2021. She and her husband own a farm in the East Mills CSD near Hastings, Iowa. They have a first grader in the district and a 3 year old that will attend in the future. In her professional career, Meagan has been an Environmental Scientist at HDR in Omaha for 15 years and is a former public high school science teacher. She specializes in NEPA compliance for transportation and water projects in Nebraska and Iowa; threatened and endangered species habitat reviews; and migratory bird nest surveys.
Daniel Conaway, Architectural Designer, Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture
A Notre Dame graduate who did his internship at APMA, Daniel officially joined the team in 2019 and quickly made himself an integral part of the design team. Though he contributes to various project types, he has become adept at working with K-12 schools in the pre-bond planning phase, supporting community engagement and pre-design efforts.
Cole Epley, Boyd Jones
|
| Elevated Project Solutions for the Next 50 Years |
|
Trianon E
View presentation »
Using a student-centered approach, Jacobs and Omaha Public Schools (OPS), will present and discuss the successful planning, design and construction of two new high schools. These projects are the first new high schools that OPS has constructed in over 50 years. The narrative will navigate through the process of establishing attendance boundaries for each of the new schools, studying pilot spaces and research data to identify optimal solutions and the utilization of purposeful educational furnishings to maximize student impact and space utilization. As with all things, the design of high schools has evolved significantly over the last 50 years. To ensure that these new high schools meet current educational needs and provide the best learning environments throughout the next 50 years, Jacobs led the design and construction teams through a project development approach that elevated the project solutions, maximized the community investment, and managed the construction costs without reducing valuable program space. Combining an in-depth understanding of the current and future academic programs with the desired teaching approach, our team ensured the core principles of OPS’s 21st century learning environments were achieved. With an endeavor of this magnitude, it would take more than the implementation of best practices and processes to achieve impactful results. Transparent communication, trust, and a proven team were critical to experience success in meeting OPS’s commitment to students, staff and the community.
Learning Objectives:
- Educational Visioning
- Community Engagement
- Design of Educational Facilities
- Ethics / Professionalism
Mark Sommer, Program Director, Jacobs
Mark has spent his career leading teams to successfully complete large capital programs that involved multiple facilities, leadership teams, and communities. This experience allows him to transparently communicate to publicly elected Boards, community members and internal stakeholders. With a passion for supporting the growth of young people, Mark also has worked diligently to create processes and systems that can support and maximize student engagement opportunities throughout the Omaha Public Schools’ Bond Program he leads.
Jerry Perry, Design Principal, Jacobs
Jerry has 25 years of experience in conceptual design, project planning and schematic design for a variety of facility types. This includes program design management and programming through design development to construction documents and bidding, including review and determination of project budgets and development of educational specifications and technical design guidelines. Jerry provides subject matter expertise in 21st Century school design, coordinating with District administration and staff to translate their vision into forward-thinking facility requirements.
George Killian, Design Manager, Jacobs
George has 25 years of architectural experience where he has managed several different entities. Throughout his career he has been involved in all aspects of new construction and remodel projects executing client interaction, programming, design, budgets, construction documents, contracts and finally construction administration. Coordinating multiple projects simultaneously is one of his attributes along with good communication skills. He takes the time to engage people individually and collectively to build consensus.
Susan Christopherson, Chief Academic Officer, Omaha Public Schools
In her 28 years with Omaha Public Schools, Christopherson has worked as a high school English teacher, a dean of students, an assistant principal at both the middle and high school level, a middle school principal and most recently, as the district’s executive director of secondary education. Christopherson is committed to student-centered leadership, fostering high-quality learning experiences that prepare students for their future. As executive director for secondary education, Christopherson jointly led transformational work for district high schools, expanding access and elevating student expectations through the Omaha Public Schools College & Career Academies and Pathways. Christopherson is a board member of the D2 Center and Friends of KIOS.
She has two amazing children, Catherine and Cale, who are both Omaha Public Schools graduates. Her husband, Bryan, supports Susan’s unwavering passion for making a difference for students.
|
| TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022 | 1:30 – 2:30 PM |
| Boys Town Education Center: The Evolution of Learning Environments that Serve All Students |
|
Trianon A/B/C
View presentation »
Since opening in 1948, historic Boys Town High School has provided safe and inspiring learning experiences for its students – a dream that began when Father Flanagan founded the storied Boys Town over 100 years ago. All students deserve next generation learning environments. So, how do you achieve this for 100% at-risk youth? As Boys Town enters its next chapter with the design and construction of the new Education Center, the ultimate goal is to create a stimulating learning environment that will be family-oriented, innovative, and inviting, while fostering fun and inspiring students to love to learn again. Throughout this session, we will explore how staff and designers collaborated with students and educators to accomplish this important goal.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how trauma-informed design can positively impact a learning environment
- Learn how multipurpose, flexible, and adaptable spaces support soft-skill education
- Learn how an educational facility can bridge learning and social-emotional wellbeing
- Learn how to design spaces for kids who endure boundary issues
Vanessa Schutte, AIA, ALEP, Principal, K-12 Education Leader, DLR Group
Vanessa specializes in the assessment of educational adequacy within school districts. This means that she listens to educators to determine what is and what is not working. She understands current and potential programming offerings as well as demographic trends within the district. Once this is understood, she will propose alternatives to help the district define their future facility needs to meet their vision. “I view integrated design as the synergy between all stakeholders: owner, architect, and engineers during all phases of design. I am the daughter of two teachers. When I am working on a school, I feel like I am working for a greater good. I am helping to create active and engaging learning environments for students.” As a designer, Vanessa excels in working with clients to draw out their dreams and desires during the charrette process and interpreting those contents into a clear design theme.
Bob Reznicek, Ed. D., Superintendent of Schools, Boys Town Schools
Dr. Bob Reznicek is presently the Superintendent of Schools for the Boys Town Schools located at Boys Town, NE. Dr. Reznicek received his Doctorate of Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has served in various school districts in various administrative roles in his 40+ years in education. Dr. Reznicek is noted for school improvement, specifically in the area of Trades Programs, Technology, and Teacher Improvement. He also has experience in building renovations and new construction with school facilities. Dr. Reznicek is a life-long learner and strives to make improvements to schools that will benefit both students and staff.
|
| Elevate Learning with Sustainable Change |
|
Trianon E
View presentation »
According to Lezotte (2005), schools are either improving or declining; they simply cannot meet the status quo. Each new school project is an opportunity to have a positive impact on learning as whole. However, without a clear change process, teaching and learning behaviors slip back to pre-existing mindsets. Join us to hear about Sioux Falls School District’s firsthand experiences and learn how to move your district/campus toward a common vision and implement change to benefit each learner.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the importance of “instruction before construction” in the design process.
- Realize how their “north star” for learner competencies establishes a vision to drive architectural design.
- Discover protocols for aligning “campus activation” for educators that align pedagogy within the innovative learning environment.
- Learn how to recognize the importance of organization change management in the ability to sustain change.
Marilyn Denison, Ed. D., Principal, Educational Learning Designer, DLR Group
As an educational planner, Dr. Marilyn Denison bridges curriculum and facilities throughout the design process to ensure a holistic approach is delivered. She works directly with K-12 school district clients across the country to lead planning efforts and visioning exercises that establish the client’s Why or Guiding Purpose, followed by Guiding Principles to achieve that purpose. “I am passionate about bringing the innovative learning environment and engaging pedagogy together to enhance educator and student agency, flexibility, creativity, and connectedness.” Marilyn brings a unique perspective to DLR Group, having served as an educator and district administrator for more than two decades. Her experience includes leading campus planning, professional learning, and developing curriculum for districts that serve 10,000 to 38,000 students. She has opened multiple campuses with innovative learning environments, and as a result she understands the value of building a team, creating a unique culture, and forming teacher mindsets to inspire new pedagogy to achieve desired results in newly constructed facilities. In her former role as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for Coppell Independent School District, Marilyn championed the evolution of personalized learning. Her relationship with IBM and Apple helped Coppell become the first school district to use the Watson Element app and Enlight web-based tool for educators, which helps teachers develop personalized learning programs that cater to specific needs of individual learners to elevate student achievement.
Teresa Boysen, Ed. D., Assistant Superintendent, Sioux Falls School District
Dr. Teresa Boysen start her career in Baltic, South Dakota where she taught an elementary blended classroom, high school art and varsity volleyball head coach. Her next step in education was to the Sioux Falls School District for an additional six years of teaching at the elementary level in grades 3, 4, and 5. In 1999, she transitioned into administration and assumed the roles of Elementary Principal for 18 years, and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for the past five years. She holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in education from Dakota State University, a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Sioux Falls, and a doctorate (Ed.D.) in educational administration from the University of South Dakota. During her career, she has worked with outstanding teams of educators to launch new programs supporting intensive reading interventions, alternative high school model to support youth at risk of dropping out, and numerous community collaborative partnerships providing multiple pathways for students. She was instrumental in the passing of $190 million school bond to building a new high school, middle school, and elementary.
|
| More than Meets the Eye: Embedding Educational Content Within the Built Environment |
|
Trianon D
View presentation »
There’s something about new shoes, cars, and even buildings that changes people’s behavior. New learning environments have the potential to not only inspire students, but also empower teachers to try new approaches with current curriculum. Research has shown an increase in student self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation when students move into a new or renovated learning environment because students report a sense of pride and responsibility in living up to their perceived elevated standards within the new environment.
Although not a new concept in architectural history, we are curious to explore the opportunities new buildings provide through the integration of specifically developed interior finish and environmental graphics to aid in the method of information coding. We are reminded of how the brain actually “learns” and explore current educational theory utilizing both verbal and multiple non-verbal methods which aid in long-term content retention and thereby overall student learning. At the same time, there is a current negative student engagement trend highlighting a marked decrease in engagement. We are curious to explore if the inclusion of environmental graphics can spark intrinsic motivation within students of varying age and knowledge levels.
We will explore our current collaborations with educators to integrate learning curriculum into the new built environment as a method to boost student engagement and knowledge retention.
Learning Objectives:
- Become familiar with educational theories that aid in student learning and knowledge retention.
- Connect historic precedents of embedded curriculum with modern applications in today’s learning environments.
- Be introduced to current trends in student engagement.
- Be exposed to considerations for varying comprehension abilities by student grade level populations.
Kristine Dorn, IIDA, NCIDQ, Educational Resource Leader, Hollis + Miller Architects
Kristine is the Educational Resource Leader for Hollis + Miller Architects. Kristine’s passion in researching the impact of the built environment on teaching and learning spans collaboration with both educators and administrators as well as the architectural design team members.
Mollie Mytinger, Graphic Designer, Hollis + Miller Architects
Mollie is a Graphics Designer with Hollis + Miller Architects. As part of the several architectural design teams, Mollie’s work playfully integrates educational elements within the interior design of the learning environment.
Jeanie Cook, Principal, Great Beginnings Early Childhood Center
Jeanie is the Principal of Great Beginnings Early Childhood Center in the Lee’s Summit, Missouri school district.
|
| TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022 | 2:45 – 3:45 PM |
| Creating an Embodiment of Equity & Inclusion in School Design: Using Universal Design for Learning as a Foundational Space Design Strategy |
|
Trianon D
View presentation »
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are gaining increasing attention as critical areas to focus on in our schools as school communities seek to make spaces where every person feels safe, supported, and inspired. We’ll share how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) offers a framework to integrate DEI goals into concrete ideas for school and classroom design. We’ll be using the 2nd Edition of the UDL Deck of Spaces and an expanded DEI toolkit to facilitate conversations around designing space for justice and inclusion with regard to race, gender, dis/ability, and other dimensions of identity and experience.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain how UDL connects to space design, and how it can lead to opportunities to design for inclusion. (HSW Topic: Project Planning and Design)
- Facilitate a conversation about how DEI connects to space design in ways that impact educational outcomes.
- Identify more variabilities (in learners and space users generally) and the resulting variability in space impacts on student health, well-being, and academic achievement. (HSW Topic: Health – Construction and Evaluation)
- Connect the need for inclusive design to current psychological, education, and design research and its impacts for student physical and mental health and social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. (HSW Topic: Health and Welfare – Programming and Analysis)
David Reid, Principal, Gould Evans
David is a co-founder of STEAM-Studio and Education Practice Leader for Gould Evans. His team has a deep focus on the science of learning, driven by collaborative research with educators, anthropologists, psychologists, and others. For each of the last five years, his education design work has been recognized nationally for innovation. In 2017, David co-authored the book: Unleashing Creative Genius: STEAM Studio’s Impact on Learning.
Susan Hardin, UDL Implementation Coordinator & Senior Educator, Macomb Intermediate School District
Susan is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Coordinator at Macomb Intermediate School District in Michigan. She designs and conducts professional development opportunities for general and special educators, across grade levels and content areas and speaks on the topic of UDL at local, statewide, and national conferences. Her primary area of interest is the integration of good technology into curriculum to support the learning needs of all students. Susan has served on many state and national boards related to technology and special education, including ISTE’s Inclusive Learning Network, MACUL, and the UDL Implementation Research Network (IRN).
Michael Ralph, Master Teacher & Lead Researcher, Gould Evans
Michael combines award-winning classroom practice in both the K-12 and higher education settings with an internationally published record of research and scholarship in education. He leads the development of professional learning around inclusive educational design, with a focus on Universal Design for Learning and issues of gender equity. His research centers global, interdisciplinary collaboration and user partnership and he is the recipient of the 2020 USEA Outstanding Master Teacher Award.
Sally Wurtzler, Senior Associate, Gould Evans
Sally is an education designer in the Gould Evans Education Practice. Along with nearly a decade of experience in education design, she has led client engagement efforts utilizing the UDL Deck of Spaces Idea Kit and chaired the committee on equity for the local AIA Kansas City affiliate for the past two years. Sally holds a master’s degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and a liberal arts degree from Colorado College.
|
| Designing Schools Where Learners Thrive: An Alignment Journey A toolkit for education leaders, learning communities and designers |
|
Trianon A/B/C
View presentation »
Problem: Most schools have a strong vision that reads something like this: inspire each student to reach their full potential, prepare for a world-class future, and become a caring, global citizen. And yet, a visit typically reveals a dramatic misalignment between the vision, the actual learning taking place, and the physical environment.
If you have ever visited a school that emphasizes student-centered, active and collaborative learning, only to find teachers still primarily lecturing at the front of the room, with students sitting in rows, often bored and disengaged, then you understand the problem.
Solution: We can rethink our school designs holistically by integrating varied and agile spaces with educational programs that support analytical problem solving, social and emotional learning, collaborative and project-based learning, while still supporting traditional academic disciplines. Fielding and Seaman will take participants on an Alignment Journey, where the core elements of an effective educational ecosystem, including the vision, learning program, and physical environment all work together to form a beautiful whole.
Engagement Process: James Seaman, Ph.D., AIA, ALEP will introduce a framework for the alignment journey, breaking down the role of the key elements in an effective educational ecosystem. Randy Fielding, AIA, will introduce a new, free library of 70 design patterns that organize key design elements in a well-aligned physical environment. Participants will be invited to log on to SchoolPatterns.com with their phones, tablets or laptops to identify and discuss the patterns that are most important in their learning communities.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the core elements of an aligned Education Ecosystem.
- Learn about the process of aligning the vision, education program and physical environment.
- Learn how to utilize design patterns at SchoolPatterns.com to engage stakeholders in workshops and build a shared language.
- Build a relationship with the workshop facilitators and participants to foster deeper learning to follow.
Randy Fielding, AIA, Founding Partner, Fielding International
Randy is an architect and founding partner at Fielding International, an interdisciplinary architecture and education firm that designs schools where learners thrive. He is the co-author of the Language of School Design, the recipient of 15 design awards, including A4LE’s Planner of the Year and the MacConnell Award, and the Creative Director for SchoolPatterns.com, an open source library of Design Patterns for Creative Learning Environments.
James Seaman, PhD, AIA, ALEP, Managing Partner, Fielding International
James is an architect and has a PhD in educational psychology and educational technology. His career of over twenty years has been focused entirely on designing and improving places for learning. He approaches the design of schools holistically by deeply understanding and imagining a vision for learning along with its impact on the educational program. James has managed, planned, and designed numerous innovative schools around the world.
|
| Stopping School Violence in Its Tracks |
|
Trianon E
Many school administrators and teachers in America today feel violence in their schools is inevitable, and our best course of action is concentrating our efforts on reaction and response. The popularity of programs encouraging “counter tactics” or “fighting back” is evidence of this assertion, but is this where we should be placing our highest priority?
Better answers can be found in the convergence of research-based prevention and physical security:
- The adoption of a school culture that is grounded in trusted adult/student relationships coupled with a strategy for timely intervention and management of those on a path to violence.
- The implementation of physical security based on an accurate understanding of how violent behavior has been executed in the past.
Attendees will leave this program with a clear understanding of how they can play a critical role in preventing violence in schools.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore data from previous acts of violence on schools and the takeaways for future school planning.
- Learn how school culture can impact the prevention of acts of violence.
- Explore options for the physical environment to play a positive role in the prevention of acts of violence.
- Understand how safety and security best-practices can be applied to both the exterior and interior school environment.
Dan Carney, Director of Safety & Security, Blue Valley School District
|
| WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022 | 8:15 – 9:15 AM |
| LEAD Innovation Studio: Reimagining the High School Learning Community through Collaboration and Purposeful Design |
|
Trianon A/B/C
View presentation »
Lead, Empower, Aspire, Dream: this session will share the journey of the LEAD Innovation Studio, from district vision, through the design process, and finally to the lived experience of students and staff. LEAD is a public choice high school in the Park Hill School District utilizing project-based learning, mentorship, and self-directed learning to prepare students for success in life. This presentation will feature current students, staff, and administration, along with the project architect to highlight how LEAD provides a professional learning community, celebrates student learning on display, and connects to the physical environment of the building and site to provide a truly engaging and empowering educational experience for its students.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how a professional, collaborative learning community can change the lived experience for students to better prepare them to positively impact an ever-evolving world.
- Learn how a collaborative and iterative design process supports the alignment and execution of a design reflecting the educational vision. Learn how the integrated team created and experimented together and how those efforts resulted in key design features in the new facility.
- Learn from students how they experience and interact with the physical space of the building and how it impacts their daily experience.
- Learn from teachers (learning facilitators) how they experience and interact with the physical space of the building and how it impacts their daily experience.
Dr. Ryan Stanley, Principal, LEAD Innovation Studio
Ryan is the founding principal of the LEAD Innovation Studio. Ryan was recognized as the Exemplary New Principal of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Missouri Principals Association in 2019. Prior to his current role, Ryan was the coordinator for curriculum and student services, and also served as an assistant principal and teacher for the Park Hill School District. Before coming to Park Hill, Ryan taught and coached in the Tempe Union High School District and at the University of Arkansas.
Ryan Walters, Hollis + Miller Architects
Ryan is a partner and studio leader at Hollis + Miller Architects with 16 years of experience designing K12 buildings. He has led a number of successful and award-winning projects for both public and private educational clients throughout the region and serves as in-house sustainability specialist driving enduring design and LEED certifications. He remains active in organizations such as USGBC to continually learn and evolve design practices.
Melanie Farber, LEAD Facilitator
Melanie is an English Facilitator at LEAD. Melanie received the Northland Chamber Excellence in Education Award in 2018 and State Farm Outstanding Educator Award in 2007. Before coming to Park Hill, Melanie taught in Lincoln, NE and Liberty, MO. She served as English Department Chair at Lincoln North Star High School and Gifted Coordinator at both Lincoln Southeast High School and Liberty Junior High School. Melanie was on the board of the Nebraska Writing Project.
Megan Lee, LEAD Student (12th Grade)
Megan is a senior at the LEAD Innovation Studio. Megan is heavily involved in LEADership Council serving as Co-President, as well as being a member of Student Council at Park Hill HS. Megan is also a member of NHS. Megan volunteers at her dance studio 8+ hours a week assisting younger dance students in their classes. She plans to attend Kansas University and study biology and pre-medicine.
|
| Closing the Loop at North Park School for Innovation |
|
Trainon E
View presentation »
The success of North Park School for Innovation’s focus on environmental stewardship and sustainability in education is the story of a dedicated and visionary principal teaming with the Cuningham design team to explore meaningful ways to engage students with nature and natural systems, promote free play, and creative collaborative, innovative and flexible learning environments. North Park School for Innovation is a Green Ribbon School and has goals of achieving Zero Carbon by 2025. They have focused on closed-loop systems regarding energy and waste, actively engaging students and curriculum with this process.
Learning Objectives:
- Fully integrated learning environments. How to connect the indoor to the outdoor and the world beyond through design and educational programming to positively affect the well-being of users, and provide equitable access to environmental education.
- Radical Incrementalism. The power of doing one thing well, repeatedly, to power a path to net-zero. How long-term planning, educational programming and design intertwine to realize the higher goals of a school that positively affects the physical environment and the welfare of students, faculty, staff, and the larger community.
- Net-zero on a public-school budget. Making partners, managing resources, and enabling staff to empower change directed towards your goals.
- Empowering the most vulnerable. Programming that engages all students with the environment to build awareness, understanding, and agency in a changing environment.
John Pfluger, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Principal, Cuningham
John is a Principal at Cuningham and serves as a Design Principal in the firm’s education studio. Central to John’s design approach is his personal commitment and passion to achieve highly creative, sustainable design results that enhance our clients’ goals through a highly inclusive and co-creative process. He is often called upon to serve a Design Resource for Reimagine America’s Schools, a consortium of national leaders innovating in the design and education space.
Jen Garman, AIA, LFA, Architect, Cuningham
Jen leads the Regenerative Design Initiatives of Cuningham’s Grow Studio with her passion to create ecologically-minded spaces. The value of her holistic approach is built into the design details of the built environment and woven into her collaborations with clients to realize innovative visions for 21st century learning. Her work for schools across the nation is marked by her dedication to advocating for progressive learning spaces that positively impact people and the world around them.
Devon Clark, ASLA, Landscape Designer, Cuningham
Devon brings a passion for landscape architecture while combining a collaborative and interdisciplinary design approach to the team. He has contributed his skills from small scale to large scale K-12 schools, residential sites and public works projects. Working to meet the needs of the client, community, and team, Devon’s interactive approach allows him to craft site plans that are focused on form and site function and then translated into a human scale.
Jeff Cacek, Principal, North Park School for Innovation
A visionary principal committed to collaborative, innovative and flexible learning focused on environmental stewardship and sustainability.
|
| A New Model for Real World Learning at Lee’s Summit High School |
|
Trianon D
View presentation »
Lee’s Summit School District (LSR7) was in the first cohort of districts to be selected to work with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation on a new comprehensive program to advance Real World Learning (RWL) opportunities in the greater metropolitan Kansas City region. This RWL initiative is envisioned to establish a national model to demonstrate how real-world competencies can be offered to every graduate, not just those in specialty CTE programs. The LSR7 district adopted a variety of implementation strategies including curriculum advancement, teacher training, and re-thinking space design. Lee’s Summit High School was slated to undergo a major renovation and expansion and thereby followed the instructional principles of RWL to inspire its redesign as the district’s pilot RWL model facility. The district and design team engaged a diverse team of community and business partners to understand post-graduation competencies most valued for workforce success. Extensive programming and master planning established guiding design principles and a new set of space typologies specifically aligned to support authentic Real World Learning. These experiences develop Essential Skills* and Market Value Assets** in parallel with the content-focused teaching and learning goals. The project is now nearing completion of it’s second construction phase. Coinciding with this milestone, the team has developed a set of teacher training tools to align professional learning with the re-creation of spaces for a more coherent pursuit of district goals within RWL.
*Essential Skills are the range of professional skills found in all work activities that are valued across industry sectors and are beyond technical competencies within each industry. These skills were developed through a consortium or education and industry partners.
**Market Value Assets (MVAs) are defined as industry valued and recognized skills acquired in high school that create more seamless transitions from school to post-secondary education or work.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about strategies for districts to expand RWL experiences at scale, striving toward goals of having every student achieve Essential Skills and Market Value Assets (MVAs) upon graduation. (HSW: Health and Welfare – Programming and Analysis)
- Understand how learning spaces can be designed to more easily support authentic, connected RWL that better integrates work-like experiences and business partner collaborations. (HSW Topic: Health and Welfare – Programming and Analysis + Project Planning & Design)
- Learn about the range of teacher training strategies that have helped LSR7 faculty prepare for new teaching and learning experiences, offering them multiple means of engagement with training to meet personal time constraints and learning dispositions across different content areas. (HSW: Health and Welfare – Programming and Analysis)
- Explain how implementation of RWL in their own schools is possible through a variety of approaches, and how they can leverage that flexibility to design a more inclusive and equitable implementation. (HSW Topic: Project Planning and Design)
Marianne Remboldt, Vice President, Lead Project Designer, Gould Evans
Marianne has worked as an education designer throughout her career as an architect with Gould Evans focusing on stakeholder engagement and creating unique space-making solutions to support the pedagogy of the schools she works with. Working with LSR7 from the origination of the project during a district masterplan, Marianne has been involved in the addition and renovation to Lee’s Summit High School from start to finish and has been instrumental in envisioning spaces that better support authentic real world learning experiences.
Shannan Booth, Director of Career Education, Lee's Summit R7 School District
Shannan serves as Director of Career Education for the Lee's Summit R-7 School District where she oversees the district's Real World Learning Initiative and business partnerships. She started her career in education in 2005 as a Business, Marketing, and Information Technology Teacher. She worked as a teacher until 2011 when she became Career Education Coordinator. She served as Career Education Coordinator until recently becoming Director of Career Education. Mrs. Booth has a Master's Degree in Educational Technology and an Education Specialist Degree in Principalship. She has written several grants related to growing career education opportunities for students and serves as the district's representative on the Missouri Council of Career and Technical Administrators.
Michael Ralph, Master Teacher & Lead Researcher, Gould Evans
Michael is a Master Teacher and Lead Researcher for Gould Evans. He combines award-winning classroom practice in both the K-12 and higher education settings with an internationally published record of research and scholarship in education. He leads the development of both teacher professional development and cutting-edge research that insists on interdisciplinary collaboration and user partnership. Michael was the recipient of the 2020 USEA Outstanding Master Teacher Award.
|