GETTING BACK INTO PLACE
Improving Learning, Creative Engagement, and Just Spaces In Our Post-COVID Schools
July 25-28, 2021
Hosted by St. Johnsbury Academy
Disrupted Spaces
The pandemic has disrupted so many aspects of how we teach and learn in secondary schools but perhaps none so much as how we take up space. We have been literally displaced from the usual sites of our teaching relationships, and more broadly, from the focused, intentional space-making that happens when we are together in one “place,” whether it’s actual or virtual.
An Opportunity To Reimagine Learning
As we move on from the pandemic, we have an opportunity to reimagine the nature and quality of our students’ learning–and to bridge the distances that have opened between teacher and teacher, teacher and student, student and student. How do we come back together in a space that is more just? Is there room to reimagine where and how school “takes place”? What can we learn from the creative arts and community connections as we explore the meaning of “school” and “not school” as we help students find their voices and inspire each other to be better? How can we help students and each other find new sources of strength and agency, and ultimately prepare for success, based on all we’ve learned in the last year?
Recreate in Beautiful Vermont
This two-day Summer Symposium for secondary educators and administrators will bring professional colleagues together in a beautiful setting in the green mountains of Vermont to refresh mind, body, and spirit for the new school year. From July 25th-28th in residence at St. Johnsbury Academy, symposium attendees will gather, consider, listen, and problem-solve during the day—listen to music and inspiring keynotes in the evening—and hike, kayak, make art, bike, cook and eat food from local farms, and enjoy each other’s company throughout.
Keynote Speakers
Jessica Lahey
Teacher, Writer, and Mom
Author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed
Shelburne, Vermont
Richard Weissbourd
Senior Lecturer on Education
Faculty Director, Human Development and Psychology
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Howard Gardner
Renowned Developmental and Cognitive Psychologist; Father of Multiple Intelligences Theory; Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Co-director, The Good Project; Author, “A Synthesizing Mind”
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Wendy Fischman
Director of Harvard Project Zero
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Panel Sessions
Fostering Creativity as a Multi-Disciplinary Skill
How do we maximize opportunities to inspire creativity in our students and teachers in a post-pandemic educational environment?
Creativity and problem-solving are the skills most in demand in the future job market. Creativity, especially, is too infrequently considered a learned measurable skill that can be developed through teaching and practice. But as they effectively develop creativity in students, teachers need to rethink how they teach so that students are more readily engaged in their learning. Panelists will consider how creativity might be assessed in an educational community and measured as a multi-disciplinary skill as education shifts in a post-pandemic world.
Panelists:
Dennie Palmer Wolf
Principal, MUSE Research
Rosie Prevost
Chair of Fine Arts Department, St. Johnsbury Academy
Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, Chula Vista Elementary School District
Ping Ho
Founder & Director, UCLArts & Healing
Using the Creative Arts to Re-engage and Remediate Marginalized, Underrepresented, and Disconnected Students
How can we grow and/or maximize art programs to provide a path forward for students who have struggled to find success and their voice in their own education.
The pandemic has disproportionately impacted already marginalized and underrepresented students, and many of these students are contending with the loss of safe spaces and support networks outside of their homes, especially if they are not attending school in person. Research suggests that we can use the creative arts to re-engage students in the learning process as well as provide emotional and social supports. This panel will discuss how creativity can act as a catalyst for disconnected students.
Panelists:
Social Studies Teacher, Denver Center for International Studies
Executive Director, Community Engagement Lab
Rosie Prevost
Chair of Fine Arts Department, St. Johnsbury Academy
Curator
Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, Chula Vista Elementary School District
Remediating Students as a Result of Lost Instruction Time
How do we assess where our students are emotionally, socially, and academically, and how do we provide them with the necessary wrap-around supports to address the loss of instructional time?
Education during the pandemic has been inconsistent at best; some students have thrived while others have struggled. Educational deficits need to be addressed immediately in order to prevent students from falling even farther behind, but teachers are already stretched as they work to balance student emotional and social needs with the demands of school and state-mandated curricula. Schools can’t simply return to a business-as-usual approach to teaching and learning after the pandemic, and they also face constraints imposed by budgets and staffing. Panelists will discuss post-pandemic student remediation as an immediate need that must be met with urgency and creativity.
Panelists:
John Rosinbum
Teacher, BASIS Tucson North
High School Teacher, Coach, Adviser
Social Studies Teacher, Denver Center for International Studies
Educator
Where to Begin? Addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Our Schools
How do our schools move forward to address diversity, equity, and inclusion in light of all the other changes brought about by the pandemic?
The pandemic has magnified issues of equity in our nation. Schools have long been asked to create just spaces that promote the value of diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities. In these attempts, often the best intentions have failed to bare fruit. This panel will focus on how we might better plant the seeds of DEI in our school communities, nurture the results of early efforts, and work with community stakeholders to foster sustained growth in a search for justice.
Panelists:
Martha Neubert
Eliza Alexander
Khalil Hodges
Social Studies Teacher, Denver Center for International Studies
Educator
Social Studies Teacher, Denver Center for International Studies
Students Inspiring Students
How do we provide agency for our students post-pandemic, use that agency to help students create programming to help their at-risk and marginalized peers, and how can we replicate existing programs currently at work in our own schools?
The power of students to inspire their peers by serving as role models, offering empathy, and inspiring change is one of the most important assets any school community possesses. Given agency, students can shape their learning communities and advocate for the needs of their peers. This panel will focus on strategies to harness the power of a school’s most important resource, its students, into the development of the school space in the post-pandemic world.
Panelists:
High School Teacher, Coach, Adviser, Saugus High School
Khalil Hodges
Janae Peters
Writer
Social Worker, William S. Hart Union High School District
Martha Neubert
Meeting the Mental Health and Social-Emotional Needs of Students and Teachers
How do we teach resilience, support those traumatized by the pandemic, and utilize community resources to help both teachers and students navigate the post-pandemic world?
The trauma of the past year has been well documented, and emphasized the importance of schools as a safe and supportive space for students, particularly those who are members of marginalized communities. Teachers play the role of caregiver, counselor, and role model for many students, and feel most successful when they are actively improving the lives and learning outcomes for the students they serve. With the challenges of the pandemic undercutting this ability to feel successful, teachers too have suffered trauma. This panel will discuss the ways in which schools can reestablish themselves as safe spaces for students and teachers alike. Panelists will discuss ways to meet the social-emotional needs of school community members in a post-pandemic world.
Panelists:
Ping Ho
Founder & Director, UCLArts & Healing
High School Teacher, Coach, Adviser, Saugus High School
Writer
Social Worker, William S. Hart Union High School District
Janae Peters
Rethinking the Classroom and the Student Learning Experience
How do we use lessons learned from the pandemic to rethink our use of time, technology, our instruction, the classroom spaces and time in which we teach, and the lessons and assessments we design?
The pandemic has forced teachers to rethink the student learning experience and expedited dramatic change in instructional practices—many for the better, some for the worst. Several ideas have pushed to the forefront with this explosion of the traditional classroom: it has become clear that the traditional classroom is outmoded in many ways; some students have excelled in the virtual classroom while others have struggled; asynchronous learning models can be effective for many students; in some classrooms less content has provided more opportunities for students. This panel will discuss the rapidly changing classroom and the opportunities that exist for students and teachers alike.
Panelists:
AP Capstone and Environmental Science Teacher, William H. Hall High School
Teacher, BASIS Tucson North
Dennie Palmer Wolf
Aaron Bryan
Paul Gambill
Creative Placemaking
How do schools work with local institutions to promote creative placemaking?
The past year has laid bare the fractured nature of many American communities. Political, cultural, and economic disparities and divergences have rent the social fabric. Creative placemaking offers opportunities for schools to play a vital role in helping to repair this damage. By partnering with other stakeholders in the community, schools can help to create arts-centered spaces that foster inclusivity, cooperation, and a shared sense of belonging. Creative placemaking strives to change the physical and social environment of a community through collaboration. Presenters will discuss creative placemaking, the research behind it, and how it has been put into action in communities throughout America.
Panelists:
Principal, MUSE Research
Curator
Executive Director, Catamount Arts
Rosie Prevost
Chair of Art Department, St. Johnsbury Academy
Executive Director, Community Engagement Lab