Have you ever heard a fellow educator share an experience and thought to yourself, “the same thing happened to me?” While the field of education is often rewarding—observing a student, who struggled, start to make gains, witnessing a steady increase in family and community involvement at school events, collaborating with colleagues to plan and problem solve—for many of us we also encounter challenge and even frustration when our best efforts do not appear to be paying off. Hearing similar stories from other educators, and how they addressed challenges, reminds us that we are not alone in this journey. Their experiences can inspire our next steps and offer renewed hope that our work can make a difference.
Recognizing the power of these stories, the Core Knowledge Foundation is offering opportunities for you to hear and connect with teachers and leaders who, just like you, experience implementation successes and challenges.
Core Knowledge Leadership Institute
Join us in-person at the Core Knowledge Leadership Institute where you can listen to and interact with leaders who support Core Knowledge implementation at the district, school, and classroom levels. Our speaker and panelists include:
Speaker:
- Gerald Terrell, former Principal of Cale Elementary School (Albemarle Public Schools, VA)
Panelists:
- Joy Cantey, Senior Director of K-12 Literacy/MTSS (Guilford County Schools, NC)
- Lari Dean, Principal of John Adams Elementary (Riverside Unified School District, CA)
- Susan Kraft, Instructional Coach/Consultant (Milwaukee, WI)
- Alexis Mays-Fields, Special Education Coach (Center City Public Charter Schools, Washington, D.C.)
- Stephanie Musser, Chief Executive Officer (Candeo Schools, Inc., AZ)
- Christie Olsen, Professional Learning Coach (Lake Havasu Unified School District, AZ)
- Adrienne Williams, Director (Student Achievement Partners)
Visit our Leadership Institute webpage for more details. In addition to interacting during sessions, the afternoon round tables offer you an opportunity to engage with each of these experienced leaders. You won’t want to miss it!
Core Knowledge Podcast Series “Building Knowledge”
Hear stories from the field on your own time. Last month, we announced the launch of our new podcast series “Building Knowledge.” In addition to speaking with experts and curricula developers, these discussions will also engage school leaders and teachers. Here’s list of our latest interviews:
Casey Churchill, Principal of Liberty Common Elementary School, shares his experience teaching and leading Core Knowledge implementation in a classical school model.
Kelly Romm, 2nd grade Teacher and Core Knowledge Coordinator at Grayhawk Elementary School, talks about how she juggles her dual-positions as well as how her school fosters parent-community partnerships and strong cross-curricular instruction.
Stephanie Musser, CEO of Candeo Schools, Inc., shares her schools’ experience teaching multiple Core Knowledge curricula (i.e., CKLA, CKHG, and CKSci), the strategies she employs to hire the “best” teachers, and the ways in which she cultivates a growth mindset and supports staff in the spirit of continuous improvement.
I’d be interested in an interview with Bob Nardo from Libertas School in Memphis. It’s the only Core Knowledge school in the City and it’s recently showed some success is moving the scores of its disadvantaged kids upwards, the only school to do so in its quartile. I’d be interested to know how much success he credits to the Core Knowledge curriculum.
Please reach out to Libertas School directly.
I am certainly interested in joining to hear from these speakers and panelists to share their stories and experiences in the field. Too many times, I have heard stories similar to what I have experienced as an educator. More often than less, the strategies and how they were dealt with were very different from my own experience, and they have made me aware of how to address the situation differently should the need arise again. Powerful stories will always impact the lives of others.