Growth & Community: Annual Fall Conference Convenes LKSD Educators
The intent of the Annual Fall Conference is to provide professional development for LKSD educators. While that certainly occurred during this years’ conference at the end of August and beginning of September, the motivating force seemed to be connecting with colleagues from around the district face to face for the first time in many years.
Despite some early adversity from the weather, all school sites made it to Bethel, with the district hosting over 400 people for the three-day event. More than 250 individual professional development sessions were offered to staff, provided by over 60 presenters.
The presenters demonstrated high energy and positivity. Many arrived with scripted presentations that were later restructured to meet the needs of teachers and admins, who came prepared to dig in and bring back new teaching strategies to their schools.
Speakers reported high engagement and great questions that kept them on their toes. Both keynote presenters, Dr. Richard Gomez and Dr. Dominique Smith, spoke of strategies that will increase engagement, rigor, and ultimately academic performance in our students.
The theme was Ca Tamarmi Elicugngauq or “Every Living Thing Can Learn”. In a post-event survey, more than 90% of educators reported the sessions were informative, many said it was the best AFC yet. When asked which was the best session, a diversity of topics rose to the top. From LKSD Best Practices, Putting the Pieces Together, ART, “write a little a lot,” technology assistance, vocabulary acquisition, renaissance learning, and more - the variety suggests the depth and breadth of the topics covered and excellent content educators received. Event organizers received a great deal of feedback, such as this:
“Every single session I attended was great. Because all of the speakers/facilitators were excellent.”
In the end, LKSD employees got to know one another, forming a community as they honed their skills and inspiration for providing an excellent education to each student.
The closing ceremony featured Ayaprun Jones, a recently retired long-time LKSD educator, who imparted wisdom and led the group in Yuraq. Educators left the event with increased knowledge on LKSD best practices and inspiration for a great 2022-2023 school year.