VS ATTENDS CONFERENCE — Members of the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School’s Making Schools Work Committee attended the Southern Regional Educational Board’s Making Schools Work Conference on school improvement in Nashville July 9-12. The conference focused on professional development, networking and learning strategies to improve student achievement. Among the 4,000 attendees at the event were JVS representatives, from left, Dale Palmer, Erin D’Aurora, Allison Boyd, Melissa Zifzal and Supervisor and Assistant Principal Gabrielle Wilson. – Contributed by
BLOOMINGDALE – Educators from Jefferson County Joint Vocational School traveled to Nashville to participate in the Making Schools Work school improvement conference.
The event was presented by the Southern Regional Education Board.
Five members of the Making Schools Work Committee were among the 4,000 educators in attendance. Supervisor and Assistant Principal Gabrielle Wilson and teachers Allison Boyd, Erin D’Aurora, Dale Palmer and Melissa Zifzal attended the conference, held July 9-12 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort.
Wilson said the purpose of the conference is to develop professionals and share strategies, problems and successes through learning, collaborating and networking with others.
The conference included hundreds of sessions on topics such as vocational training, addressing the effects of poverty or trauma, and ensuring equal access to quality education.
Participants had the opportunity to take home strategies that can help them in their school improvement efforts and increase student achievement.
“We brought home strategies to improve students’ access to community support, strategies to improve our project-based learning practices, and strategies to improve our collaboration between academic and professional courses,” Wilson said.
Keynote speakers included Michael Bonner, a motivator known for his enthusiastic efficiency-boosting seminars, and Shannon Buerk, founder and CEO of engage2learn.
Wilson said the sessions were helpful in finding ways to influence student education and outcomes.
“As always, the JVS High Schools that Work committee left the conference with renewed energy and a willingness to enrich the student experience,” Wilson added, saying they will build on research-based innovation and pedagogy.
The Southern Regional Educational Board is a nonpartisan, nonprofit intergovernmental organization headquartered in Atlanta.
It has an estimated 16 member states and works to improve education from early childhood through doctoral training and into the professional world.
