Breaking News
Community

JVS attends Making Schools Work conference

By Staff reports 2 min read
VS ATTENDS CONFERENCE — Members of the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School’s Making Schools Work Committee attended the Southern Regional Educational Board’s school improvement Making Schools Work Conference in Nashville July 9-12. The conference focused on professional development, networking and learning strategies to improve student achievement. Among the 4,000 people taking part in the event were JVS representatives, from left, Dale Palmer, Erin D’Aurora, Allison Boyd, Melissa Zifzal and Supervisor and Assistant Principal Gabrielle Wilson. -- Contributed

BLOOMINGDALE -- Jefferson County Joint Vocational School educators traveled to Nashville to attend the Making Schools Work Conference for school improvement.

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. Those taking part in the conference held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort from July 9-12 were, Supervisor and Assistant Principal Gabrielle Wilson, and instructors Allison Boyd, Erin D'Aurora, Dale Palmer and Melissa Zifzal.

Wilson said the conference's purpose was for professional development and sharing strategies, struggles and successes through learning, collaborating and networking with others.

The conference included hundreds of sessions based on topics such as career-technical education, addressing the effects of poverty or trauma and ensuring equitable access to quality instruction.

Those attending had the opportunity to take home strategies which may advance their school-improvement efforts and raise student achievement.

"We brought home strategies to improve student access to community support, strategies to improve our practices in project-based learning and strategies to improve our collaborations between academic and vocational courses," Wilson said.

Keynote speakers included Michael Bonner, a motivator known for his enthusiastic seminars on increasing efficiency, and Shannon Buerk, founder and CEO of engage2learn.

Wilson said the sessions have been helpful in finding ways to impact education and student outcomes.

"As always, the High Schools that Work Committee at the JVS left the conference feeling re-energized and prepared to enrich the student experience," Wilson added, saying it will use research-based innovation and pedagogy.

The Southern Regional Educational Board is a nonpartisan, nonprofit interstate compact headquartered in Atlanta.

It includes an estimated 16 states and works to improve education from early childhood through doctoral education and the workforce.

Starting at /week.