 Culturally Relevant Inspiration  Lindsay Green EDU692: Creativity Culture and Global Contexts in Education Decision Making Instructor: Dr. Amy Gray  November 23, 2015

 School Profile  691 Students in grades K-6  Title I School with 82% of students on Free or Reduced Lunch.  61% of students are Second Language Learners  New Tech Network Elementary School  No Excuses University network school. Our Vision Katherine Smith school will be the model of excellence for 21st century learning and community service. Our Mission Prepare each student to think, learn, work, communicate, collaborate, and contribute effectively now and throughout his or her life.

 Community Partnership  Technology Integration  A Culture of Learning  Leadership

 Katherine Smith leadership engaged the school community with a project-based learning model for the school’s redesign. Staff members were asked to make a commitment to PBL and the school’s new vision to stay. Seventy-five percent of the existing staff exercised voluntary transfer and an influx of committed educators established a college-bound culture, with a belief that all students can make it and achieve at high levels, utilizing project based learning, professional collaboration, and shared leadership. “No other school has reinvented itself with PBL wall- to-wall,” says Principal Brengard, especially a high-functioning high-poverty setting like Katherine Smith.

 As one of the first elementary school in the New Tech Network, school leadership worked with the Buck Institute to provide teacher training, entrench early learning research, brain development, the importance of play, and other research-backed strategies to meet the needs of all students. The Evergreen district partnership with the EdLeader21 PLC (professional learning community) allows district leadership to reflect, review content and teaching practices and to meaningfully embed the 4Cs of Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity into teaching and support practice.  “We are transitioning from a top down hierarchical district, to one that is a 21st century school district,” says Superintendent Kathy Gomez. “[At Katherine Smith] adults and kids use the 4cs right along side each other.”

Saluda Trail Middle School 2300 Saluda Road, Rock Hill, SC Phone: (803) Fax: (803) Innovative Saluda Trail Middle School offers STEAM Steam- It is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. STEM schools provide an integrated curriculum with a focus on inquiry, questioning and opportunities for problem solving to think like an engineer. School Profile 850 Students in grades % Free & Reduced Lunch 1:1 iPad implementation program STEAM & PBL Curriculum South Carolina School of Choice (students apply) Award-winning principal

 Project Based Learning  Strong partnerships  STEAM- Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math  Collaboration  Transform Learning Communities  Oral Communication Skills  Leadership  hill.k12.sc.us/aboutus/schoolofchoicestea mmagnet.aspx hill.k12.sc.us/aboutus/schoolofchoicestea mmagnet.aspx

Principal Campbell explains: “We try to personalize the learning so students have a voice and can work on communication skills, creative thinking skills – so that work is meaningful to them. That’s where we tap those passions and students’ dedication to learning.” “Positive school culture permeates everything at the school,” adds instructional coach Carolyn Moore. “Brenda Campbell’s trademark style of leadership is that she invites everyone to the table. Everyone has a voice. We make all our decisions on student needs. We pride ourselves on being one big family. With that philosophy we take care of each other. Student-to-teacher, student-to-student, teacher-to-teacher… We really promote that as our backbone.” hill.k12.sc.us/aboutus/schoolofchoicesteammagnet.aspxhttp://st.rock- hill.k12.sc.us/aboutus/schoolofchoicesteammagnet.aspx

 Real Learning, Real Life: Saluda Trail STEAM Middle School!  Watch their video at:   /show/ Saluda Trail treats it teachers as professionals and values collaboration among students and teachers. For teacher David Consalvi, the school is defined by “students & staff integrating and working together. This school has a true open door policy. We work collectively and the students get to participate in that process.” Principal Campbell explains: “we try to personalize the learning so students have a voice and can work on communication skills, creative thinking skills – so that work is meaningful to them. That’s where we tap those passions and students’ dedication to learning.” hill.k12.sc.us/aboutus/schoolofchoicesteammagnet.aspx hill.k12.sc.us/aboutus/schoolofchoicesteammagnet.aspx

North High School Des Moines Public Schools 2323 Grand Ave, Des Moines, Iowa | (515)  District Profile  1,200 students  Turnaround school  Lunch and Learn events with alumni and local businesses  Project-based learning  1:1 computing View photos of Des Moines in action: /

 Throughout the school, students are engaged in acquiring both challenging content knowledge and 21st century skills. Educators have shifted into the role of facilitators in helping students to develop their speaking, writing and presentation skills through collaborative projects.  These projects represent innovative approaches to developing student literacy, including a music-based program that brought in a North alumnus who is a professional musician to showcase the utility of literacy in a variety of careers. North educators have also used technology, including iPads, to engage students and support the development of communication skills. 

“We brought community folks in to talk to them about creating an environment where teachers want to teach and students want to learn. The new North was definitely going to be a place that was going to be innovative. We were going to respect teachers and kids and we were going to service the community and serve the city of Des Moines in a number of ways. Not only with community service but also by producing some of the state’s and some of the nation’s best students so that they could return to Des Moines to be productive citizens and to be learners in our community,” he recalls. Now, the Lunch and Learns bring in up to 30 community members at a time and serve as a launching pad for engaging local adults as trained mentors and volunteers at the school.

How Des Moines North High School Supports Creativity  Robotics Club  Technology Integration  1:1 Computing  Project-Based Learning  Lunch and Learn Sessions 

References Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.) Framework for 21st century learning. Retrieved from work/p21-frameworkFramework for 21st century learning hill.k12.sc.us/aboutus/schoolofchoicesteammagnet.aspx