First Rural Teacher Recruitment Immersion Experience!


Eight teacher candidates participated in a two-day event facilitated by GSN with key partners in the Huerfano RE-1 School District. To test immersion experiences as a potential answer to the state-wide teacher shortage, which is even more acute in rural Colorado, the Colorado Department of Higher Education provided a grant to CSU-Pueblo in partnership with Generation Schools Network, Battelle for Kids and the SC BOCES.  Huerfano RE-1 was chosen as the first host district due to having a high number of teacher vacancies to fill.  The event kicked off May 16th. GSN's Katie Peyton and Christina Larson traveled to Walsenburg to attend the immersion experience and to provide professional development in Team Building (part of GSN Social Emotional Learning curriculum) and career exploration for teachers and candidates. Potential new teachers spent time taking tours of Walsenberg and Gardner, CO, meeting with the superintendent, county commissioner, and state parks director to learn more about the area and interviewing for open positions across the districts in the Colorado Rural Education Collaborative (CREC). Additional immersion events are set for September in LaVeta focused on recruiting student teachers and October in Manzanola tied to the second Colorado Rural Share Fair event in Pueblo. 

 
Pictured: teachers and leaders in Huerfano School Districts, participating in professional development with new teacher candidates and Katie Peyton of GSN

NEW VISTA JOINS GSN TEAM!


New AmeriCorps VISTA joins Rocky Mountain team to focus on Rural Collaborative work!  Kathryn Allison was born and raised in Highlands Ranch, CO. After high school, Kathryn wanted to experience a new place to get out of her comfort zone, so she decided to attend undergrad far away from home at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL. Kathryn graduated in May 2016 from the University of Alabama with a degree in Political Science and International Relations, and is returning home to Colorado to be closer to family and bring them her new found love of Alabama football!

Kathryn's projects as a VISTA with GSN will consist of working with our Rural Teacher Recruitment Project in collaboration with CSU Pueblo, as well as supporting social media platforms for our Rural Collaborative along with SC BOCES's work with Battelle for Kids.

MOCK INTERVIEWS AT BGS!


Juniors and Seniors get the opportunity to receive real experience and feedback from career professionals! 
On Tuesday, May 17th, Brooklyn Generation School, in conjunction with  Community Schools and Generation Schools Network, hosted its Mock Interview and Visiting Professionals Day. This two component enrichme nt event-career presentations and mock interviews-primarily targeted juniors and senior students and was designed to provide tangible experiences that facilitated connections between students' academic pursuits and potential career pathways. Stemming from various fields including health, human resources, youth development, and corrections, eight professionals volunteered to present and interview students. 
 
Guy Mervin, BGS Junior, said that he appreciated the suggestions given by the professionals during his mock interview on how to better conduct himself.  "I had a lot of mistakes and going through this helped me a lot on how to fix those mistakes," Guy said. "They even evaluated us and helped us during the interview on what we were messing up on. For  example, I was told I don't make enough eye contact and that will help me learn a lot later on to have better eye contact when speaking directly to an interviewer".

We look forward to watching these students grow in thei r future collegiate and professional careers!  If you are interested in a  Peak College/Career Read ine ss event for your school or would  like to sponsor an event, please contact: Leslie Tjajadi (Rocky Mountains), ltjajadi@g enerationschools.org , or  Christon  Harris (NY), charris@brooklyngeneration.org .


Pictured: BGS students participating in mock interviews with local professionals

GSN PARTICIPATES IN FINAL ROUND OF XQ COMPETITION!


The GSN team has been busy over the past 6 months with the XQ Supe r Sc hools Competition to launch a new school!  With partners Career Building Academy and Summit Education Group, we have made it to the final round!  O ur application was selected from the first round of 940 applicants, the second round of 640 applicants and made it to the third round of  34 0 applications.  Our hope is to win in the final round to start a revolutionary new  high school in Castle Rock, CO (Douglas County School District) where both high schools are oversubscribed by hundreds of students.  Each student's journey will be d riven by their Individualized Career and Academic Plans (ICAP) and offer opportunities to learn in different modalities and acquire college credits, certifications, internship and apprenticeship experiences along the way. Each student's scheduled will be based on their personal interests and guided by their school-based
and industry-based "Yoda," who serves as student mentor. Our vision is that students will graduate not only with a diploma, but badges, work experience, college credits and the ability to earn more than a living wage job as they pursue further education.


Pictured: team members from GSN, Career Building Academy, and Summit Education Group submitting the final, timed challenge in the XQ Competition

UPCOMING EVENTS:


Brooklyn Generation School Commencement
Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY - June 28th, 4pm
 
Come celebrate the class of 2016! In addition to graduation, students will share stories of struggle and triumph, and that are meant to empower and inspire. 

For more information, please contact Jonathan Spear.


SOAR Learning & Leading Collaborative Workshops
 The Ohio Union, Columbus, OH - October 4th

GSN will be continuing their professional development with Ohio's SOAR districts on October 4th, 2016 and through the school year. Team members will continue presentations on Social Emotional Learning and provide units to participating districts!

For more information, please contact Katie Peyton, or visit SOAR Professional Learning.


Military Careers Peak Readiness Event
Littleton High School, Littleton, CO - October 5th

GSN and Littleton High School will host a Military Career Day for high school students at Littleton High School and the surrounding high schools to explore a future in the armed services. Students will be excused from normal classes for the day in order to have the opportunity to hear from current and former military personnel on topics such as "Why I Serve," "Academic Requirements for the Military," "Training and Educational Opportunities for Service Men and Women," etc. Students will also have the opportunity to take the military's ASVAB practice test, participate in military mock interviews, explore fitness requirements, and more. We are currently looking for current and former military members to help us make this day great! 

If you have any suggestions or would like to participate as a mock interviewer,  session presenter, or sponsor, please contact Leslie Tjajadi .

Generation Schools Network™
Northeast l 540 President St, 1G l Brooklyn, NY 11238 l  347.410.5322
Rocky Mountain l 455 Sherman St, Ste 120 l Denver, CO 80203 l  720.452.3605

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