LiberatED Way hosted the inaugural Virtual Summit, Word on the Street, on Thursday, June 13, with educators, school leaders, community partners, and friends to explore the value of street data for school transformation.
Word on the Street began with keynote speaker Marlon Styles, who engaged attendees with his personal story of being a former educator and superintendent of Middletown City Schools. Styles spoke about his strategic approach to collecting street data, how he engaged multiple groups from the school community, and reflected on the value of his findings to make progress and build momentum.
“Involvement elevates engagement if it is genuine and authentic,” said Styles. “Quality street data lends the opportunity for us to create opportunities for our community to better get engaged.”
Styles provided insight to attendees on how to move with ambition, interrupt circumstances with positive intentions, and work collaboratively with others in the greater community to bring forward multiple perspectives that holistically and accurately capture street data.
Following the keynote, presenters led discussions in sessions throughout the virtual summit, covering topics such as student success and identity, data literacy and usage, and effective strategies for advancing school transformation. Presenters brought engaging and thought-provoking content for attendees to bring learnings from their discussions to their own school communities or educational practices.
(Click on the image above to enlarge and view speakers/workshop desctiptions)
Attendees of the virtual summit shared a 100% satisfaction rate from their experience and shared the following learning takeaways from sessions:
“Liberatory design provides an entry point for all educators regardless of their level of experience.”
“The need to continue elevating student voice and being intentional about gathering input from various stakeholders.”
“Expand the voices you bring into the room to make decisions.”
“Honoring the shaping of our students without trying to change who they are.”
Once presenters finished their discussions, attendees were brought to the main room of the virtual summit for a closing panel with the Ravenswood City School District of East Palo Alto, California. Superintendent Gina Sudaria and parent Sheila Greenwood led the panel to discuss the creation of Ravenswood Promise, a community-driven vision for the future of the district.
Word on the Street brought together education leaders to illustrate real examples of strategies and methods that center community and empower students to advance school transformation. Attendees expressed the value of the insights they collected to lead actionable plans to help uncover challenges, design solutions, and lead with collaboration.
If you are interested in accessing the keynote speaker, presenters, discussions, and panel from Word on the Street, please visit here to purchase recording and materials: https://liberatedway.ticketspice.com/word-on-the-street
