Storm into Summer 2025

I have developed a Locally Created Pathway through the IDOE titled The Evolution Towards Employability. This Pathway is only allowed for 5% of cohorts and only intended for Alt Ed students. The cluster of classes include Careers, Personal Finance, Speech, Adult Roles & Responsibilities, and an internship (job or volunteering). Our alternative school is in person, but with the online forum Edgenuity. With our new pathway, we have also revised how we provide instruction. Pathway courses are provided in person at the ALC with a live teacher. We are also partnering with local businesses like the Chamber of Commerce to help find jobs for students, Ivy Tech and Freedom Academy to provide options for students earning certificates in lieu of a 4-year degree, and the Armed Forces. This pathway program also allows us to invite guests in and take students on field trips out to local businesses.

During this presentation, we will walk through multiple classroom activities that can be implemented in multiple classroom levels and subjects. First participants will take part in a hands-on activity called the "Quick Pitch Challenge." We will then talk about how this activity can be used in the classroom as well as other topics; strategies for measuring growth (not grades), and ways to collaborate with others in your school and Community.

What would happen if we explored a new concept in education where the word inclusion is captured in an all-embracing societal ideology: where all teachers and students, including those with more significant cognitive and physical disabilities, will learn alongside each other in multiple learning environments?

Beginning with the biological, environmental, and sociocultural aspects of traumatic experience on learners and how they can typically manifest in the classroom, using relevant, real-world examples. Specific strategies from the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative and the Center for Responsive Schools will be covered. Participants will analyze their current practices and identify areas of improvement to implement trauma-sensitive strategies in the classroom to support students who have been impacted by trauma. Participants will also have the opportunity to collaborate with peers to share successful best practices from their own experiences. Ultimately, the possibility of systemic change will be addressed with a flexible framework to create a trauma-sensitive environment either at a classroom level or a school-wide approach.