Happening at the Center: creating a vision for the future

9/12/2018

Each year, our coaches work alongside teachers and school leaders, providing on-site and online professional development to help them achieve their goals. As you consider your goals for the 2018-19 year, let us know how we can support you!

As we embark upon another school year, we're thrilled to be cultivating new partnerships, digging into new projects and collaborations, and welcoming new team members. We're also excited to share some of the impactful work taking place at the Center.

Global Learning Alliance (GLA) summits are an opportunity for delegates to convene, collaborate and create a vision for the future. This year’s Summit took place in Helsinki, Finland, with the help of our partners at the University of Helsinki & Helsinki Normal Lyceum.

Over the course of three days, the 2018 Summit welcomed delegates from four countries - Finland, Singapore, Sweden, and the United States - to collaborate on how schools around the world are leveraging 21st century skills and dispositions. As a founding member of the Alliance and a leading provider of professional development, CPET was in attendance to help further these global conversations.

In addition to educators, administrators, and school leaders, we were also joined by high school students, who presented the findings of their cross-cultural research project. We recognize that cross-cultural collaboration is a powerful force that challenges all participants to think outside of their own context and consider the universality of the day's most pressing issues. This powerful inquiry project, focused on wellness and well-being, posed questions about how the current generation of students deals with stress, anxiety, and self-care while striving towards their goals. Their presentations helped inform the work of this year’s delegates, who will continue to develop action plans to help students meet their goals.

As part of a new partnership with iZone, a division of the NYC DOE which focuses on innovative education practices, our team has been facilitating a series of workshops aimed at deepening teachers understanding of project-based learning. Over the last few months, our coaches have helped educators examine the theory and principles behind project-based learning, and have demonstrated what it can look like in practice. Through imagining, defining, and designing their own PBL projects within these workshops, our hope is that those who attended are able to enact their plans starting this fall. Interested in project-based learning for your school? Partner with us!

For nearly 15 years, CPET has sponsored recipients of the Arthur Zankel Urban Fellowship as they work in partnership with the Center and our Student Press Initiative, which focuses on helping teachers and school communities to plan and produce all-inclusive learning experiences that culminate with students publishing their writing.

This year, we’re excited to welcome a new cohort of fellows - David Baksh, Brad Campion, Chloe Dawson, Jennifer DeCerff, and Van Anh Tran - each with impressive skills and backgrounds. We’re confident they will make wonderful additions to our team!

A few weeks ago, this group of bright & determined Fellows gathered to envision a year of growth - for themselves, and the CPET community. With support and supervision from our advanced professional development coaches, each Fellow will have a unique opportunity to make a sustainable impact on the lives of New York City students.