Rethinking Career Readiness – The Elementary Community Teach-In Model

Saturday February 19, 2022
9:00 - 10:30 AM
R06-R09

The Community Teach-in is a model co-developed by ESD112 and King Elementary School, a Title I, Dual Language elementary school in Vancouver, WA serving a predominantly low-income community. A longstanding AVID/No Excuses campus, the team saw the need to inspire hope, develop 21st-century skills, and renew their commitment to community. Teachers and counselors work with students to identify their interests, students engage their families in an activity around their adults’ skills. After this work at home, family and community members are invited to attend a schoolwide event, share a skill or career with students in the language they speak at home. In this session, we will share the strategies, resources, and planning grounded in inclusionary practices. We will engage in sample student activities showcasing skills-driven career awareness (English, Spanish, and Russian). We will discuss the value of reciprocal, asset-driven community engagement, and share strategies to support it.

Presenters
Vickei Hrdina

As Director of Career Readiness & STEM Initiatives, Vickei directs the SW WA Career Connected Learning Network and co-directs Washington State LASER. The main goal of the network is to partner with school districts, Career Connect Washington, LASER, Washington STEM, local businesses, industries, community partners, and higher ed to craft strategic approaches to deliver STEM and Career Connected learning that meets the needs of each community in the ESD112 region. Vickei began her career as an archaeologist and worked for more than a decade as an education program manager with the Field Museum in Chicago, translating field research directly into classroom instruction and coaching teachers on using authentic STEM practices with students. Vickei went on to develop a statewide integrated STEM curriculum based in archaeology and cultural anthropology with the University of Nevada Las Vegas and 19 Native American tribal organizations before continuing on to complete her teaching credentials, and eventually teach middle school STEM in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Educational Anthropology, and teaching endorsements in elementary, middle-level science, and CTE. In 2014, Vickei joined ESD112 as Regional Science Coordinator and has helped to grow the STEM program in that region ever since.
Chad Mullen

Chad Mullen is the Business and Community Engagement Manager for Career Connect Southwest, and a Co-Director of Washington LASER. In these roles, Chad works to support career-connected learning and STEM education reform in Washington State. Before joining Career Connect Southwest and LASER, Chad was an elementary classroom teacher for over a decade, a Diversity Coordinator for an independent school system, and a curriculum developer and professional learning provider for an environmental education CBO. He holds a B.S. in elementary education from Bowling Green State University, and he is a certified teacher in K-8 in Washington State. Chad is passionate about authentic community engagement, environmental education, and “green career” pathways, and supporting teachers and administrators to build their own capacities as STEM educators and advocates.
type:
Workshop
theme:
leadership
audience:
classroom leaders
tags:
college readiness