Teachers, specialists and administrators from Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) were not the only representatives from the school division at the Virginia Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (VASCD) annual conference in Williamsburg Nov. 30 – Dec. 2.
Students enrolled in Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow (VTfT) classes at Tallwood and Kellam high schools also experienced the professional learning opportunity by attending sessions Dec. 1 as the only high school students at the conference. The 20 students were joined by their VTfT teachers Carrie Gantt from Kellam and Jenna Free from Tallwood.
Students attended two general sessions and heard from keynote speakers who addressed the VASCD conference theme “Future-Ready Students.” Ted Dintersmith, executive producer of the film Most Likely to Succeed and co-author with Tony Wagner of the book of the same name, delivered a presentation entitled “Prepare Our Kids for Life, Not Standardized Tests.” John Hodge, president of the Urban Learning and Leadership Center, an organization focused on student achievement and equity, addressed the topic of “What Schools Can Do to Create Future-Ready Students.”
In addition to hearing from keynote speakers, VTfT students attended breakout sessions of their choice where they interacted with teachers, administrators and superintendents from across Virginia.