I have had people ask me the following question: What do classroom teachers do during the summer break? After all, that is part of covering the local school scene, right?
Well, yes, I do cover the Hamilton Southeastern Schools and I do know a number of teachers. Frankly, if I were a classroom teacher, I would just spend the summer break time recovering from the work load and stress accumulated over the course of the school year. Some teachers do that, and they each are absolutely entitled to do so.
But there are a number of teachers who take time over the summer to make themselves better teachers by working in groups and sharing ideas.
One such opportunity for teachers to gather and work on becoming better educators started Monday at Fishers High School. It’s called the Authentic Learning Summit.
This is a program for teachers in and around HSE Schools, where instructors can take the opportunity to become better at the set of subjects called STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
Dr. Christy Hilton from the Indiana Department of Education (DOE) started the program by explaining the process to become STEM certified and, possibly, eligible for state funding.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the assembled educators how education is tied to parents’ desire to allow their children to have a better life.
“People will cross oceans in rafts, they will walk, march for miles and miles and miles, at the opportunity for their children to have a better outcome than they had,” said Fadness. “As a city, if we want to be vibrant, if we want to be sustainable for the foreseeable future, there’s no single, bigger motivator to attract talented people to our community than the belief that those people, when they come here, their children will have a better outcome than they had.”
The mayor also expressed his belief that strong education is not just the responsibility of the schools and teachers, but is a mission for the entire community.
The Authentic Learning Summit is funded by a variety of sources, including the State of Indiana and the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation.