Creating Community Impact: What to Expect at the 2017 Lean Lab + #KCedu Meetup Series
The Lean Lab, in partnership with #KCedu, has restructured its monthly meetups to provide attendees with the connections and resources needed to make real changes in the education community here in Kansas City.
Each themed meetup in 2017 features a diverse list of speakers to facilitate small group discussions via unconference format. The unconference format is a structured way to have informal conversations about broad topics that allows participants to drive the agenda, take ownership over their experiences, and move toward action.
Visit The Lean Lab’s Eventbrite page to see forthcoming monthly meetups.
The Lean Lab and #KCedu kicked off the 2017 Meetup Series with the theme, “School Communication Needs an Upgrade: Breaking Down Silos between Schools, Families, and Community.” We hosted the following product demo and facilitators:
No Wrong Answers is a new podcast, sponsored by Teach for America, that focuses on topics and issues from teachers’ perspectives. The podcast was created by KCUR’s Matthew Hoddap and Kyle Palmer.
You can download the podcast for free off iTunes here. Don’t want to use iTunes? You can also listen here.
Laura Gilchrist is an instructional coach at Turner High School and the #KCedu organizer, a community of KC educators. She wants to utilize the magic of Twitter hashtags and handles to open dialogue across schools in more meaningful ways.
Resources shared: Ed Clusters, Kansas City 2017, Active District Twitter hashtags
Casey Lamb is the Chief Operations and Development Officer at Schools That Can NYC, a nonprofit organization that unites leaders to expand quality urban education and close the opportunity and skills gap. She works with individuals across sectors — district, private, charter, etc — to learn what systems are being utilized to tackle similar issues across those silos.
Resources shared: Schools That Can introduction video; 2-pager; Professional Learning Group; Real World Learning rubric (DRAFT); “Bridging the e2e Gap”
Nicole Collier-White is the Community Partners and Engagement Services Coordinator at Kansas City Public Schools, the largest public school district in the metropolitan area. She’s working to build a partnership between families and Kansas City Public Schools to increase positive impact for students. Currently, Kansas City Public Schools is seeking feedback on its strategic plan from community members.
Resources shared: Teacher and Staff Recruitment Event flyer; Kindergarten Round-Up flyer
Lisa Douthit is an ElevateEDU leader and the founder of MOTM: Learn, a branch of the Middle of the Map festival that celebrates education in Kansas City.
Sage Arnot is also an ElevateEDU member and the Technology Integration Specialist at Independence School District. Figuring out ways for teachers to connect and learn from each other to create more meaningful impact for kids across Kansas City is ElevateEDU’s mission.
Resources shared: Model to Partner with Local Businesses; Beginning a School District to Business Partnership; ElevateEDU website
Interested in facilitating a discussion, demoing a relevant product, or sharing resources for one of The Lean Lab + #KCedu Meetups? Contact Aditya Voleti at aditya@theleanlab.org. February’s meetup will focus on new school models. Register for it here.
