Kane County Regional Office of Education (ROE) hosted Institute Day 2022 on March 4 at the Q Center in St. Charles. Institute Days are designed to help teachers join with other colleagues on a variety of topics such as student experiences, curriculum discussions, sharing teaching methods, and partaking/listening to guest speaker lectures.
According to the feedback received, participants shared the following, “This whole entire day was awesome and so incredibly needed both for my own well-being but also as I continue to make a difference in my students’ lives and facilitate their learning. Thank you all for everything you did to make this happen – so well put together and coordinated the event.”
Patricia Dal Santo, Regional Superintendent at Kane County ROE, shared her thoughts stating “It’s wonderful to see so many people taking advantage of all the programs, events, and speakers Kane ROE offers for Institute Day. Staff pour their time and talents into making this day memorable for all who participate.”
Institute Day hosted two keynote speakers – One of the two Keynote speakers was Tom Murray, who serves as the Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools®, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education, located in Washington, D.C. He has testified before the United States Congress and has worked alongside that body, the US Senate, the White House, the US Department of Education and state departments of education, corporations, and school districts throughout the country to implement student-centered learning while helping to lead Future Ready Schools® and Digital Learning Day.
The second keynote speaker was Greg Wolcott who serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning at Woodridge School District 68 in Woodridge. Greg is passionate about developing opportunities for all students to succeed as well as finding ways for all teachers and staff members to utilize their strengths to maximize the learning of each and every child whom they interact with on a daily basis.
Other speakers highlighted were Molly Hudgens, Paula Kluth, Aaron Polansky, Frank Kros and Kristen Mattson. Participants shared that “The keynote speakers were amazing! I came away with many take-aways – both keynotes were engaging. I found all three of my sessions interesting and valuable”.
Katie Algrim, Director of Innovative Professional Learning at Kane County ROE, commented on the planning of the day-long event sharing “A lot of organizing goes into planning a county-wide institute day, but it is such a great day of professional learning. I love seeing educators from across Districts getting together to discuss best practices and student well-being. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!”.
