Scott Williams swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Using hula hoops to illustrate a teaching technique are Leigh Walske, left, and Jean Morgan, both teachers from the Clintonville School District.
Class is never really dismissed for these educators.
While students enjoy a break for summer vacation, dozens of teachers and other school staffers are back in the classroom at Shawano Community High School.
More than 100 educators from throughout the region are working to improve their on-the-job performance by studying the latest in classroom strategies.
Everything from new technological tools to the challenges of working with impoverished kids is on the syllabus at the Shawano School District’s annual Project Inspire program.
The week-long program, which concludes Friday, offers teachers and other professionals a chance to spend part of the summer polishing their skills or broadening their understanding of education.
“I can go back to school with a lot of great ideas,” said Sue Kinney, a second-grade teacher at Menominee Tribal School in Neopit.
In the 19th year of the program, Shawano school officials are finding more demand than ever among educators seeking the professional development service. A record-high 126 participants turned out this year from schools in Tigerton, Bowler, Gillett, Clintonville and elsewhere.
Each participant can attend four classes from among 30 choices that offer new curriculum ideas, reading techniques, online applications, teacher mentoring and more.
Participants outside the district pay $200 each for the week-long program; it is free to Shawano school employees.
Kelley Swartz, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said growing interest in the program reflects how much school professionals feel a need to stay informed about the newest trends in classroom instruction and school performance.
“Education has changed quite drastically,” Swartz said.
Originally known as Tech Academy, the summer program was conceived as a way of acquainting teachers with new electronic gadgets and tools. It was later expanded to include instructional techniques and renamed Mission Possible, and last year became Project Inspire.
One of this year’s most popular classes is a new one focused on helping students who live in poverty. The class shows how poverty affects a student’s behavior and how a teacher can help such students overcome their perceived obstacles in the classroom.
Dee Dee Koehler, a speech pathologist in the Shawano school system, said she was taking classes on writing and reading curriculum to help her better understand how to align her own instructional approaches with what students are learning elsewhere.
Koehler said she was happy to spend part of her summer in the classroom.
“It gets you fired up for the new school year,” she said.