I had so much fun chatting with Mary Anne Butler, Superintendent of Stonington Public Schools in Connecticut for conversation #67. She is an innovative leader who lives by the principle that standing still is more dangerous than moving forward. I am excited to present with her and Sean McKenna at the MassCUE Fall Conference.

"In Stonington Public Schools, our Board of Education is committed to ‘future-focused teaching and learning’, improving student engagement and outcomes toward post-secondary careers of choice. With student engagement being an area of critical concern nationwide, I knew we needed a professional learning initiative that could take root in grades K-12 and address engagement across content areas and schools.

We have partnered with EASTCONN to focus on high leverage strategies proven to increase student engagement at all levels, in all content areas. Administrators visit each other's schools, dropping into classrooms collecting data on the implementation of these strategies. We invite families and the local workforce to assist us in this work. Law enforcement officers, non-profit professionals, and parents will engage later this fall in a discussion and planning session featuring Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop’s book, The Disengaged Teen.

Another real game-changer has been reciprocal professional development partnerships, last year with Mystic Seaport Museum and this year, inviting the Mystic Aquarium and Research Center to join us. This idea began two years ago when the Seaport co-designed and co-taught an 8th grade integrated encore class with two of our middle school teachers. The collective group of educators participated in a range of learning sessions, some offered by the Seaport and others by the district. We saw the benefits of providing professional development in research-based practices to both sets of educators in order to ensure they had common co-planning and co-teaching techniques to maximize student engagement. In turn, the museum provided our educators with seminars on Youth Development. This year the district, Seaport, and Aquarium are creating a Maritime Studies Collaborative that will expand co-teaching and reciprocal professional development opportunities, plus courses and workplace opportunities for our secondary students, both college and non-college bound.

Stonington High School has just launched a new model for Senior projects asking local businesses and government officials to ‘request proposals’ from our Seniors. Students will be able to work in teams of up to four students and respond to a proposal that connects the needs of the local businesses and community to their own interests. When selected, the students will create a product with an enduring impact on the local community. This model was inspired by four Seniors from last year’s graduating class who created a business plan, secured funding, published an RFP, and designed a logo for a district food truck that was delivered in June. I want all students to have an opportunity to develop a similarly impactful project!"