With a focus on preparing the 21st century learner for the workforce of the future, 250 educators from across Upstate New York convened Aug. 8 and 9 in the classrooms of East Syracuse Minoa Central School District.
According to the World Economic Forum Report on the “Future of Jobs” 65 percent of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist, mainly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Free to all participants, the third annual Collaborative Educators Summit at ESM Central High School was sponsored by businesses with a dedication to growth in STEM-based professionals in the workforce and in education. Siemens Industry, along with King+King Architects, Clarkson University and Ferrara & Fiorenza, P.C., carried the costs for the keynote speaker, all meals and materials.
Donna DeSiato, superintendent of ESM Central School District and chair of the Central New York Stem Learning Ecosystem was proud of the outcome.
“Collaborative Educators Summit has ignited passion and inspired the thinking of the educators attending in further developing and implementing innovative learning models,” said DeSiato.
Throughout the two-day event, educators and business partners attended the keynote speech given by George Couros, educator and author of “The Innovator’s Mindset.” He challenged the audience to not teach their students compliance to rules, but instead to “learn how to learn.” This sometimes requires them to struggle, but ultimately leads to success, confidence and true learning.
“We are proud to sponsor this event, for the third year, to help bring together these educators,” said Steve Heaslip, senior account executive for Siemens Industry, Building Technologies Division. “This year almost 30 school districts attended and we are pleased so many teachers and administrators were here sharing their thoughts and ideas. The networking has been amazing.”
Another featured speaker, Marc Siciliano, came from the Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM, based in Cleveland, OH. His leadership in creating STEM hubs and private-public partnerships through community ecosystems is being adopted in 36 communities nationwide, including Syracuse.
Jim King, partner at King+King Architects stated, “It is really about helping higher education. K-12 and business working together to better prepare our students for their future.”
Dr. DeSiato agreed, “We look forward to offering this to even more educators next year.”
