Professional Development

Increasing Knowledge and Sharing Ideas

REACH hosts and engages in various professional development activities, primarily in connection to the Early Childhood Enrichment and Primary Grades Enrichment Programs. The professional development activities are developed around topics identified as high need by educators and schools. This includes one-on-one curriculum development and support, workshops, and learning series that allow teachers from REACH partnering schools at the same grade levels to collaborate.

Making a Difference

These professional development efforts allow teachers to learn and collaborate to find best practices for engaging students in STEM and healthcare learning. The goal is to expose students at an early age so that they can begin to explore their interest in STEM and healthcare and develop skills in inquiry and discovery.

Learning Principles

Regardless of where the learning is taking place, how old the learner is

  • Learning is not given – it is an active process that requires the student to ask questions, make connections, and apply learning to existing knowledge and new situations.
  • Students require regular, timely, and meaningful feedback with opportunities for revision and improvement to produce quality work.
  • Students can develop ideas within parameters if they have freedom to experiment, learn from failure, and revise and reflect.
  • Students are more likely to explore ideas, take risks, and persevere in their learning when they are in a safe and comfortable environment that both challenges and supports them.
  • Engaged and sustained learning can thrive when students see the relevance and purpose of what they are doing.
  • Learning is a social process that draws upon prior knowledge and collaborative practices.

The REACH Graduate

curious-grad

CURIOUS in asking questions based on examination of data, challenging assumptions, and offering ideas that can be investigated/tested

communication-grad

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS with the ability to understand their audience; build relationships, exchange ideas, generate a course of action, being an advocate, and explain thinking using appropriate language.

solvers-grad

ADAPTIVE PROBLEM SOLVERS with ability to observe what’s happening, see implications, step back and think about most effective approach/strategy; willing to take a responsible risk to test out new approach/strategy.

accountable-grad

ACCOUNTABLE in honoring commitments, acknowledging mistakes/achievement, and taking responsibility for action or inaction.

resilient-grad

RESILIENT/PERSISTENT in working through frustration and mistakes; persevering until task completion; staying focused and look for ways to achieve results.

innovative-grad

INNOVATIVE by thinking of new and different methods, solutions, products, or processes that deliver value to others.

empathetic-grad

EMPATHETIC with challenges, circumstances, individual, cultural experiences to better understand another’s perspective.

collaborative-grad

COLLABORATIVE in working with others to achieve a shared goals/vision of success.

Program Highlights