Woodland teachers sacrifice summertime to hone teaching skills

Posted

When the school year ends, work isn’t necessarily over for teachers in Woodland public schools. During the summer, teachers attend professional development programs designed to help hone their crafts and make learning a lifelong adventure.

Kyla Keefer, a social studies teacher at Woodland High School, is one local educator who attended several professional development programs throughout the summer. One of those was the Advanced Placement Summer Institute. Keefer said it prepared her for two new courses she will be teaching this year — AP literature and composition.

“All new AP teachers must attend the AP Summer Institute, however, regardless of the requirement, I would have opted to attend the institute,” said Keefer. “My command of AP course and exam requirements are crucial to my students’ success in my class, their performance on the AP exams and their future academic pursuits.”

Keefer also attended the Judicial Institute for Teachers in Washington D.C. alongside co-worker Shari Conditt who teaches government and history at the high school. In Washington, D.C., the two met Mary Beth Tinker, a woman responsible for paving the way for student free speech in schools. As a student, Tinker won the case Tinker v. Des Moines in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969.

In addition to that trip, Conditt attended a week-long program covering American Constitutionalism and the U.S. Supreme Court at Stanford University. She was able to attend the program free-of-charge as an incentive from when she was awarded History Teacher of the Year for Washington State in 2016. 

“I like to balance content-specific programs with larger, generally education-related conferences,” said Conditt. “Doing this gives me the opportunity to network and interact with teachers where I get great ideas from folks who teach the same subject, just in different states.”



Conditt also attended the National Network of State Teachers of the Year Conference held in Washington, D.C., with seminars covering a variety of issues.

Another Woodland High School teacher who took part in professional development this summer was Katie Klaus, who teaches English and history. Klaus attended a four-week institute at Georgetown University centered around learning the United States constitution. 

“I met the chief of staff for the chief justice of the Supreme Court, had a private tour of the Capitol where I met two senators, visited countless monuments and historical sites, and met current Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and former Secretary of Education John King,” said Klaus. “Every day when I was in class or visiting sites, I would think, ‘Oh! I can use that for my students!’”

— From Woodland Public Schools,

edited by The Reflector