A Look at Workshop 2016 – New Jersey School Boards Association

Workshop 2016, held last week, saw board members, school administrators, education industry vendors and assorted guests attend an array of training programs, network with other school leaders, and learn strategies to become better leaders. Here are scenes from New Jersey’s premier education conference.

Left to right, Acting Commissioner Kimberley Harrington; keynote speaker Fredi Lajvardi; and NJSBA Executive Director Dr. Lawrence S. Feinsod.

Left to right: Jason Jones, NJSBA vice president for legislation/resolutions; Dr. Lawrence S. Feinsod, NJSBA executive director; Don Webster Jr., NJSBA president; Lou Alcuri, marketing specialist, NJM Insurance Group; Miranda Beard, National School Boards Association (NSBA) president; John Bulina, NJSBA immediate past president; Dan Sinclair, NJSBA vice president for county activities; and Kevin Ciak, NSBA president-elect and Sayreville board member.

Rob Greitz, NJSBA labor relations consultant/negotiator, presented a program on salary guides.

Left to right, Paris Myers, River Edge board president; Sheli Dansky, River Edge board and N.J. Board Member of the Year 2016; and Dr. Tova Ben Dov, River Edge superintendent.

Jason Jones, NJSBA vice president for legislation/resolutions; Argine Safari, Pascack Valley music teacher and New Jersey 2016 Teacher of the Year; and P. Erik Gundersen, Pascack Valley superintendent.

Members of the New Jersey State Board of Education, left to right: Mark Biedron, president; Joe Fisicaro, vice president; Ron Butcher, and Edithe Fulton.

The Hunterdon Central Regional High School Fiddle Club performed on the Exhibit Hall floor.

Members of the Washington Township (Gloucester County) Board of Education, left to right: James Murphy, Candice D. Zachowski, Robert Abbott, board vice president, and Ginny Murphy, board president.

On the Exhibit Floor theater stage, Mike Vrancik, NJSBA director of governmental relations, spoke with New Jersey Acting Commissioner of Education Kimberley Harrington.

The STEAM Tank competition featured 17 middle and high school teams of inventors. Here a team of eighth-graders from the Jordan Road School in Somers Point speaks with Ray Pinney, NJSBA director of member engagement. Left to right: Melina Galias, Madison Watt, Riley Murray, Ray Pinney, Olivia Lovett, and Lukas McCartney.

Keynote speaker Fredi Lajvardi, a noted STEM educator, with the members of the Camden County Technical Schools Robotics team.

At the Legislative Update panel, Dr. Lawrence S. Feinsod, NJSBA executive director, pictured at right, with state Senate President Steve Sweeney.

Dr. Lawrence S. Feinsod, NJSBA executive director; Betsy Ginsburg, Garden State Coalition of Schools executive director; and Assemblyman Troy Singleton, at the Legislative Update. Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, pictured at right, also served on the panel of legislators.

From Student Musicians to STEAM Tank: Workshop 2016

Singers and dancers. Student inventors and adult entrepreneurs. The New Jersey School Board Member of the Year, the state Teacher of the Year; and local board of education members from all 21 New Jersey counties.

More than 7,500 attendees packed the Atlantic City Convention Center for Workshop 2016 from Oct. 25-27, attending training sessions, Learning Labs, speeches, a Mock School Board Meeting and other programs – nearly 250 learning opportunities altogether.

Here are a few of the sights and sounds from the state’s largest training program for public educators:

Vocalist Wows Crowd Musician Amanda Gabriel, 17, a singer/songwriter and a senior at Jonathan Dayton High School in Springfield (Union County), impressed the morning crowd at Workshop’s Exhibit Hall Theater on Tuesday by performing a series of ballads by Sara Bareilles, Amy Winehouse, and her own original work.

Teacher Ashley Bauers submitted a video of her playing, and the teen said she was shocked and thrilled to be selected one of Workshop’s six student performances.

“I’ve never performed in a place this big,” she said, looking out over the cavernous Workshop Exhibit Hall. “It was such an honor!”

STEAM Tank Debuts Throughout Workshop 2016, board members and vendors were not the only people on the Exhibit Floor. Walking among them, carting electric motors, miniature model houses, posters, placards, an entire school locker and other objects that looked like something from a science project, were the competitors in STEAM Tank.

Conducted in the iSTEAM Command Center, sponsored by the U.S. Army, the STEAM Tank pitted 17 student groups in a competition, modeled after TV’s “Shark Tank,” in which they demonstrated inventions and ideas in STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering the Arts and Math. A panel of judges watched and weighed in.

The students’ inventions included “Click-it,” a device used to help find lost items, from a team of Somers Point seventh graders; the Maximus Ocean Cleaner, which filters floating plastic waste out of the ocean, created by Atlantic County Vocational School District students; the “Dyslexia Destroyer,” an app that converts text to a format better for students with dyslexia, conceived by the Franklin Borough School District; and more than a dozen other ideas.

“They’re awesome. We so often hear talk about this new generation as a lost generation, but this shows what can really be done. Some of the ideas are just so exciting,” said Barry Lefkowitz, president of the firm MGR2, and one of the judges’ panel. Final results will be announced soon.

Award-Winning Educators Excellence in public education was on view at Workshop, through people such as Sheli Dansky and Argine Safari. Dansky, a long-time River Edge school board member, was selected New Jersey School Board Member of the Year. Safari, a Pascack Valley High School music teacher, was recently named New Jersey Teacher of the Year.

Both women were introduced in the Exhibit Hall Stage, and graciously accepted presentations for their work. Both also happen to do their work in Bergen County.

A Pause to Refresh Not every minute of Workshop 2016 could be packed with a learning experience. Attendees need a break. For that, the County Café filled the bill.

Located in the center of the Exhibit Floor, staffed by NJSBA personnel and stocked with cookies baked by New Jersey vocational schools – as well as plenty of coffee – the Computer Design & Integration (CDI) County Café saw a steady stream of visitors.

Among those pausing there on Wednesday were Washington Township, Gloucester County, board members Candice Zachowski and Robert Abbott. The two had had a busy Workshop: They presented a session; attended programs on leadership and facilities, plus the Legislative Update; and enjoyed student performances.

Zachowski said she enjoys coming to Workshop. “I have brought back many ideas we are using in our district,” she said. “You learn so much.”