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| Conway Elementary TRREople pictured left to right: Principal Jason Robert, Annabel Nash - K/1 TRRE Resident, Jen Nelson - K/1 Teacher, Kathy Carrier-K/1 Teacher, Patty Poulin - K/1 Teacher, Rachele Harvey - K/1 TRRE Resident, Eliza Braunstein - 2/3 Teacher and TRRE Graduate, Matt Berger - 2/3 TRRE Resident, and Michelle Dupuis 2/3 Teacher. |
Conway, NH, comprises five villages with a town population of 10,115 in the 2010 census. The land, once home to the Pequawket Indians, is located at the southeastern edge of the White Mountain National Forest. Conway encompasses wonders such as Cathedral Ledge, Echo Lake State Park, and part of the Kancamagus Highway, which in addition to the Conway Scenic Railroad and Cranmore Ski Resort, attract tourists to the area. Mt. Washington, the Mt. Washington Observatory and Story Land, also, are not far away. Conway’s economy is driven by services and tourism. The largest employers in town are Memorial Hospital followed by School Administrative Unit 9 (SAU 9), the Conway School District.
Teacher Residency for Rural Education (TRRE) partnered with SAU 9 and the Conway Elementary School in 2018 and found a school partner with proactive leadership, common goals, and a shared understanding that learning and teaching are collaborative processes. Both TRRE and SAU 9 incorporate principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), social emotional learning (SEL), and community engagement into the practice of teaching.
At Conway Elementary, the school administration and teachers are acting on their beliefs that everyone has unique learning styles, interests, and strengths, and that growth mindset and social emotional learning are lifelong skills. This year, Conway joined the NH UDL Innovation Network, a multi-year school site based professional learning program to empower learners through UDL, that is a collaboration between the New Hampshire Department of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST).
TRRE faculty are CAST trained facilitators of Universal Design for Learning. TRRE hosted a conference on UDL in June 2019, and recently welcomed Bill Wilmot, CAST Implementation Specialist, to facilitate a conversation on the intersection of UDL and SEL in October. SAU 9 hosted a professional development conference focused on SEL during the summer of 2019 and continues to support social emotional learning at Conway Elementary School.
In his second year as principal, Jason Robert demonstrates the concept of learning and teaching as collaborative processes through his participation in the New Hampshire Granite State Leadership Academy, a leadership academy created in partnership with the New Hampshire School Administrators Association to increase leadership skills and knowledge through a network of colleagues and shared content in a variety of topics.
Another example of SAU 9 leadership, the steering committee for the school re-opening plan led by Superintendent Kevin Richard, exemplified the district's commitment to community engagement. The re-entry planning committees met from mid-June through August and were made up of about 50 members including, teachers, administrators, support staff, bus drivers, parents, school board members and doctors from our community. A series of over 20 listening sessions provided stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions, express concerns and be a part of the planning process. This resulted in a dynamic operational plan for the safer return to SAU 9 schools this fall.
TRRE faculty and residents are grateful to be back in school in Conway for the 2020-2021 school year. Bryan Mascio, TRRE Faculty in Residence at Conway Elementary School, advised Eliza Braunstein last year. A 2020 TRRE graduate, Braunstein now teaches at Conway Elementary School in Grade 2/3. Mascio says, “There is always a particularly special feeling each time I enter Conway Elementary. From the way that the staff greet visitors, to how they interact with each other, to how students are regarded and encouraged to treat each other. ‘Community’ is the best way to sum it up, and it’s exactly what we want modeled for our TRRE residents.”
This year, Conway hosts three Cohort 4 TRRE residents: Rachele Harvey, Annabel Nash, and Matt Berger. Nash and Harvey were both educational associates at local schools prior to joining TRRE. Berger was a CityYear service leader. Harvey’s teaching mentors, Parry Poulin and Kathy Carrier, were Braunstein’s 2019-2020 mentors in their kindergarten classroom. Other mentors include Jennie Nelson, first grade and Michelle Dupuis, second grade, who are mentors for Nash and Berger, respectively. Coincidentally, the Cohort 4 residents at Conway all have experience living abroad in Italy, Japan and China either as a student of International Studies or as English as a Second Language tutors. In addition to their understanding of diverse cultures, the TRRE residents have personal experience living in rural communities, so they identify with students’ needs and desire to contribute to rural students’ success through TRRE.
As far as the collaboration with TRRE, Principal Robert views the partnership as a mutually beneficial experience for Conway Elementary School and the TRRE residents. He said, "The field of education is evolving at a rate that requires true collaboration to maximize the educational experience for students and the TRRE program provides such an opportunity. TRRE residents bring insights and experiences into the building to share with the entire staff, mentor teachers have the opportunity to participate in professional development, and throughout the 15-month program, a strong working relationship is created that benefits the residents, our teachers, and most importantly our students. I look forward to continuing this partnership in the future."
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