2023
The fifth annual K-12 Purpose Summit was an adventure of learning and connection with 70 dedicated educators from around the country. As we did in 2022, the group first gathered via Zoom for two virtual sessions used to build community and plant seeds of learning about purpose. We again welcomed the wisdom of Ted Dintersmith, author of What School Could Be and executive producer of the film Most Likely to Succeed into our virtual space. In addition, small group huddles led by each of the four facilitators, met to connect, share goals, and describe artifacts that answered the question: “Why do I teach?”
For the summit itself, we gathered once again at Chautauqua in Boulder, Colorado where we stayed in stone cabins against the meadows and rock formations of the Flatirons. Working sessions provided began the personal and professional journeys. The personal journey was about connecting to others and, in the process, putting words and action steps to moving deeper into our “why” for teaching. The professional journey was the exploration of specific tools to design greater purpose into learning. With an extra day added to the itinerary for this year’s Summit, the group also had the incredible opportunity to visit a Boulder-area school on a site visit, and to spend an afternoon in a design session held at The Dawson School’s Innovation Center. Teams dreamed and designed BIG on a wide variety of projects including advisory programs, curriculum development, after school programs. Here a few photos from the Design Session:
For the summit itself, we gathered once again at Chautauqua in Boulder, Colorado where we stayed in stone cabins against the meadows and rock formations of the Flatirons. Working sessions provided began the personal and professional journeys. The personal journey was about connecting to others and, in the process, putting words and action steps to moving deeper into our “why” for teaching. The professional journey was the exploration of specific tools to design greater purpose into learning. With an extra day added to the itinerary for this year’s Summit, the group also had the incredible opportunity to visit a Boulder-area school on a site visit, and to spend an afternoon in a design session held at The Dawson School’s Innovation Center. Teams dreamed and designed BIG on a wide variety of projects including advisory programs, curriculum development, after school programs. Here a few photos from the Design Session:
The Summit concluded with a final virtual session in which participants shared progress on the implementation of their designs, and further committed to bringing purpose to their lives and into the fabric of their school communities.
In summary, 93% of the participants reported making connections with new colleagues, and 92% said the Summit was comfortable and relaxing.
In summary, 93% of the participants reported making connections with new colleagues, and 92% said the Summit was comfortable and relaxing.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded educators who are passionate about bringing change and new ideas to their schools. The work around finding our personal purpose was very helpful in understanding the concept and relating it to our work in our schools and lives!”
2022
The fourth annual K-12 Purpose Summit was a huge success with a full house of 60 educators who came from across the USA to explore their own purpose, connect with each other, and collaborate to design actionable work products. We gathered online for 2 virtual sessions both before and after the in-person gathering at Chautauqua in Boulder, Colorado from Feb. 9-11. The summit launched online in January 2022 with an inspiring and informative talk from Ted Dintersmith, author of What School Could Be and executive producer of the film Most Likely to Succeed. During our in-person February gathering in Boulder, the group had 2 ½ days to dive deeply into their own personal purpose journey, visit local Boulder-area schools to gain inspiration, and work towards designing an “Easy Hack” to be implemented upon return to their schools following the summit. The Summit concluded virtually in early March 2022 with educators sharing their Easy Hack implementation successes and challenges and providing feedback to each other on Moonshot ideas. As one participant shared, “This was a pivotal experience for me as an educator and I think it had a lot to do with the authenticity of each of the presenters, the clear amount of work and energy they put into their work, and the atmosphere you worked to create. It was special.”
Below is a small showcase of the work and photos from K-12 2022!
Below is a small showcase of the work and photos from K-12 2022!
2022 Presentations (click images to view)
Diversity in an International Context
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Bringing Purpose to Echo Horizon
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Purpose Learning in Wyoming
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2022 Slideshow
2020-2021
The third annual K-12 Purpose Summit was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic but successfully launched in January 2021 as a 2-month virtual journey that brought teams of educators from 25 schools and organizations. Our time zones stretched from China and Hawaii all the way to Holland! Over a dozen virtual sessions we explored purpose and used key tools like the World Leadership School Purpose Planner to design units and programs. We also met regularly via our small groups, called Huddles, in order to reflect and build community. At the end of the program, we celebrated the implementation of our “Easy Hack” and also shared our bigger “Moonshot” idea. As one participant reflected at the end of the program, “This has been a very inspiring experience for me. It has kept me going over the past few months.”
Here are some images from the final Pecha Kucha presentations we shared:
Here are some images from the final Pecha Kucha presentations we shared:
2019
The second annual K-12 Purpose Summit took place in October 2019 with educators from 35 schools and organizations around the United States, Australia and China. Participants learned from experts in the field including Daren Dickson (Valor Collegiate Academies in Nashville, Tennessee) and Dr. Aaron Griffen (DSST Public Schools in Denver, Colorado). Participants engaged with like-minded educators during the conference and designed both easy hacks and moonshots to bring back to their schools. The summit culminated with the educators presenting their ideas with a Pecha Kucha-style presentation and receiving feedback from a student panel as snow fell at the Colorado Chautauqua in Boulder, Colorado.
Below is a small showcase of the weekend and the work that happened at the 2019 K-12 Purpose Summit:
Below is a small showcase of the weekend and the work that happened at the 2019 K-12 Purpose Summit:
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2018
The first K-12 Purpose Summit took place in October 2018 with educators from 22 schools and organizations from around the United States. The conference in Boulder, Colorado, began with participants exploring and clarifying their own sense of purpose so they could coach students to do the same. Following the purpose clarification workshop, participants had the opportunity to take a deep dive into the main drivers of Purpose Learning, including student anxiety, brain science and Positive Psychology. Each educator, and group of educators, worked alongside peers to develop a program, class, and/or idea to take back to their schools. Below are a few of the big ideas developed at the 2018 K-12 Purpose Summit:
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