Technology, collaboration, attendance all part of annual education summit

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Each of the nearly 500 attendees at a 2-day education summit in Morgantown found something they can take back to the job or classroom in the fall to increase student performance and achievement.

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and West Virginia Department of Education are hosting the 6th annual Student Success Summit at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel and Conference Center.

Keith Stewart is the principal at Westside High School in Wyoming County. He’s attending his second summit.

“I’m all about technology and moving forward with things like that. I try to gear my training toward that. Helping students become successful, that’s basically the reason we’re here. Those kinds of things definitely contribute to student success,” Stewart said.

One of the 60 work sessions called “There’s an App for That: Free or Low-Cost Technology to Manage Programs and Communications” was designed to help educators learn how to use technology to manage out-of-control inboxes, maintain social media presence or use technology to provide around-the-clock support for students.

A counselor from the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Center in Davis was among a few people who spoke to MetroNews about the education department’s eTranscript initiative.

“I think it will help a lot of kids send transcripts quickly,” said Tim Turner.

State Superintendent of Schools Michael Martirano was one of several panelists to address the PreK-12 teachers and even college representatives.

Elizabeth Richter was attending from West Liberty University. “I hope for some things to use for College 101 classes we teach and other topics that we need to be aware of,” said the Student Support Coordinator who also presented during a session called “Implementing a successful summer bridge program”.
Brian Withrow, Assistant Director of the Office of School Improvement with the state department of education delivered remarks on community schools. His “Tools for continuous improvement and strategic planning” was scheduled for Thursday.

“It’s a great opportunity for schools to use the resources that are in their community and open up the facilities and functions of the school for all use in the community. That, in turns, benefits the students and the community,” Withrow explained.
Five high schools – Berkeley Springs, Paw Paw, Riverside, Spring Valley, Tolsia and Wayne County – also sent teams of students to participate in a focused Youth Summit track of the conference.





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