Crane District Hosts “Get Your Teach On” Event
Yuma, AZ – The Crane Elementary School District held a Get Your Teach On event for Crane educators to help launch the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. Get Your Teach On (GYTO) specializes in professional development and encouragement for educators and administrators in the form of conferences, workshops and events. GYTO conferences are known for their passionate celebration of teachers and their ability to inspire life-long learners. This mini-event was organized to inspire, motivate, energize, and educate teachers before the start of a new school year.
On Thursday, July 27, 2023, Valley Horizon Elementary School hosted the day-long conference for educators across the Crane district. Guest Speakers included Todd Nesloney, Chris Pombonyo, Amelia Capotosta, and Principal Amen Rahh. The speakers are all affiliated with GYTO, but also work within the teaching profession currently. Their conference workshops included:
- “Data Wars”: best practices to make data collection, analysis and progress monitoring meaningful and engaging.
- “Kids Deserve It!”: Eliminating boundaries and titles to do what’s best for kids.
- “Small Group Circus”: Tried and true strategies for maximizing the effectiveness of small group instruction.
- “6 Principles of Transformational Leadership”: A session specially designed for district administrators and leaders.
Leslie Mommer, Principal at Valley Horizon Elementary School, was one of the core organizers of the event. “My inspiration for bringing Get Your Teach On to Crane teachers and leaders came from the overwhelmingly positive impact I felt attending the GYTO National Conference. I was so motivated and inspired from my participation in that event and it has impacted the vision I now have for my school and staff. I wanted all of our teachers to have that same experience. Our teachers and students deserve to be excited about school.”
Guest Speaker Chris Pombonyo said, “Get Your Teach On is all about motivating and energizing teachers to be their best selves in the classroom while providing high impact strategies to transform instruction and student learning. A district prioritizing their teachers and bringing a mini-GTYO event to their schools to kick off the 2023-2024 school year shows the incredible things happening in Yuma, AZ and at Crane schools.”
Lavon Pina and her husband Joaquine Pina are both educators at Crane who were instrumental in planning the event. Lavon shared that she was immediately on board when the conversation to bring GYTO to Crane was first introduced. “As part of the the GYTO Magic Squad, we get to hear the stories of educators from all over the country and how they’ve been completely renewed after experiencing Get Your Teach On. Teachers and leaders in Crane deserve to be poured into and experience professional learning that is renewing.”
Crane will welcome students back to school on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.
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