Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Hosts Educators From Around the World for Hybrid Professional Development Event

For immediate release

WHITMAN — Superintendent Jeffrey Szymaniak and Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Principal Christopher Jones are pleased to report that the school hosted educators from around the world at a professional development seminar prior to the start of the new school year.

The school hosted the first-ever Code Breaker Summer Camp, a hybrid event that brought together the latest trends and knowledge in education across a global platform, on Thursday, Aug. 12. The event was put on by Code Breaker, Inc., an educational consulting and publishing company founded in 2010.

Leaders in education — from classroom teachers to district staff and administrators — came together for the event to share their expertise and give an opportunity for fellow educators to take away vital ideas on school improvement and student success.

While the in-person portion of the event took place at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, a virtual portion also took place across a variety of online platforms that allowed for interactive experiences from participants around the world.

Sessions focused on various areas of education, including technology integration, leadership, literacy, inclusion, global thinking, computational thinking and many more.

Participants were also able to share their own experiences and ask questions of the presenters.

The keynote address was given by Christine Ravesi-Weinstein, the assistant principal at Milford High School and a noted public speaker, author and mental health advocate.

“The event exceeded our expectations in every way,” Principal Jones said. “I’ve heard from many attendees that it was one of the best professional development events they have ever attended. There were some real heavy hitters in the world of education taking part in the event and they each brought great knowledge and enthusiasm to their presentations. To be able to host an event such as this right here at Whitman-Hanson is a great thing for our district.”

Between those at the in-person session and others joining virtually, the event was attended by educators from the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, the North Shore and South Shore regions, Western Massachusetts, multiple states and countries from as far away as Jordan and Australia. In total, approximately143 educators took part.

This is the first time that the district has hosted an event such as this, but Principal Jones and district administrators have already begun thinking about bringing the Summer Camp back next year and making it bigger and better.

For more information on the Code Breaker Summer Camp, including a full list of speakers and topics covered at the event, click here. For more photos from the event, click here. For a video highlighting the Code Breaker Summer Camp, click here.

The event was sponsored by the online literacy-based news platform Newsela.

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